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Iowa Wild goalie David DeSander, who plays in a Sunday recreational league in Grand Rapids, stops a shot from Teemu Pulkkinen.

(Mark Newman | Grand Rapids Griffins)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI –One goalie’s misery became another's lifelong dream when Grand Rapids resident David DeSander got to play goal for a period in an AHL game against the Grand Rapids Griffins.

DeSander didn’t care that it was only 20 minutes in the final period of a blowout game with his team trailing 8-1. The 31-year-old, who plays in a local Sunday rec league, took advantage of an unexpected opportunity and performed well before a sellout crowd Saturday at Van Andel Arena.

After Iowa Wild starter Johan Gustafsson was shellacked for eight goals on 27 shots through two periods, DeSander played the final period. But it was during the second period when he got an inkling he might go in. That was cause for concern, too, since he had not played professionally since 2011.

“When it was 6-1 in the second, I was trying to keep my head down and avoid eye contact with the coach (John Torchetti),” joked DeSander, a 6-foot-, 170-pound native of Saginaw. “Then he barked my name louder, told me to start stretching and I was like, 'Are you serious?' "

The Griffins actually scored twice more late in the second before DeSander got the official word he would start the third.

“During the intermission, I called over the (Iowa) captain and told him, ‘I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t played a game in three years so I don’t know what I can promise you,’” DeSander said.

DeSander keeps an eye on the action during Saturday's game against the Griffins.

“But the guys were great. They back checked hard, cleared missed pucks and played really good defensive zone. I just had to stop what was in front of me and not worry about second or third shots.”

It was a once-in-a lifetime chance for DeSander, who plays with the Rogue River Tavern team in the Sunday Advance League at Griffs IceHouse in Grand Rapids. He had not played since 2011 with the defunct All American Hockey League.

But the goalie universe began to shift around noon on the day of the game when Iowa’s other goalie, John Curry, was recalled to the parent Minnesota Wild to fill the gap when Niklas Backstrom went on injured reserve with a back injury.

DeSander was walking downtown with his wife and family when he got the call from Brad Thompson, the Griffins equipment manager and a teammate with Rogue River, inquiring if he would be interested. Thompson put him in touch with Iowa, who signed him to a standard professional tryout agreement to be, in essence, the emergency goalie behind Gustafsson.

“I’ve done it before and know the routine, so I knew what was expected,” said DeSander, who, by chance, had practiced with the Griffins the day before because they were short a goalie for practice. “You prepare but never really expect to play.”

DeSander, who runs Future Pro Goalie School camps in Michigan, had tickets for his wife, Jennifer, their 2 ½-year-old son and about 10 family members. He expected them to watch him sit on the bench and enjoy the game, but not to see him play in it.

However, once there was an emergency, his goalie instincts took over.

“Part of being a goalie is managing your emotions,” said DeSander, who played four years at Marian University. “If you think about things too much, you’ve already lost. I had just enough time to prepare and then it was a matter of finding a way to get through it.”

DeSander, wearing mismatched yellow pads and gloves, played well. He stopped six of seven shots, including a hard slap shot off his chest from Teemu Pulkkinen. The lone goal came from Colin Campbell six minutes into the period.

Afterward, Griffins goalie and friend Tom McCollum bought him the Iowa jersey he wore as a keepsake.

“It was great,” DeSander said. “Memorable. Fun. Something I’ll never forget.”

“I thought he did a real respectable job,” Thompson said. “He knows how to play goalie and it showed.”

That’s about as far as it will go. DeSander has no illusions of advancing his pro career. This Sunday, he expects to resume playing again with Rogue River with a pretty good story to tell.

Pete Wallner covers sports for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at pwallner@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.