NHL BACKUPS

One quirk of collecting goalie rookie cards: NHLPA licensing rules have long treated dressing as the backup goalie as equivalent to an NHL appearance for rookie-card eligibility, even if the goalie never leaves the bench. That exception exists because a dressed backup is an active member of the game roster and can enter the game at any moment, with or without notice. As a result, several goalies have official rookie cards despite never recording a single second of NHL playing time. You will find their rookie cards here.