Will honesty cost the 11-year-old Smith twins $50,000? Nate made national sports news when he won $50,000 by making an impossible hockey shot in a charity fundraiser.
Now it turns out it was Nick who took the shot.
Nate’d just had a cast removed from his arm — and let his identical twin brother, Nick, take his place. Now Nate stands to lose the bonanza because their dad — wanting to teach his sons honesty — made the twins ‘fess up.
“I just felt I had to do the right thing,” their father, Pat Smith, told ABC News. “I just think that honesty is more important than any prize or money you could get.”
ABC News describes the situation:
Nate made his amazing shot at a celebrity fundraiser hockey game in Faribult, Minn., last Thursday. He took aim from the center ice and fired the puck 89 feet straight in a goal which measured a mere three and a half inches. The puck is three inches wide.
It happened during the annual “Shattuck vs. the World” game attracts Shattuck -St. Mary’s alumni who play in the NHL and raises money for the Faribult Youth Hockey Association. NHL fan favorites Zach Parise, Kyle Okposo, Dustin Byfuglien, and Patrick Ewes were all in attendance at the game.
Pat Smith, the twins’ father, purchased three raffle tickets at the Shattuck – St. Mary’s school hockey game for a chance for one of his kids to make an unforgettable shot across the ice and win $50,000.
“We thought we’d go to the fundraiser and support those guys, nothing else. So I went over to purchase a few tickets with Nate, who was with me,” Pat said.
When asked by his dad if he should put Nate’s name on the tickets, Nate declined, saying with a cast on his arm recently removed, Nick had a better chance of scoring a winning goal.
The family didn’t expect that Nick’s ticket would be drawn, so Nick headed outside shortly before halftime. Nevertheless, he told Nate to take the money shot if his raffle ticket was drawn.
Nate took to the ice in his twin brother’s place and in a play which had the entire arena on its feet, effortlessly swung his hockey stick to hit the goal in the $50,000 shot. “I was shocked . . . I couldn’t believe it,” said Nate.
Read Previous Post