Twin Boy's $50K Hockey Shot in Jeopardy Because of Dad's Honesty

Aug. 15, 2011 -- Nate Smith made all the sports highlight reels and won $50,000 for making an impossible hockey shot in a chairty fundraiser.

But the 11-year-old hockey fan now stands to lose the bonanza because of his father's honesty. Nate was posing as his twin brother Nick when he made the shot.

"I just felt I had to do the right thing," dad Pat Smith told ABCNews today. "I just think that honesty is more important than any prize or money you could get."

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.

Boy's $50,000 Hockey Shot in Jeopardy

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 Smith 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.

So was the crowd, commented Smith. "It was kind of amazing for Nate to make that shot, and it was crazy in there . . . People said that it was the loudest it had ever been in that building."

However, the boys may never see the check.

"After he made the shot, we had to sign some documents and stuff, and I thought oh boy, we don't want to mess that up," Pat Smith said. "I didn't have time to really think it through and I said yeah, it was Nick's shot."

"The next day we felt so badly, I called into the organizers, we told them that Nate made the shot. We did the right thing," the dad said.