Christian Rusu will have quite the story to tell when he goes back to Broadview Public School with his Grade 8 class next week.
One minute late Monday morning, the 13-year-old house league goaltender was laughing with his friends, taking off his equipment in the dressing room after a hockey camp session at the Bell Sensplex.
The next minute, he was back on the ice, facing shots from the Ottawa Senators' Chris Kelly, Chris Neil, Chris Phillips, Shean Donovan, Anton Volchenkov and Jason Smith and several other National Hockey League players.
While NHL training camps don't begin until mid-September, many players have already returned to the ice for informal pick-up games to get ready for the season.
However, one of the expected goaltenders failed to show on Monday so the call went out for an immediate replacement.
Enter Christian.
As he put his equipment back on, he could hear the sounds of NHL players warming up, their heavy shots ringing off goal-posts and crossbars and echoing off the end boards, no doubt wondering what he was getting himself into.
