U of T goalie Willows called in for Maple Leafs emergency

It was an unusual night for junior University of Toronto Varsity Blues netminder Brett Willows who came through in the clutch, rushing down to the Air Canada Centre to back up the Toronto Maple Leafs in NHL action on Thursday night, Oct. 17, in the Leafs 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Willows, a third-year kinesiology student from Rivers, Man., was an emergency call-up to fill in for Toronto's starting goalie James Reimer who left the game following a collision with his teammate just 32 seconds into the game. He served as Jonathan Bernier's back up. This is similar to the story of Calgary Dinos goalie Dustin Butler who played for Vancouver in the shortened 2013 season when Cory Schneider fell suddenly ill. Similarly, Jordan White of the UBC Thunderbirds suited up for the San Jose Sharks in 2011 while the Sharks played the Vancouver Canucks.

"It was definitely quite the turn events," Willows said after the game. "I was out with some of the boys for dinner after practice and my phone went off with a call from coach [Darren Lowe]. He told me that one of their goalies went down and that they needed me. I sprinted down Bloor Street in the next 45 seconds and we jumped in the truck and got down there right away."

Willows, a former MVP with the Dauphin Kings in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, was dressed and ready to go in the Toronto Maple Leafs locker room for the remainder of the game.

In 2012-13, Willows had a great season, ranked second in the OUA and third in the CIS with a .930 save percentage in 16 games. He's coming off a career-high 50-save performance in a 7-3 win over the Ryerson Rams on Wednesday night.