The Toronto Marlies have a friend in David Ayres.

The farm club of the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Ayres - the Zamboni driver at Ricoh Coliseum - to an amateur tryout contract Saturday. He was needed after Garret Sparks was recalled to the big club, after the Maple Leafs traded James Reimer to the San Jose Sharks in a four-player deal earlier in the day.

This isn't the first time Ayres has got the call from the AHL team, having previously served as a backup to Jonathan Bernier with the Marlies in December. In fact, Ayres has been practicing with the Marlies for three years.

"I've been on the ice with injured players, healthy scratches," Ayres said in December, according to Sportsnet's Joe Pack. "I practiced with the black aces every single day three years ago. I've been in full team practices when goalies get called up or get injured. I know a lot of guys on the team and they used to tease me, 'You practice all the time, but you're never going to get into a game.'"

Ayres said he thought it was a joke back in December when he was told the Marlies needed his services. It took Maple Leafs assistant general manager and Marlies GM Kyle Dubas to make Ayres a believer.

"'No Dave, we're not joking. Throw your great in the truck and get rolling,'" is what Ayres said Dubas told him when the team gave him his first tryout contract.

So, this isn't Ayres' first rodeo. But the Maple Leafs and Marlies must surely be holding their breath.

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