Guides · Play · Teams and players

What is an EBUG? Hockey’s emergency goalie

By Justis, a GM and a goalie  ·  October 10, 2026

Your goalie just bailed, and puck drop is in three hours. You need an EBUG.

What EBUG means.

EBUG stands for emergency backup goalie. It’s a goalie who plays one game for a team that isn’t theirs, because that team’s own goalie can’t make it and there’s no backup to put in net.

Most of the time it’s a goalie who already plays for another team. They show up, play the game and go home. They don’t join your roster.

Three words get mixed up here, so keep them straight:

• EBUG. Goalie only. One game. Never joins your roster.
• Sub. Any position. Fills in for a game when you’re short.
• Free agent. A player looking for a spot on a team. A free agent can EBUG for you, but that doesn’t put them on your roster.

How it works in the pros.

Pro teams dress two goalies every night, so an emergency means both of them are out. The rulebooks plan for it.

NHL. A game lineup is 18 skaters and two goalies (Rule 5.1), and the backup sits on or beside the bench, dressed and ready (Rule 5.3). In regular-season and playoff games, if both listed goalies are hurt or can’t play, Rule 5.3 lets the team dress and play any eligible goalie. That third goalie gets reasonable time to suit up plus a two-minute warm-up, unless they’re going in to face a penalty shot. If they’re already dressed on the bench, they go straight in with no warm-up. Until both goalies are out, no skater can wear the goalie gear.

PWHL. Same shape. A game lineup is up to 19 skaters and two goalies (Rule 5.1). A dressed backup sits on the bench, and if both listed goalies are out, the team can dress any eligible goalie, with the same time to dress and warm up (Rule 5.3). One difference: PWHL teams carry up to three goalies under contract (Rule 5.1). When a goalie is hurt too badly to go on, she’s retired from the roster and a third goalie takes the backup spot on the bench right away (Rule 5.3).

College. NCAA lineups list two or three goalies (Rule 5.3), but a team is allowed to start with one (Rule 5.4). If that goalie can’t continue, a skater can change into the pads. If the change holds up the game, it’s a delay-of-game penalty. The team can also skip it and play six skaters.

How it works in a beer league.

Your rec team doesn’t have a third goalie. It probably doesn’t have a second one either. When your goalie is out, there’s nobody on the bench, and it’s on the GM to find someone.

If your league plays USA Hockey rules, here’s the baseline:

• A dressed backup goalie is recommended, not required (Rule 203(c)).
• Before the game, the GM or coach lists who’s eligible on the scoresheet. An eligible goalie can still be added after the game starts, at a stoppage, but each add costs a bench minor for illegal substitution (Rule 203(a)). In adult hockey that’s two minutes (Rule 402).
• If no goalie can play, the team puts in a temporary goalkeeper, a skater who takes the net with goalie privileges until a listed goalie is available, or plays an extra skater with no goalie privileges (Rule 203(d) and the Glossary).
• The casebook lays out the options: play six skaters, take a short delay while a skater grabs the goalie’s chest protector, gloves and stick, or play on while a skater changes into full gear in the room (Casebook, Rule 206, Situation 6).

The takeaway: get your EBUG’s name on the scoresheet before puck drop. A goalie who walks in during the first period can still play, but it can cost you two minutes.

Then there’s your league. A handbook can add its own rules on top of the rulebook. Here’s how one adult league’s handbook handles goalie fill-ins:

• Skaters can’t sub in, but a goalie can when the team’s rostered goalie can’t play.
• The fill-in has to be registered on a team in the same league, within one level of the team they’re helping.
• A playoff fill-in has to be cleared with the league office before the game.
• In the senior division, where goalies have to be 40 or older, an emergency fill-in needs the other team’s OK.
• Your goalie can’t bring in a fill-in just to skate for a night.

Read yours before you need it, not in the parking lot.

How rec GMs find one.

There’s no magic list. Here’s the order I work through as a GM:

1. Know early. The sooner your goalie says they’re out, the more time you have. Ask for the RSVP days ahead, not the afternoon of.
2. Start in your own league. Goalies on other teams are the obvious pool, and your handbook may require the fill-in to come from there anyway. Check the level rule before you ask.
3. Work the schedule. A goalie who plays the slot before yours is already at the rink with the gear on. Catch them before they get undressed.
4. Ask the league. Whoever runs it sees every goalie on every roster in the league.
5. Get the name on the scoresheet. Before puck drop, so nobody argues about a bench minor in the first period.
6. Have a plan B. If nobody bites, the rulebook still lets you play: six skaters, or a skater in the pads. It won’t be pretty. It’s still hockey.

And look after your EBUG. They’re giving up a night and owe you nothing. Most do it for the extra ice. Say thanks, point them to the beer, and return the favor when their team is the one short a goalie.

If you’re the goalie getting the call.

Saying yes is the easy part. A few things save you a headache:

• Check you’re eligible. If the league has a fill-in rule like the one above, make sure you fit it, playoffs included.
• Ask what they wear. USA Hockey wants every player on a team dressed alike (Rule 203(b)). Bring a light and a dark jersey if you have both.
• Get on their scoresheet. Before puck drop, with a number nobody else on their bench is wearing. Every player on the game roster wears a visible number from 0 to 99 (Rule 203(b)).
• Play your game. You’re not trying out. Stop pucks, shake hands, go home.

Where Bifrost Sports fits.

In Bifrost Sports, a GM can see which goalies are on call for a game and send one an EBUG ask Available now. The goalie gets a push with the game time, the matchup and who’s asking, and answers In or Out from the app. If they’re in, they play that one game and never land on your roster.

It won’t pull a goalie out of thin air. If nobody’s on call, nobody answers. What it does is save you working down a contact list, guessing who can play. Bifrost Sports doesn’t touch money for an EBUG either. Whatever you work out with your goalie stays between you two. The rest of the GM side is on Bifrost Sports for teams.

Goalies, an EBUG game counts in your stats and gets an EBUG tag in your game log, but the team you helped never becomes a chapter in your season and career history Available now. Want more ice than emergencies bring? Put your name in the sub pool and say which nights you’re open Available now. The rest of the player side is on Bifrost Sports for players.

Bifrost Sports isn’t affiliated with USA Hockey, the NHL, the PWHL, the NCAA or any league or governing body.