Hurricanes to honor goalie Ayres at next home game

Raleigh, North Carolina is prepared to celebrate David Ayres when the Carolina Hurricanes come home Tuesday.

Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin proclaimed Tuesday "David Ayres Day" in the North Carolina capital, and the emergency backup goalie will crank the siren before Carolina's game against the Dallas Stars.

Carolina began selling Ayres jersey t-shirts online after he made eight saves on 10 shots in a 6-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs and had sold more than 3,200 as of Sunday. The Hurricanes will continue to sell the shirts at their team store at PNC Arena, and give a portion of proceeds to Ayres and a kidney foundation of his choice. Ayres received a kidney-transplant in 2004.

Before Ayres gets to Carolina, he will have a whirlwind day in New York City on Monday.
The suddenly in-demand goalie has a full schedule of TV and radio shows, including stops at "The Today Show," "Fox & Friends" and "SportsCenter," before flying to Raleigh.
Ayers, 42, is a maintenance operations manager at Mattamy Athletic Centre and practice goalie for the Maple Leafs and their American Hockey League affiliate in Toronto. He became the oldest goalie to win his NHL debut after James Reimer (lower-body) and Petr Mrazek (upper-body) were injured Saturday.
Ayres' story
generated buzz on social media
after the win, and people were still talking about him Sunday even when he practiced with the Marlies.
"There was only a couple of guys I skated with … but they were great," Ayres told NBC. "They came right up to me and said, 'Congratulations. We're so proud of you. Good job,' so they were very receptive."
The Whitby, Ontario, native was named the game's No. 1 star and was inspired by the reception he received after returning to ice to acknowledge the crowd.
"It was really cool," Ayres told Sportsnet on Sunday. "I was surprised how many people stuck around in the arena afterwards, and the ovation I got from the Toronto fans, even though I wasn't on the Toronto team, was fantastic."