On Monday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal welcomed Canucks Emergency Back-Up Goaltender (EBUG) Andrew Henderson to discuss his experience in the role and his recent close call against the Toronto Maple Leafs after Thatcher Demko had to leave Saturday’s game.

Henderson described his eventful journey to Rogers Arena that day, one that nearly made him late for the game.

“It was a hectic day, the Invictus Games opening ceremonies were happening downtown, and I usually try to get to the arena 45 minutes early at the latest, but I was stuck at a light for roughly 20-30 minutes,” he explained. “It was almost 3:50, and I got a call from Miles, who runs the EBUG program, and he asked me to walk to the rink from there. So I got my friend who was driving with me to take the wheel, I grabbed my gear, and walked to the arena along the streets of Vancouver.”

Once inside, things got real when he saw Demko walking down the tunnel.

“At that point, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen because I hadn’t ever gotten that far. Miles let me know I might need to get dressed, and I was pretty excited at that idea. Some people might be nervous, but for me, I’m always eager at the idea of it actually happening.”

For Henderson, the thought of stepping into an NHL game is more exciting than nerve-wracking.

“I feel like I have nothing to lose. Obviously, I’d hate to go in there and let in eight goals on nine shots—that would be a bit of a nightmare—but just getting on the ice would be unreal,” he said. “I played a decent level of hockey and love the feeling of having the crowd, and I haven’t felt that in a while. It would be surreal to get in front of all those people if it ever happens. It’s just an exciting opportunity that I’d love to be a part of, but I feel bad saying that because the only way I’d get in there is if something unfortunate happened to both our goalies.”

Henderson explained how he landed on the Canucks’ EBUG radar.

“I woke up to a text one morning from Miles, and he said, ‘I’m with the EBUG program, you were recommended to me by another EBUG goalie.’ My goalie partner at Simon Fraser, Cale Dolan, was on the EBUG list, and they had a couple of guys move on from the system, so they were looking for more guys to come in. They sort of go off references and word of mouth. I got the text and I couldn’t say no to it. Even if you’re not intrigued about getting in the net, there are big perks. You get to park right underneath close to where the players do, a nice free meal, and free tickets—which you can’t complain about. Obviously, the biggest perk is maybe stepping in the cage. It’s a low-percentage chance, but I’ll take it.”

Like many young goalies, Henderson’s path to the crease started early, and it didn’t take long before he fell in love with the position.

“I was pretty young and wasn’t an exceptional forward and wasn’t doing much of anything impactful,” he recalled. “I remember having a miserable first game in the cage—probably let up ten goals as a five-year-old—which wasn’t exactly a positive experience, but I remember feeling, ‘I want to get back in there. The first goalie I can remember genuinely liking was Cristobal Huet on the Habs, and I’d be watching Luongo, and it just seemed so cool—I wanted to be them. I got so intrigued and fascinated by the equipment, the way these guys played, and the position itself. Something that kept me in the position is the pressure of it and how much of an impact you can have on a game. It’s not necessarily the most important position, but you can really kill a team if you don’t show up.”

You can watch the full segment below: