Coyotes emergency goalie got call during baby bath time
When the Arizona Coyotes were preparing to face the Montreal Canadiens on Monday, they planned on having Louis Domingue start in goal with Anders Lindback as his backup.
But Lindback suffered some sort of “off-ice” injury prior to the game, leaving the Coyotes with roughly two hours to find an emergency backup.
At around 6 p.m., Nathan Schoenfeld, 31, was giving his twins a bath. The phone rang. It was the Coyotes, and they were looking for a goaltender. He turned to his wife and said he “got the call.”
It was a call he had to anticipate could come eventually. Per NHL rules, the Coyotes (and every other team) has to submit the name of an emergency goalie to the League. Schoenfeld was their choice.
His experience? He played club goalie at Arizona State University. He apparently played well in some Coyotes alumni games. And if the name sounds familiar, that’s because he’s a legacy: Schoenfeld is the son of ex-Coyotes coach and current New York Rangers senior vice president and assistant GM Jim Schoenfeld.
(Yep, that Jim Schoenfeld, donut lovers.)
According to Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports, he’s also the son-in-law of Coyotes equipment manager Stan Wilson.
Nathan Schoenfeld called his father on the way to the arena. “I [told] him if the Rangers have any scouts at the game tonight, they might want to check out the backup goalie,” said Schoenfeld, via NHL.com.
According to Sarah McLellan, Schoenfeld made the 30-minute drive and arrived at the Coyotes’ arena right around puck drop. He signed an amateur tryout contract, slipped on a No. 40 jersey and sat on the bench to watch Domingue.
When he’s not serving as an emergency backup goalie for an NHL team, Schoenfeld works at FineMark National Bank & Trust. According to Asif Malik, he’ll make $6,402 for his work with the Coyotes.
Even for a banker, that’s not a bad bit of beer money for a few hours of watching hockey.
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
