Bishop thrilled to get call to sit on Leafs bench

U of T student serves as backup in Toronto nets

Alex Bishop missed his date with destiny by nearly two years, but sitting at the end of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ bench Saturday was still a thrill.

It was Bishop’s night off as the rotating replacement goaltender at Scotiabank on Feb. 22, 2020, when 43-yearold Zamboni driver David Ayres was called on by Carolina and wound up preserving a win over the Leafs and being celebrated throughout the sports world and on late night U.S. TV.

That was the night James Reimer and Petr Mrazek were both hurt in the Hurricanes net and it was a Mrazek injury, this time as a Leaf, that opened the door again Saturday for Bishop, the fourth-year University of Toronto Blues’ commerce student from Richmond Hill.

“A great experience,” said Bishop, who wore No. 70. “(Stepping out) for warm-up, with the flash of the cameras was pretty surreal. It’s pretty distracting, but cool to get in there and taking some shots.

“It’s not lost on me that this is a pretty rare opportunity. I’m pretty lucky to be cheering for my hometown team.”

He let his parents know in the morning and they made it to the game, but he eventually turned off his phone as the calls and messages piled up.

“I watched that (Ayres) game. A day later and that would’ve been me. The first period I was pretty nervous, the second it started to ease, the third I soaked it all in.”

When Leafs starting goalie Jack Campbell came to the bench for timeouts, he gave Bishop a fist bump to make him feel at home.

The next Toronto-ottawa match will be New Year’s Day, when Brady Tkachuk is presumably rolling for the Sens. But coach D.J.

IT’S NOT LOST ON ME THAT THIS IS A PRETTY RARE OPPORTUNITY.

Smith didn’t want the newly re-signed star to make his season debut this weekend while still shaking rust away from missing training camp.

“If it were up to him, he’d be out there tonight,” Smith said Saturday morning.

“But my job as coach is to protect him. Since I came here, it’s about being a good team for a long time. Brady’s a huge part of that and we have to make sure we take care that he’s 100 per cent and we set him up for success.”