Jeff O Rocks
06-11-2003, 09:15 AM
Hey guys for all of us that made practices, we saw the substitute goalie from time to time. I came across this cute article about how he came to be "the #3 Goalie"!! :D ;)
A goalie named 'Bubba'
RALEIGH--The Carolina Hurricanes lost a lot in the standings this season, but they did make a major step forward in connecting hockey with Southern culture.
Now they've got a goalie named Bubba.
George "Bubba" Crickmore, 30, isn't a game goalie, but he was drafted this week to tend goal during practice at the RBC Center.
A Chapel Hill home builder in his real life, Crickmore came to his place between the pipes through a growing association with the Canes. A season-ticket holder, he's a partner in a new company that makes goalie masks. That work led to a friendship with Canes equipment manager Wally Tatomir, who hired him part time to do the Canes' laundry and set up the visitors locker room.
Tatomir also became aware of Crickmore's goal-tending ability. Crickmore played youth hockey in Winston-Salem and plays goalie in a recreational league on Sunday and Thursday nights in Raleigh.
Crickmore's call to the big time came on April Fool's Day. As he and his wife, Corrine, were leaving a routine doctor's appointment, his cell phone rang. It was Tatomir. He said Canes goalie Kevin Weekes couldn't practice. They needed Crickmore in goal opposite goalie Arturs Irbe.
Crickmore hurried to the RBC Center. His wife settled into her regular seat behind the corner glass to watch.
"I think it's fantastic," she said of her husband's new duty. "I think it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
When Crickmore appeared on the ice, the Canes' TV play-by-play announcer John Forslund was surprised by the appearance of yet another new face on the team, this one obscured by a mask.
"Hey, who's the new goalie?" he asked. Canes all-star forward Jeff O'Neill skated past, smiled and spoke so his lips could be read through the glass -- "Bubba."
The Canes were amused by having a Bubba in the goal, but they hit him with serious shots.
"It's much faster and very hard. You feel it through your equipment," said Crickmore, as he peeled off a sweat-soaked Canes uniform at Weekes' locker. "I just try to stop as much as I can. I'm trying to get in the way of it.
"You may think I'm crazy, but [goalie] is the safest position on the ice. I know what's coming at me. I know when it's coming at me. I don't have to worry about someone chasing me into the boards and not being able to see it."
Canes veteran defenseman Sean Hill complimented Crickmore on his RBC debut.
"Bubba's not afraid," Hill said. "He did well. He's done as well as some other guys I've seen out there that are pros."
Irbe turned a discerning eye on his opposite. Irbe, of the famously ratty pads last season, noted that Crickmore had "really nice equipment, better than mine, better looking and fresher. More NHL-like."
So NHL-like that Irbe said the man who builds homes at Chapel Hill's Governors Club resembled a real NHL-goalie.
"He reminded me a little bit of Eddie Belfour, a very rusty Eddie Belfour," Irbe said.
Crickmore, who was routinely victimized on rebounds and high shots, said he was happy to be on the ice.
"To come from no professional hockey background and come in here and be able to play with guys like Ronnie Francis, who's a NHL legend now. It's amazing to sit here and change in the same room with him. It's just great," he said.
Despite his willingness to go before the Canes' firing squad, Crickmore's status on the ice is uncertain.
"He's on a short-term contract," joked Canes coach Paul Maurice. "He's day to day."
But for Crickmore, just one such day will last a lifetime
A goalie named 'Bubba'
RALEIGH--The Carolina Hurricanes lost a lot in the standings this season, but they did make a major step forward in connecting hockey with Southern culture.
Now they've got a goalie named Bubba.
George "Bubba" Crickmore, 30, isn't a game goalie, but he was drafted this week to tend goal during practice at the RBC Center.
A Chapel Hill home builder in his real life, Crickmore came to his place between the pipes through a growing association with the Canes. A season-ticket holder, he's a partner in a new company that makes goalie masks. That work led to a friendship with Canes equipment manager Wally Tatomir, who hired him part time to do the Canes' laundry and set up the visitors locker room.
Tatomir also became aware of Crickmore's goal-tending ability. Crickmore played youth hockey in Winston-Salem and plays goalie in a recreational league on Sunday and Thursday nights in Raleigh.
Crickmore's call to the big time came on April Fool's Day. As he and his wife, Corrine, were leaving a routine doctor's appointment, his cell phone rang. It was Tatomir. He said Canes goalie Kevin Weekes couldn't practice. They needed Crickmore in goal opposite goalie Arturs Irbe.
Crickmore hurried to the RBC Center. His wife settled into her regular seat behind the corner glass to watch.
"I think it's fantastic," she said of her husband's new duty. "I think it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
When Crickmore appeared on the ice, the Canes' TV play-by-play announcer John Forslund was surprised by the appearance of yet another new face on the team, this one obscured by a mask.
"Hey, who's the new goalie?" he asked. Canes all-star forward Jeff O'Neill skated past, smiled and spoke so his lips could be read through the glass -- "Bubba."
The Canes were amused by having a Bubba in the goal, but they hit him with serious shots.
"It's much faster and very hard. You feel it through your equipment," said Crickmore, as he peeled off a sweat-soaked Canes uniform at Weekes' locker. "I just try to stop as much as I can. I'm trying to get in the way of it.
"You may think I'm crazy, but [goalie] is the safest position on the ice. I know what's coming at me. I know when it's coming at me. I don't have to worry about someone chasing me into the boards and not being able to see it."
Canes veteran defenseman Sean Hill complimented Crickmore on his RBC debut.
"Bubba's not afraid," Hill said. "He did well. He's done as well as some other guys I've seen out there that are pros."
Irbe turned a discerning eye on his opposite. Irbe, of the famously ratty pads last season, noted that Crickmore had "really nice equipment, better than mine, better looking and fresher. More NHL-like."
So NHL-like that Irbe said the man who builds homes at Chapel Hill's Governors Club resembled a real NHL-goalie.
"He reminded me a little bit of Eddie Belfour, a very rusty Eddie Belfour," Irbe said.
Crickmore, who was routinely victimized on rebounds and high shots, said he was happy to be on the ice.
"To come from no professional hockey background and come in here and be able to play with guys like Ronnie Francis, who's a NHL legend now. It's amazing to sit here and change in the same room with him. It's just great," he said.
Despite his willingness to go before the Canes' firing squad, Crickmore's status on the ice is uncertain.
"He's on a short-term contract," joked Canes coach Paul Maurice. "He's day to day."
But for Crickmore, just one such day will last a lifetime