Los Angeles Kings will hold open tryouts to find emergency goaltender

The Los Angeles Kings will be holding open tryouts to find an emergency goaltender for the 2017-18 season on Sept. 27, the team announced this week. If you live in the L.A. area and have been dreaming of the chance to potentially play in an NHL game, this is it.

“Candidates must be at least 18 years old and have played a high level of amateur hockey, but must not have signed a contract to play in a professional league,” the team said in its announcement.

Every NHL team is required to have an extra goaltender that it can call upon in case of emergencies. For example, the Blackhawks dressed former Temple club hockey goalie Eric Semborski to back up Scott Darling in a game against the Flyers last year when Corey Crawford fell ill. Semborski didn’t play, but he would’ve had Darling gotten injured.

The Kings are looking for their very own equivalent of Semborski in the L.A. area. “The NHL requires each home team to have an emergency goalie in the stands for every game and we thought this would be a good opportunity to see who in our area is best qualified for the job,” Kings president Luc Robataille said. “It will be interesting, that is for sure.”

Only 30 goaltenders will be selected to participate in the tryouts, but anyone who is eligible can apply here. The team says RSVP is required and “walkup registrations will not be accepted.”

If you’re wondering what the application looks like for becoming an NHL emergency goalie, here it is:

I’m guessing for those last two questions, they’re looking for answers beyond, “One time I made a sick save in gym class,” or “I’m the goaltender on my EASHL team.”

The actual tryouts will take place from 1-3 p.m. local time at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, Calif. Good luck to everyone looking to make their dream come true.