On a frigid Chicago Friday, 45-year-old banker Dave Nozzolillo left his Wintrust Bank desk and drove to the United Center. A sudden flu outbreak had decimated the Blackhawks' goaltending corps, and the team's emergency backup goalie (EBUG) was being summoned. His pregame meal? Hooters naked wings, eaten with coworkers.

Nozzolillo, a former D-III goalie, is one of Chicago's four designated EBUGs, a role that typically pays $100 just to show up. This time was different. After a frantic scramble with wet gear, he signed an amateur tryout contract and entered a whirlwind locker room. Teammates and equipment managers swarmed the unlikely backup.

The NHL's compressed schedule, broken by a three-week Olympic break, intensified the crisis. Flu can sideline even the toughest players, forcing teams to rely on AHL call-ups and local EBUGs. Nozzolillo joined a legacy of Chicago-area EBUGs like accountant Scott Foster, who famously stopped all seven shots he faced in 2019.