Ayres was on a whirlwind media tour on Monday, starting with NBC's "Today" where they called his mother, Mary, on air.
Ayres appears on 'Today'
Ayres could barely hold back the tears on the show as his mother gushed over her son, and not just his historic performance on Saturday night.
During the near eight-minute interview, Ayres also mentioned that he got a text message from
Scott Foster, the last EBUG to play in an NHL game
. Foster, an accountant by day, stopped seven shots in for the Chicago Blackhawks back on March 29. 2018.
Interestingly enough, there was only one other EBUG besides Ayres and Foster to ever see game action. And he was in the building for Ayres' game.
Jorge Alves, a Hurricanes equipment manager for the past seven years,
played the closing seconds of their game on December 31, 2016
. Alves routinely fills in at practice and was signed as an EBUG in place of an ill Eddie Lack that night. He was inserted into the closing seconds by then-Hurricanes coach Bill Peters.
In addition to the popular NBC morning show, Ayres appeared on "The Dan LeBatard Show" where he joked about doing his usual leg workout in the afternoon, thinking there would be no chance he'd get it in during the game.
Ayres on LeBatard Show
He also appeared on ESPN Radio's "Golic and Wingo."