Daren Millard is the Golden Knights' EBUG

Francis broke it on air during the Flames game and then posted the details, including the best line of the night from Vegas' goalie coach.

Eric Francis

@EricFrancis

As I just revealed during the Flames broadcast, the Vegas Golden Knights’ EBUG is Daren Millard. The 56-year-old broadcaster is a former Dauphin Kings netminder who is the current host for Knights’ games. He’s been skating as a fill-in for the team for several years and looked solid during this morning’s skate. Goalie coach Sean Burke speaks highly of Millard’s ability, jokingly telling him his best quality is that he’s available.

That Sean Burke line is perfect. The scouting report on a 56-year-old guy who played for the Dauphin Kings is not his rebound control. It's that he is always in the building. Millard is at T-Mobile Arena hosting the pregame, intermission and postgame shows anyway, so the guy who would need to throw the pads on in an emergency is already standing 100 feet away holding a microphone. Francis also says Millard has been skating as a fill-in for the team for several years and looked solid at the morning skate, which is more than most of us could say about anything we did at 56.

This one didn't come out of nowhere, either. PuckPedia had it back in September, reporting that multiple sources heard Millard would likely get the job, though they said then that they couldn't confirm it. Once Francis said it on air, they took their victory lap.

PuckPedia

@PuckPedia

Our report from September about Daren Millard likely being the #vegasborn EBUG was just confirmed by @EricFrancis

PuckPedia@PuckPedia

We haven't been able to confirm, but multiple sources have heard that the #VegasBorn emergency backup goalie (EBUG) this season could be veteran broadcaster Daren Millard. t.co/0ulX0CsxL3

Hockey fans will know Millard's name from before Vegas. He spent 20 years at Sportsnet starting in 1998, hosting Wednesday Night Hockey, Hockey Central at Noon and regional Maple Leafs broadcasts, and he hosted the 2010 Olympic men's hockey coverage. He left Sportsnet in 2018 and joined the Golden Knights' broadcast team in September 2019. The voice of a big part of Canadian hockey TV is now 1 bad night away from being the most famous EBUG since David Ayres.

Under the NHL's EBUG setup, that bad night would be a real thing. The league's 2026-27 EBUG list says the emergency goalie dresses with his team, wears No. 00, and practices and travels with the club. Eligibility is limited to goalies who have never played an NHL game on a standard contract, haven't played more than 80 pro games and haven't played pro hockey in the previous 3 seasons. A former junior goalie who now works in TV fits that pretty easily. When the NHL published the list on October 2, Vegas was the one team with no name next to it. Now we know why.

So keep an eye on how long Vegas' goalies stay healthy. EBUG appearances are rare, and the odds of Millard getting into a game are tiny. But if 2 Knights goalies go down on the same night, the guy at the host desk could be in net while somebody else has to run the intermission show. Burke already told everyone what Millard's best quality is.