The insurance company sponsoring a $50,000 prize for scoring a nearly impossible hockey shot will not award the money to an 11-year-old who made the shot because he filled in for his twin brother. INSIDE EDITION talks to the twins about their feelings
11-year-old Nate Smith wowed the world by making a next-to-impossible hockey shot from 89 feet away, knocking the puck into a tiny hole in the wall.
Nate's amazing feat was worth a $50,000 prize, but he's not getting the money, because his twin brother Nick's name was on the raffle ticket selected for the million-to-one shot.
"I made the shot," said Nate.
INSIDE EDITION's Paul Boyd spoke with the Smith family.
Boyd asked, "Who had the ticket?"
"I did," said Nick.
The insurance company behind the promotional stunt held at a hockey rink in Minnesota last month has officially put the freeze on the big prize.
Pat Smith, the boys dad, was honest enough to come forward with the truth about which of his twins took the shot.
"I don't think we did anything wrong. Yeah, it's disappointing when you do the right thing and you think you deserve the money and it doesn't turn out that way," said Pat.
You might say that "ice guys finish last." But there's a happy ending to this story. The company that sponsored the $50,000 shot prize is donating $20,000 to youth hockey organizations.
But the boys' mom, Kim, has no regrets.
"It's the right thing to be honest. Good things come from that," said Kim.
Will dad handle things differently the next time he enters his sons in a game of chance?
"Any raffle I buy anymore, I'm going to write Nick/Nate on the ticket," said Pat.
