Todd Ford woke up to a message every hockey player in the world dreams of.
It was a text from Calgary Flames goalie coach Jordan Sigalet asking if he could fill in for Mike Smith for the NHL club’s practice Wednesday.
As one of the team’s designated emergency backup goalies, it’s an invite he gets two or three times every year.
However, it didn’t take long for the 33-year-old firefighter to realize this time it would be different, as Jaromir Jagr would be amongst those Flames rifling rubber his way.
“That was one of the first thoughts, for sure, because of all the buzz about him now,” said Ford, a third-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2002 who last played pro in Germany five years ago.