"Paul Deutsch played hooky from his beer-league game at Bloomington Ice Gardens on Wednesday night.

The 51-year-old, who began tending goal at the tender age of 37, instead wore a Wild jersey during warmups Wednesday night prior to the Wild's game against the Nashville Predators.

After the Wild got word that Niklas Backstrom, slated to be the starter, would have to miss the game for a non-serious personal matter, it recalled third goalie Matt Hackett from the Houston Aeros. But Hackett's plane didn't arrive until just prior to game time, so the Wild signed Deutsch, who owns a screen printing and embroidery store in Richfield, to an amateur contract Wednesday afternoon to fill in during warmups and potentially back up Josh Harding if Hackett's plane was late.

It wasn't.

Backstrom should be back with the team in a few days. Hackett, who arrived at the arena at 7 p.m. and was on the bench by 45 seconds into the first period, would then be sent back to Houston.

But Deutsch still got to wear No. 33 during warmups, with his daughter's Eastview Under-14 youth team cheering on from a suite.

"I actually was shaking while I was signing [the contract]," said Deutsch, who filled in "Minnesota Roosevelt Junior Varsity defenseman -- 1978," as his previous team on the contract."