Shrewsbury's ice-cool Tom Hodges in USA spotlight

Tom Hodges, who was born in Shrewsbury but moved to Dallas aged 11, was introduced into the spotlight in the top flight of the sport in the United States in front of 20,000 fans.

Amateur player Hodges, an insurance salesman who played college hockey but is not professional, was called upon in the extremely rare occurrence that an emergency back-up goalie was required in an NHL clash between Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks.

And Hodges, 27, was thrust into the limelight at the beginning of the third period after injuries to the visiting Ducks’ goaltenders John Gibson and Anthony Stolarz left Anaheim shorthanded. Hodges entered at 2-2 and was unable to prevent the Stars prevailing 4-2 but won acclaim for his saves and was talk of the sport as the NHL’s first emergency goalie since 2020.

“That’s the best group of guys ever,” Hodges said, as Dallas achieved the Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. “They just came up to me and tried to calm me down. They could tell I was ready to have a panic attack. They didn’t care, win or lose, let in 10 (goals), just go out there and have fun. That made the whole experience a lot easier.”

All host clubs are required to have an emergency goaltender available to both sides – but it is extremely rare they are called upon.

And Hodges revealed he had to put down a hot dog and retrieve hockey gear from his car when called upon due to injuries to Gibson and Stolarz. He emerged shortly after with the No.68 jersey in front of around 20,000 fans.

Hodges has acted in the emergency role for Dallas for three seasons but time training with the first team had been limited due to the pandemic.

Hodges, who had to check the scoreline when entering the ice, was unsurprisingly given a rousing reception and drenched with water bottles in the locker room at American Airlines Center by his one-time team-mates.

The Shropshire-born expat’s previous hockey experience was 50 seconds of minor league action for Allen Americans, where he was emergency goalie. He played the sport at college level for Southern Methodist University in Dallas

Hodges almost quit playing the sport entirely when, aged 14 shortly after moving to the States, he took a puck to the face during youth hockey which caused depreciating vision in his left eye.

He did not leave the sport and played as goalie for Plano West Senior High School prior to college.

While he was unable to prevent the Ducks from falling to the wrong side of the result, he was awarded the game puck and the third star – given to the fixture’s three top players. He saved two of three shots faced and only conceded to a power play – the other was an empty-net goal.

He made a top sliding save from Roope Hintz and was unfortunate with an errant bounce for one of Dallas’ goals.

“It was 50-50 in that locker room when I got the final call about having to go out, that’s probably about as nervous as I’ve ever been,” he admitted. “I’ve never played in front of so many people. But, you know – experience of a lifetime and something I’m going to remember for the rest of my life for sure.

“Once I got on the ice and starting skating around, doing my routine, it felt a little bit more like any other hockey game I’ve played before. It’s just interesting, to go from the stands watching a hockey game to play 20 minutes in the third period is unreal.”