Jorge Alves (ice hockey)

Jorge Alves (pronounced George Ahlves; born January 30, 1979) is an American equipment manager for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is best known for playing goaltender for the Hurricanes at the very end of one game during the 2016–17 season. With a total career playing time of 7.6 seconds, Alves' career is the shortest in NHL history.

Jorge Alves
Born (1979-01-30) January 30, 1979
Stoughton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for Carolina Hurricanes
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2004–2007
2016

Early life

Alves was born in Stoughton, Massachusetts, a twin brother in a Portuguese-American family. He began playing ice hockey at 14 or 15 years old, not having been able to afford it previously. He graduated from Stoughton High School where he played goaltender on the school's hockey team.[1]

He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1997 to 2001. While he was in boot camp, his parents withheld offer letters from junior and college hockey teams, fearing that he would regret his decision to enlist.[1] Alves then attended North Carolina State University, where he was the Wolfpack club's starting goaltender.[2]

Professional career

Alves played professional hockey for the Greenville Grrrowl, South Carolina Stingrays, Charlotte Checkers and Pensacola Ice Pilots of the ECHL and Asheville Aces of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). He played nine games across the two leagues between 2004 and 2007.[3]

During the 2003–04 season, Alves was hired as an assistant equipment manager of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He became a full-time equipment manager for the team during the 2012–13 season.[4]

Alves gained significant attention on December 31, 2016, when he signed a professional try-out contract to serve as a backup goaltender for the Hurricanes in their game later that day, due to the illness of Eddie Läck, who had suffered a concussion.[5][6] While serving as backup, Alves engaged in his regular duties as equipment manager, such as sharpening skates and taping sticks.[7][8] With the Hurricanes losing 3–1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Lightning having iced the puck at the end of the game, Hurricanes' coach Bill Peters put Alves in the net in place of starting goalie Cam Ward for the final seconds of the match. He faced no shots in his debut.[7] At age 37, Alves become one of the oldest players in NHL history to make their debut, and with 7.6 seconds of action, Alves achieved the second shortest debut in league history, behind Kellan Lain, who recorded a two-second debut in 2014. Additionally, Alves set records for both the shortest debut by a goaltender and shortest NHL career, surpassing both Robbie Irons and Christian Soucy, who each played for three minutes in their NHL careers.[9]

Personal life

Alves speaks Portuguese.[1] He has two children with his wife, Amanda.[5] Alves met his wife at a nightclub in Raleigh, North Carolina which would later become the site of a Hurricanes practice facility.[1]

See also
  • David Ayres, who in 2020 became the first emergency goalie to record an NHL win
  • Scott Foster, NHL emergency goalie who in 2018 played 14 minutes in relief for the Chicago Blackhawks
  • Eric Semborski, Philadelphia Flyers emergency goalie, whose substitution was attempted in 2017, but was removed by the referee as the primary goalie was not injured.

References
  1. Koutroumpis, Peter (January 1, 2017). "Right Here, Right Now: For Hurricanes equipment manager Jorge Alves, it's all for the love of the game". Triangle Sports Network. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  2. "Equipment manager bios". hurricanes.ice.nhl.com. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  3. "Jorge Alves Profile". Eliteprospects.com. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  4. "NHL team plays equipment manager in goal". The New Zealand Herald. January 1, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  5. Preseton, Ken (December 31, 2016). "Hurricanes Sign Alves to Professional Tryout". Carolina Hurricanes. National Hockey League. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  6. Markovich, Jeremy (December 19, 2017). "The Improbable 7.6-Second NHL Career of Jorge Alves". Our State Magazine. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  7. Tucker, Cam (December 31, 2016). "Hurricanes equipment manager Jorge Alves makes (brief) NHL debut in net — at age 37". NBC Sports. NBCUniversal. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  8. "Canes equipment manager plays final 7.6 seconds in net". ESPN. ESPN Inc. January 1, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  9. Weekes, Don (2003). The Unofficial Guide to Hockey's Most Unusual Records. Canada: Greystone Publishing. pp. 240. ISBN 9781550549423.
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