Justin Kowalkoski, otherwise known as Moose, was forced into action as the San Jose Sharks’ backup goalie against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.

Kowalkoski is a Professional Geologist in daily life, serving as the Flyers’ emergency backup goalie for many years. Tonight marked the closest he’s ever gotten to NHL action.

“This is actually the fifth team that I’ve dressed for. I’ve dressed for the [Vancouver] Canucks, the [Ottawa] Senators, the [Detroit] Red Wings, and the [Pittsburgh] Penguins before,” Kowalkoski said. “That was my rookie lap today. Won’t have to do that next time, if it happens. I think it was [Ryan] Reaves’ idea. He made sure I got it.”

Kowalkoski, who is 39, recognizes that due to changes in the NHL’s CBA, this is likely his last season as an EBUG. The Sharks’ goalie says that as soon as he got the call from the Sharks around 4:30 p.m., he began scrambling to call his family and friends. He told reporters that his wife and two kids were able to attend the game with a great view of him on the Sharks bench.

“Being so close to the ice for the whole game. I mean, it was so much fun. Frankly, my wife and kids were sitting directly across the ice from me, and they left early, because we’ve got young kids, but when they were there, I was able to make eye contact and give them a couple of waves. That was really special,” Kowalkoski said.

San Jose Sharks starting netminder Alex Nedeljkovic told reporters that he tried to interact with Kowalkoski as if he were just part of the team regularly.

“I literally talked to him like I was talking to Asky,” Nedeljkovic said. “Just trying to keep it light. I try to talk a little bit about what’s going on in the game and what I’m seeing. Stuff like that.”

For Kowalkoski, interacting with Nedeljkovic and the entire team was something he’ll never forget.

“They were extremely nice. It was really great,” Kowalkoski said. “A lot of the guys came up and said hi and introduced themselves. Very welcoming. Honestly, it was a great experience all around.”

Nedeljkovic revealed Kowalkoski’s nickname to the media, so the Sharks EBUG was promptly asked where it came from.

“It actually goes back to my freshman year of college. It was like our second captain’s practice, so a very long time ago, and one of the guys on the team thought that I played like Johan Hedberg, who went by the nickname Moose,” Kowalkoski. “He was called up. I think he played for the Manitoba Moose and was called up in the playoffs for the Penguins way back when. That was how it ended up with me, and it stuck very quickly.”

Kowalkoski didn’t think the Sharks held back on him during warmup, but still, he enjoyed every second of the moment.

“I don’t think they took it easy at all. I’m not sure I made more than one save. It was, to say the least,” Kowalkoski said. “I think that they were using me as practice for scoring goals. Hopefully, I didn’t take all the goal scoring away, and that’s why they only had one goal tonight.”

The one-time San Jose Sharks goalie said he has over 100 text messages to catch up on and that multiple teammates from his beer league team were able to get tickets at the last moment. He’s seen a bunch of photos and can’t wait to see what else he can use as memories for his once-in-a-lifetime moment.

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