Look a little closer into goaltender Scott Darling’s career and you could almost say he has embarked on an interstellar sports journey.

His stops along the way have included a wide variety of hockey outposts such as the North Iowa Outlaws of the North American Hockey League, the Indiana Ice of the United States Hockey League, the University of Maine in the NCAA, Louisiana and Mississippi in the Southern Professional Hockey League, Wichita in the Central Hockey League, Florida, Wheeling and Cincinnati in the ECHL, and Hamilton, Milwaukee, and Rockford in the American Hockey League.

Oh, and as of a few weeks ago, the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL. Quite the culmination of a journey that seemed to take more than a few detours along the way. Yet, in a crazy way, it’s an adventure that has come full circle.

It all began in the Chicago suburb of Lemont, Illinois where Darling, 25, spent his formative years. His father is a native of Chicago who also played hockey in his younger years. As a youngster, Darling admired legendary Blackhawks netminder Ed Belfour.

“I’ve been a Hawks fan my whole life,” says Darling. “We’re a Hawks family and a big hockey family. To get my first NHL contract with Chicago was awesome, and the fact I got called up and got to play at the United Centre, you couldn’t have written it any better.”

Originally drafted by Phoenix in the sixth round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Darling was a free agent this past summer and admits there were a couple of reasons for signing with Chicago this season.

“Since they were my favourite team,” he explains, “it was a big factor in signing with them, but also there was a good situation for me to go into. It all worked out perfectly.”

Darling began 2014-15 with the Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate in Rockford and jumped out to a great start in tandem with veteran Michael Leighton. When the big club ran into injury issues and Corey Crawford needed some time off, it was Darling who received the call.

“We were on a Canadian trip,” recalls Darling. “We had just played Hamilton and Toronto and we were in Toronto the day after a game for a practice. We got off the ice and they pulled me into the coach’s office and told me the situation in Chicago, and that I was going up. I mean, just to hear that… I was like, ‘What?’ I thought maybe I had heard them wrong. And they said, ‘Yeah, you’re going up and they’re playing the Flyers tonight. Your flight is leaving in an hour and 15 minutes.’

I didn’t waste any time. I got showered, got my gear, took a cab to the airport, had time to call my girlfriend and my parents and that was it. Next thing I knew, I landed in Chicago, headed to the game, and was sitting on the bench to watch my first NHL game. It was an amazing day and a crazy day but one that I’ll never forget.”

Some minor-league goaltenders will primarily ride the pine and open gates at the NHL level until the number-one guy is ready to return. The Blackhawks brass, however, decided to give Darling a shot and it didn’t take long for him to see NHL action. His debut came October 26 against the Ottawa Senators.

“They told me the night before the game, and on the day of the game I went in and did my morning skate. The hardest part for me was during the day sitting in my hotel room and thinking about playing my first NHL game that night and trying not to over-think it or get too nervous.”

“Once I got to the rink and I was around the guys… I was very lucky because the guys in Chicago, there are so many superstars but they are really just such good guys. I really mean that. They made me feel totally welcome and like I belonged as part of the team. That helped me calm down and just treat it like another hockey game.”

“I was pretty nervous and during the national anthem, I was pretty emotional thinking of being in all the different rinks in all the different cities.  I can’t even count how many arenas I’ve played in during the past 10 years, all leading up to finally playing at the United Centre. Then once the game started, I got a couple of shots right away and that was nice because it got me right into it. After I made the first couple of saves, I got into the rhythm and blocked out the hype that this was an NHL game and just tried to treat it like another game.”

Darling stopped 32 of 33 shots to help his mates triumph 2-1, and just like that, he had not only played his first NHL game, he also notched his first win. Two nights later, he was between the pipes against Anaheim and again surrendered only one goal. Unfortunately, his mates were shutout as Chicago took the loss. A couple of nights after that, however, he beat the Senators again before Crawford healed and Darling returned to the AHL. A summary of his NHL stint shows a 1.98 GAA and a .933 save percentage, very heady numbers.

The first thing someone may notice when watching Darling man his position is his sheer size. At 6’6” and 232 pounds, he is close to being the largest goalie in the NHL if not all of professional hockey. Initially, it would be simple to conclude his size plays in his favor, especially when his job description includes filling the net. That’s not necessarily the case.

“Big goalies can mean big holes,” quips Darling. “If you move too much, you can really open up your body and not utilize the size that you have so with Brian (personal goaltending coach Brian Daccord) and with a few other goalie coaches along the way, they’ve been able to reel in my game. And the goalie coach here in Rockford is Andrew Allen, and him and I get along great. I’m really excited to be working with him and we’re getting a lot of good work done. I used to just rely on my athleticism and my size and now it’s more of a technical… trying to be technically sound and use my size the right way. That’s kind of what we’ve been working on.”

Darling is certainly relieved these days to be focused on working on his game as opposed to other personal facets of his life. In a recent article in The Hockey News, he was candid and very open about his personal challenges with alcoholism and social anxiety. One helped medicate the other. Before he knew it, Darling had been shown the door at the University of Maine and was on the brink of being permanently bounced from the pro game. It wasn’t until he turned to others for help more than three years ago that he was able to begin fulfilling his potential.

“I would get drunk and do crazy things,” says Darling. “I was afraid of life without being a party animal. My fear was that I wouldn’t fit in or I wouldn’t be cool. For me, drinking was really putting just a huge damper on my day-to-day life, the quality of my life and especially my hockey career.”

“I wish I would have made changes when it really started to become an issue as a sophomore in college. It led to so much turmoil and losing my scholarship, and having a bad rapport with the University of Maine for a while, and breaking relationships. I waited until after my first year as a pro with Louisiana to do anything about it.

“My recommendation is that if something is holding you back from maximizing your potential happiness, address the issue. Guys have way more respect for me now because of the choices I’ve made than they did before. I get along better with people now and I have better friendships on the team when I thought it was going to be the total opposite.”

Among the relationships Darling eventually sought to repair, the one with Brian Daccord ranked very highly.

“He has been a great mentor for me,” admits Darling.  “We went through some tough times when I was going through some tough times, but without him… he’s another huge key that helped get me where I’m at, and I’m not just saying that. He gave me a job in the summer, he coached me, he helped me with my living arrangements. It hasn’t been an easy life with easy living. You don’t make a lot of money in the lower minors. He helped me find a place to live and a place to train so I really can’t thank him enough.

“There are a few people like that who have been with me along the way including my agent Matt Keator (Olympic Sports Management). I’ve been away from home for so long, these are great people that I’m very fortunate to have in my life.”

With hockey matters all seemingly pointing in the right direction, Darling realizes more than ever the importance on working on oneself and taking advantage of opportunities as they present themselves.

“Through this whole process I’ve become more confident in myself and in my beliefs,” he explains. “I’m okay if somebody doesn’t like me. You’re not going to be friends with everybody and you’re not going to make everybody happy. I don’t feel like I’m walking on eggshells anymore and it’s been a big relief in my life.”

That being said, Darling continues to work on rebuilding a bridge or two, and perhaps none stand out as prominently as his relationship with the University of Maine. With some inspiration from former teammates and a little assistance from the Professional Hockey Players’ Association, he is once again working toward earning his degree.

“I wanted to start taking classes ever since I left Maine but the first few years it wasn’t financially there for me,” says Darling. “Last year, playing in the American League, I felt like I could finally afford to do it. I met another player in Cincinnati, Mike Embach, and every day he would work on classes. There was another guy there too, Paul Crowder, and they told me about how they were doing all this through the PHPA.”

“They told me about it and that’s when I talked to Rick Gorman (Career Enhancement Program Coordinator at the PHPA). The process was so simple. I enrolled and right away I took a few classes last year. I did well in those classes and I’m about to sign up for some more.”

“I want to play hockey as long as I can but there’s always life after hockey and I’m going to be able to graduate from the University of Maine which is big for me personally. I’m finishing what I started and built that bridge back up. Through Rick, they’re able to line up the right classes for me to take so eventually I’ll be a University of Maine graduate.”

Among Darling’s passions away from the ice is movie watching. He admits to seeing nearly every new release – other than horror movies – during his downtime from hockey. Among the flicks he lists as his all-time favorites are Good Will Hunting, Red Dragon, and In Bruges. And he has plans to watch another film on this particular evening.

“I’m going to see Interstellar tonight so I’m pretty excited about it.”

A movie about a man’s personal journey through the twists and turns of the universe. Somehow, in Scott Darling’s case, it seems to be most appropriate.