Jorge Alves

Jorge Alves (pronounced George Ahlves; born January 30, 1979) is an American equipment manager for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL) and a 2026 Stanley Cup Champion. He is best known for playing goaltender for the Hurricanes at the very end of one game during the 2016–17 season, only playing for 7.6 seconds, the shortest career for a goalie in NHL history.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. While serving as backup, Alves engaged in his regular duties as equipment manager, such as sharpening skates and taping sticks. 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.

In 2026, while still working as the Hurricanes' equipment manager, Alves was engraved on the Stanley Cup after Carolina won.

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

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP W L T OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2002–03 North Carolina State University ACHA II — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 2004–05 Asheville Aces SPHL 2 0 1 0 — 49 8 0 9.75 .680 — — — — — — — — 2005–06 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 1 0 0 — 0 4 0 0 0.00 1.000 — — — — — — — — 2005–06 Greenville Grrrowl ECHL 1 0 0 — 0 29 1 0 2.08 .875 — — — — — — — — 2006–07 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 1 0 0 — 0 — 0 0 0.00 1.000 — — — — — — — — 2006–07 Charlotte Checkers ECHL 2 0 0 — 0 — 0 0 0.00 1.000 — — — — — — — — 2006–07 Pensacola Ice Pilots ECHL 2 0 0 — 0 25 5 0 11.90 .722 — — — — — — — — 2016–17 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 1 0 0 — 0 1 0 0 0.00 1.000 — — — — — — — — NHL totals 1 0 0 — 0 1 0 0 0.00 1.000 — — — — — — — —