When you’re in your early 20s, your life can be pretty hectic but your problems are usually pretty straight-forward. Most people in their early 20s are worried about classes, rent, or even just trying to maintain some semblance of a social life while managing their various responsibilities.

Last week, Trinity Western University second-year student Cole Savage had a pretty unique worry, aside from juggling six classes and his duties as one of the netminders on the varsity hockey team.

He was a net-front collision away from playing in an American Hockey League game for the Calgary Wranglers.

So last week, the Wranglers headed to Abbotsford, British Columbia for the seventh and eighth games of their marathon 10-game road trip against the Canucks. The Wranglers started Ivan Prosvetov in net for Tuesday night’s game against the Canucks. Midway through the third period, Prosvetov seemed to tweak something stretching out for a save and with 7:36 left in the third period, he exited the game and was replaced in net by Owen Say. Say finished the game, making three saves and being credited for the Wranglers’ comeback win.

The following morning, Savage was in class when received a call from Wranglers goaltending coach Mackenzie Skapski, his old goalie coach who he still works with during the off-season.

“So he’s like, ‘yeah, are you busy tonight?'” said Savage. “And at first I thought he was going to ask me to go out for dinner or something or just to connect or something before the game. So I’m like, ‘oh, yeah, I’ll probably get home around, 6 o’clock or so from school.’ And he goes, ‘okay, well, the game’s at 7. Can you make it?’ And I go, ‘oh, yeah, I’ll be missing my classes today to make this.'”

Due to Prosvetov’s injury, the Wranglers called up Connor Murphy from ECHL Rapid City. Murphy arrived in time for the game, but his goalie gear didn’t. Savage took warm-up with the Wranglers, but Murphy was named to the game’s lineup so that he would be eligible to play whenever his gear arrived. Murphy waited patiently in the locker room area for his gear to show up. While they waited for Murphy’s gear, Savage watched the game in the video room with the Wranglers’ video coach, ready to play if Say had become unable to continue.

“It’s like I felt far away from the game when I was watching in the coach’s room,” said Savage. “But it doesn’t take much for me to have gone in. Trying to stay, trying to maintain the mindset as much as I can during that time, especially after a full day before that, too.”

For the first two periods, nobody sat on the Wranglers bench as backup. Murphy’s gear showed up in the second intermission and he took his place on the Wranglers bench early in the third period, at which point Savage’s duties were completed. He received a bunch of Wranglers merch as a thank you for stepping in.

Savage was issued #32 for the evening, making him the first Wranglers player since Dustin Wolf to don that number – even if he never “officially” wore it in a game. He’s actually the third Trinity Western goaltender to serve as an AHL netminder in recent years. In 2021-22, Talor Joseph started two games for the Toronto Marlies after one of their goalies (Keith Petruzelli) fell ill and the other (Michael Hutchinson) was needed for a potential call-up due to an NHL injury. In 2022-23, Raphael Audet dressed as backup for a game for Abbotsford during a stretch where Rylan Parenteau was unavailable and the team was awaiting the arrival of Ryan Bednard from the ECHL.

If nothing else, Savage has continued a very unique tradition at Trinity Western and has a great story to tell about his evening in pro hockey.

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