Stewart enjoys dream-come-true moment as Blues emergency backup goalie

ST. LOUIS -- Tyler Stewart had no intention of waking up his wife when she got home from her job as a nurse at Saint Louis University Hospital on Thursday.
But he knew she wouldn't want to miss
his chance to play for the St. Louis Blues
.

Stewart, who played for the Saint Louis University men's club hockey team while attending school there, signed an amateur tryout agreement to back up starting goaltender Jake Allen prior to the Blues' game against the Dallas Stars at Scottrade Center on Thursday.
"I woke her up and I was like, 'Listen, I'm sorry I woke you up, but I'm going down to do warmups tonight,'" Stewart said. "She's like, 'Are you serious?' I'm like, 'Yeah," and she's like, 'OK, well, I'm getting up.' And I'm like, 'OK, let's go." It's crazy. It's awesome."
Backup goaltender Carter Hutton sustained a lower-body injury during the morning skate. The Blues called up goalie Ville Husso from San Antonio of the American Hockey League, but they were unsure if he could get to the arena before the game started.
So the Blues turned to Stewart, who has skated with the team sporadically since 2012-13.
The call came after he had worked his shift at his father's company, Cardinal Vending Inc.

"I was up like at 5 a.m. like I normally do, going through the day, and then all of the sudden I get home and the call came," Stewart said. "I was completely caught off-guard by it. It's just nuts to describe it. Dream-come-true obviously to be able to do the warmups and everything. I thought maybe there was an off-chance I sit on the bench or something like that. But awesome to do the warmups and everything."
Stewart had tickets to go to the game with his parents, Scott and Jennifer. They have season tickets in section 313.
But instead of starting the night in his seats, Stewart had a stall in the Blues' locker room. He wore No. 98 and was in on all pregame activities, including coach Mike Yeo's pregame speech, and faced shots during warmups.
"It's crazy how loose they are," Stewart said. "You would think they might be a little tight, but they were just joking around. You wouldn't think they were even playing a hockey game. A cool environment, nothing like I've ever experienced before obviously.

"I sat next to [Vladimir] Tarasenko. He was awesome. He and [Vladimir] Sobotka were asking me how to spell 'scissors' because they were confused on the spelling. They were calling it like Caesar, like Caesar salad, and they were asking me, and I was like, 'No, it's scissors.' It was pretty funny. They just talked to me like I was one of the guys."
Stewart was on call in the back room while the game, a 3-0 victory for the Blues, was being played and could have gone in if Allen were injured. But Husso arrived and was on the bench with 5:09 remaining in the first period.
"That's pretty exciting for him, that's pretty cool," Yeo said of Stewart. "It's a pretty good thrill for him and fun when someone can come in and be part of what you have going on. You're coming in, you're part of the team."
Allen said he didn't get much interaction with Stewart but felt it was good for him to be a part of the mix.
"I just said a quick hello and all I knew, Ville was here," Allen said. "... It's pretty cool to see guys get chances like that."

Photos courtesy of St. Louis Blues