Emergency backup goalies, better known as EBUGs. They were one of the coolest quirks of the NHL.

An aging, beer-league hero, told to put down the hot dog and grab his pads. Wearing a hastily sewn jersey and a mask from a decade ago, he’s suddenly sitting next to the best hockey players in the world, one tweaked ankle away from manning the net during a real NHL game.

It happened, rarely, when both of a team’s goalies were ill or injured.

The most recent collective bargaining agreement put an end to that concept as we knew it. Starting this season, teams are required to employ their own emergency replacement during the regular season. The goaltenders will generally be staff members who travel with the team.

Now, the process kind of works in reverse.…