EBUGs and honesty: How Utah HC's Karel Vejmelka is handling being an every-game goalie

VANCOUVER — Each NHL team is required to maintain a list of local non-professional goaltenders that can be called upon if the home or visiting team is in a pinch. These emergency backup goalies — or EBUGs, for short — rarely actually see any game time action.

They sit in the stands during games and then carry on with their lives. In the history of the NHL, there have been only six instances in which emergency backup goalies have logged minutes in a game.

But Utah is discovering they have more value than just that.

On Saturday, a goalie with unfamiliar pads and an unfamiliar face took the ice for the Utah Hockey Club during a practice in Vancouver.

Utah netminder Karel Vejmelka is set to make his 10th straight start on Sunday against the Canucks (6 p.m. MDT, Channel 16/SEG+). That number could rise to 11 or 12 or 13 or many more as the team continues its push for the playoffs.

"For us, it's playoff time," head coach André Tourigny said. "So if it was the playoffs, and you will ask how you plan to manage his ice time, my answer will be pretty easy. So that's the way we see it."

Which means a whole lot for the guy they call Veggie.

Vejmelka has a claim to being Utah's MVP this season. He's been a top-10 goalie in plenty of metrics and has kept Utah in games it probably shouldn't have been in. In short, Utah has a better chance to win when he is on the ice — especially now that Connor Ingram is away from the team for the foreseeable future.

So how to manage the increased load? To Utah, that comes down to managing his recovery.

"You need to practice to keep a skill at the high level, but you can have shorter practice and use an EBUG, you can do half of the practice or not taking shots after the morning skate — those kinds of things to make sure we keep the workload lower," Tourigny said.

So Saturday won't be the last time a new goalie pops up for Utah during a practice or a morning skate as Utah tries to lighten the burden on Vejmelka any way it can. He's going to play a lot in games; might as well limit the practice reps.

"The organization does everything they can to have an EBUG on site all the time, make sure we can manage his workload," Tourigny said. "He cannot get exhausted in practice and stuff like that. He needs to keep his skill level, but no more than that."

For his part, Vejmelka said he is comfortable being an every-game goalie — and he may even prefer it. He said it allows him to get into a groove when he knows he will be minding the net each time Utah takes the ice.

"I love to play every game, and my body works pretty well when I'm in the rhythm," Vejmelka said. "So it's good to know I'm playing and we can set my mind on that."

But part of this marathon stretch for Vejmelka will be about knowing when his body isn't right or when it's time to take a rest. So far, at least, he's been effective during the run. Utah is 5-2-2 in the nine straight games that Vejmelka has started — a sixth win on Sunday in Vancouver would go a long way in Utah reaching the postseason.

"At the end of the day, you can all the metrics you want in the world, you know your level of energy and you need to be honest," Tourigny said. "You cannot fake it. We need to be in tune and be honest to each other."

So far, Vejmelka said he hasn't felt the strain of the extra games.

"It's kind of the same, actually," he said. "We're tired all season, so it's nothing special."

Honest? Maybe, but his games-played streak is making Utah try some unique things.

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