This story originally aired on Jan. 20, 2017. This week it appears again as part of our Equipment Show.

This is a story about a guy you've probably never heard of. His name's Jorge Alves.

"Trust me, I'm not used to getting requests for interviews and stuff," Jorge says.

Jorge is an equipment manager for the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes. It's a job you might call thankless — at the very least, it doesn’t get him in front of many microphones.

Jorge is responsible for things like keeping players' skates sharp and their sticks taped. The Hurricanes players seem to really love Jorge — he's been working with the team for 14 years. And Jorge loves his job.

"You know, I like to serve people," Jorge says. "Like, I enjoy being able to help the guys get ready for a game -- whatever they might need."

And last December, the Hurricanes players needed Jorge to do something that’s way outside his job description.

He called his wife right away.

"Even just thinking about it right now makes me a little emotional, 'cause when my wife answered the phone, I said, 'Honey, it's gonna happen tonight.' And I remember, she said, she goes, 'Are you kidding? Is this a joke?' And I said, 'No, honey. It's not a joke. This is happening,' " Jorge says.

A Lifelong Love For Hockey

Jorge is 38 years old. He grew up playing street hockey — his family didn't really have money for him to join organized teams.

He played goalie for his middle school and high school, then enlisted in the Marines — which lacked a hockey team.

During his four years of service, Jorge met a woman from North Carolina. They got married. Then Jorge enrolled at NC State and played for the club team.

After graduating, he spent the next few years suiting up for local minor league clubs like the Asheville Aces, the South Carolina Stingrays and, my personal favorite, the late Greenville Grrrowl.

It wasn't an easy time for Jorge and his new wife. He wasn't making much money. And his chances of reaching the NHL were basically zero.

"I wasn't a goalie that was sought after. I had no resume," Jorge says.

Then, 10 years ago, Jorge and his wife had their first child. A minor league hockey salary was no longer an option.

"I just looked at it as, I need to do something to support a family," he says. "And that was going to be hard to do bouncing around in the minors and trying to continue to chase the dream."

So Jorge embraced a new dream: Instead of minding the net, he would mind the locker room — and the laundry, and the gear.

He got a job as an equipment manager with a minor league team — and worked his way up to his current gig with the Hurricanes.

Turned out that job came with a pretty cool perk.

"You know, whenever they needed a goalie in practice, I'd fill in and give the guys a chance, or someone else to shoot on," Jorge says.

So even though Jorge stopped playing competitively almost a decade ago, he stayed in shape — and the team asked him to keep his gear with him on the road.

The Phone Call

On Dec. 31, 2016, that turned out to be a really good thing. Because a few hours before the team’s game that night in Florida, Jorge got a call from one of Carolina's assistant general managers. The backup goalie was sick.

Now, Carolina's starting goalie was perfectly healthy — and you only need one goalie to play a hockey game, but the NHL has a rule that teams must always dress a backup.

There wasn't time for the Hurricanes to call up one of their prospects from a minor league affiliate. So Jorge Alves — equipment manager — was going to dress for an NHL game.

Maybe now you can understand why Jorge is so emotional when he thinks back on that phone call telling his wife about the opportunity.

"I'm just thinking about how much I appreciate her. You know, just all the sacrifices she went through as far as me chasing a dream and trying to even play in the minor leagues," he says. "To have that feeling of telling her, after all these years of you putting up with me and kinda not telling me, 'Hey, this is never gonna happen for you, babe. Let's move on with your life.' She never did that. And so it was really great to be able to call her and say, 'Hey, it's happened and thank you,' and she was obviously going to be the first person that I called."

Then he called his brothers, other family members and friends — and got ready.

He was given a jersey with his name on it. He signed a contract for $500, using his finger on an iPhone.

But while Jorge was getting ready to fill in as backup goalie, there was no backup equipment manager. So Jorge stuck to his regular duties.

During the game, he perched on the bench near the tunnel to the locker room. And while his teammates were on the ice, Jorge, in his full goalie pads, sharpened skates and fetched sticks.

Dream Becomes Reality

But toward the end of the game, with the Hurricanes trailing the Lightning, 3-1, Jorge turned his full attention to the ice.

"And it's funny, because I kept on looking up at the clock and thinking to myself, 'This whole thing is almost over. This was such a great opportunity. It's almost over,' " he says. "As the seconds were ticking away at the end of the game there, I started heading down the tunnel, and that's when I heard my name. And I was like, 'Oh, someone needs something.' And I see Coach pop his head over, and he's like, 'Get your gear on.' And then — it was weird because I thought the game was over. I didn't hear the buzzer, but I thought it was over."

Jorge had already started packing up his stuff. But play had stopped for icing, and there were still 7.6 seconds left.