Chris Levesque

Chris Levesque (born August 6, 1980) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender for the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderbirds from 2001 to 2005. On December 9, 2003, under bizarre circumstances, he was called up to serve for one game as a backup goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He came very close to playing when starting goaltender Johan Hedberg collided with a player from the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, Hedberg recovered, and Levesque ultimately did not play in the game. Levesque has since worked as a chef in Vancouver.

Call-up to Vancouver On December 9, 2003, the Canucks were hosts to the Pittsburgh Penguins. That morning, their starting goalie Dan Cloutier injured his groin. The Canucks planned to start Johan Hedberg in Cloutier's place, but they still needed a backup. Under normal circumstances, they would have recalled Alex Auld from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Manitoba Moose. However, the Moose were on the East Coast, several time zones away, and Auld could not arrive in Vancouver on time. Because of amateur call-up rules, the Canucks could not recruit the T-Birds' top two goaltenders, Kevin Swanson and Robert Filc. Levesque finished the game as a backup; the closest he came to any game action was taking warm-up shots before the game.

Life after the game

In May 2007, The Province interviewed Levesque to reflect on his life since his experience with the Canucks. For a few days after the game, he enjoyed brief celebrity. He said that he treasured the experience, and refuses to watch the only video tape he owns of the game, for fear of his VCR destroying it. Levesque later tried out for the ECHL's Augusta Lynx, but ended his career after suffering two major concussions. He is also married to Registered Clinical Counsellor Jillian Levesque (Schmidt), and father to a new daughter.

Career statistics All statistics are from the regular season.

Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SA SO GAA SV% 2001–02 University of British Columbia CIS 12 1 5 2 571 36 359 1 3.78 0.900 2002–03 University of British Columbia CIS 13 3 6 0 547 45 319 0 4.94 0.859 2003–04 University of British Columbia CIS 14 1 7 1 599 43 358 0 4.31 0.880 2004–05 University of British Columbia CIS 8 0 6 2 351 30 190 0 5.13 0.842 CIS Totals 47 5 24 5 2068 154 1226 1 4.47 0.874