Need a goalie? Seagraves is there in a pinch for Blue Jackets

It was like watching a game with your friends -- if your friends play for the Columbus Blue Jackets, and you are one freak occurrence away from being on the Nationwide Arena ice in front of nearly 20,000 people.
When CBJ goalie Elvis Merzlikins exited Monday night's game following a collision with Ottawa's Anthony Duclair, Bailey Seagraves headed from his customary seat in the press box to his car. He grabbed his goalie gear, entered the bowels of Nationwide Arena and was, for all intents and purposes, one second away from making his NHL debut.

The emergency backup goaltender (EBUG) for all games at Nationwide Arena also has served as a practice goalie for the Blue Jackets over the past few years. So when he walked into the CBJ dressing room to start putting his gear on in case he'd be called at a moment's notice, he was greeted by a number of the injured Blue Jackets he's spent his time stopping in practice.
From there, Seagraves watched the rest of the game from the players' lounge at the arena level of Nationwide Arena, at once enjoying the ribbing the CBJ players were giving him and knowing he was in the hot seat should anything happen to Joonas Korpisalo.
"They loved it," said Seagraves, who often gives goaltending lessons at The Battery, the central Ohio hockey training academy of which Cam Atkinson is a part owner.
"Cam loved it, especially.

. He caught me mid-change. Of course he didn't get my good side, but that's OK. Some of the guys, we just hung out there and just chit-chatted, the usual. I think they were more bummed that I wasn't on the bench than I was, but it was fun."
Oh yeah, and there's that. After Merzlikins left the game midway through the second period, Seagraves put on his gear at a locker stall in the dressing room and took that seat when the Blue Jackets came back for intermission.
And once he was suited up, Seagraves was ready to join the Blue Jackets on the bench for the third period. But per NHL rules, it made sense for him to stay in the locker room -- for one thing, he is only allowed to take warmup shots should he have to enter a game if he's not on the bench -- so instead he continued to watch the game from the team lounge.
"The boys were pretty bummed for me," Seagraves said of not being able to make his bench debut. "Typically, I sit there and have my lower gear on, just half my stuff, but how often do you get to put the (Blue Jackets) jersey on? So I sat there and sweated my butt off in the hot players' lounge in full gear."
Seeing that sweater -- equipment manager Tim LeRoy quickly added Seagraves' name to the No. 1 jersey he keeps for emergency backups -- was the culmination of a lifelong dream for the Hilliard native.
He grew up playing for the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets, and for a while, it looked like he could be among the central Ohio natives to make it big out of the program that has developed such NHL players as Kiefer and Kole Sherwood, Connor Murphy, Jack Roslovic and Sean Kuraly before injuries halted his career.

"He definitely was at the level of a Division I goaltender," said Ed Gingher, the longtime head of the AAA program. "He was recruited by some schools at different times, and if it wasn't for the injuries that he had to work through at unfortunately key times in his career, he would have definitely been at the minimum a Division I college goalie and have the capability of not only playing at that level but I think being successful at that level."
The highest level he reached came in 2016-17 when he played for the Kenai River Brown Bears of the NAHL, a league that often sends players into college hockey and occasionally onward to the NHL, too. But that also was Seagraves' last year in organized hockey, as he played 18 games with that team located just south of Anchorage, Alaska.
At that point, given his talent, youth and local ties, Seagraves was the perfect person for Gingher to recommend to the Blue Jackets to serve as the goalie on call. He's also worked to establish himself as an up-and-coming goalie coach who works with The Battery, the AAA Blue Jackets program and his own goaltending school that he's set up for private lessons.
Seagraves also sees the Blue Jackets shooters all the time behind the scenes as well. Seagraves is often at the beck and call of assistant coach Kenny McCudden when he needs a goalie for the team's pre-practice skills workouts, and he also joins the Blue Jackets for their full practices -- as he did Thursday -- whenever a goalie is hurt or simply needs a day off.
"He's awesome," CBJ captain Nick Foligno said. "He's a guy that comes in and works hard for us and has the respect from us. He might not get the appreciation that he deserves, but he knows that as players we really respect what he does. He's prepared for every game and every practice. It's not an easy job what those guys go through."
But the gig that earns him the most notice is being emergency backup at Nationwide Arena for each game. Every NHL arena has an EBUG designated in case both goalies for a team become injured, a rare but real circumstance, as was proved when 42-year-old David Ayres had to step into the net and earned the win for Carolina on Saturday vs. Toronto.
In his three years as the arena's EBUG, Seagraves had previously been sent to grab his gear twice, both earlier this season. Henrik Lundqvist was ill during a Dec. 5 game when the Blue Jackets hosted the New York Rangers, and Jan. 14 he suited up behind the scenes for Boston when Tuukka Rask left the game after a collision with Emil Bemstrom.
"I think that doing it for the Jackets is a little bit more special to me," Seagraves said. "I got to do it for the Bruins and the Rangers earlier this year. That was fun, those were my first two times, but to be with the team that I'm here practicing with regularly and I have relationships with the guys and things like that, it was a little more special. They were loving it."
But, much like Ayres, Seagraves would be all business no matter who he'd go into a game for should the need arise. The EBUG has become a position of much intrigue around the game, starting in March 2018 when Scott Foster -- accountant by day, but a former Western Michigan University goalie who had been playing rec league hockey by night -- had to play the final 14:01 of a win for the Blackhawks.
The story of Ayres, however, has captured the attention of not just the hockey world but the general public as well. He backstopped the final 28:41 of Carolina's victory on Saturday, earning the win by making eight saves on 10 shots after James Reimer hurt his knee and Petr Mrazek was hurt in a collision. Since, he's made appearances on television shows across the country and been given a hero's reception by the Canes during Tuesday night's home game.
As the legend of Ayres built Saturday night as the Hurricanes pulled out the win, Seagraves' phone started to buzz from buddies.
"It's amazing," he said. "It's a huge dream for everyone who is in this position. You flip it on and you're like, 'Holy cow. Good for that guy.' I'm really happy he went in and got to live that dream out."
One day, that might be Seagraves, but on a day-to-day basis, he's enjoying what he has. At just 23 years old, he's hoping facing the best players in the world on a daily basis earns him another shot to make a run at his pro dream. In the meantime, he's happy serving in his role as teacher, coach, practice goalie and emergency backup.
"I'm just taking it day by day," he said. "Honestly, (the coaching business) is growing and it's great and I love it. At the end of the day, if this is all I do at this point, I can't complain about it at all. But if anything came up, I would definitely love another opportunity to continue playing. I'm only 23 so I'm still pretty young."