"We thought it was so neat that maybe he can be a backup catcher for the night, have some fun, and [we can] honor him in our special way. It's totally genuine. We thought it was such a unique, fun, cool story and wanted to extend the invite," Dambach said. "We're huge sports fans and we're in baseball, and you just try to think, what would be an equivalent situation to losing goalies and finding an emergency guy? In baseball, there probably wouldn't be any scenario where you'd sign a guy off the street."
Mark Olsen, 51, who plays with Foster on the team called 200x85 at Johnny's, said it couldn't have happened to a better person.
"I know it's cliche, but this guy is humble. He gets it, even for our games, he's a professional in life. That's probably why the Blackhawks found him somehow or someone recommended him," Olsen said. "Even for our beer-league games, he's the first in the room, he's dressed before everyone, he's warming up five minutes before us. Sometimes we'll show up with six or seven guys, he doesn't care. He stands tall. Nothing fazes the kid."
Matt Atsoff, 31, a forward for 200x85, got a text message about Foster's appearance. Unable to find the game at home, he ran to a nearby bar to watch it.
"He's a great guy, always the first one on the ice, so he's passionate about the game, as we all are," Atsoff said. "I was just super excited to see him get a shot to play in the NHL. As we're all kids playing hockey, it's something we dream about."
Foster is expected to play for 200x85 against the Chicago Chargers in Game 1 of their best-of-3 semifinal at Johnny's on April 6. The Blackhawks' final home game of the season, against the St. Louis Blues, is the same night.
"We may have to argue with the Blackhawks, because we need him," Olsen said.
Foster downplayed his performance on Thursday, saying, "You've got a four-goal lead to work with and the guys, how many shots did they block?"