What the "puck?" Grand Shot Deserves Fifty Grand

A contest to send a hockey puck from 89 feet away through a hole the size of a mouse trap was held recently during half-time of a "Shattuck Vs. The World" charity game in Faribault, Minn. Eleven-year old Nate Smith made the slap shot that was heard 'round the world, stunning even NHL players watching.

Missing the mark, however, is the company insuring the event, Odds On Promotions, who now say they will not pay out the $50,000 prize because the shot was taken by the twin brother of the raffle winner, Nick.

The Smith family came clean the next day with the identity switcheroo. Seems Nick got cold feet at the last second, thinking he didn't have a snowball's chance of making the shot and stepped outside. Dad, at the last second, sent Nate onto the rink and, with ice in his veins, calmly made the unlikely shot.

Forget the twin mix-up south of the Twin Cities. The shot alone deserves $50,000.

"I don't believe it," Nate Smith said moments after making the shot, according to the Faribault Daily News. "It feels like a dream."

Feels like a bad dream turned nightmare by now. A spokesperson for Odds On Promotions said Wednesday that due to "contractual breaches and legal implications" it was unable to pay the claim. Instead, the company said it would donate $20,000 to youth hockey in Minnesota in the boys' names.

OK, Nick should have been the one taking the shot. After all, Nate's arm was in a cast when the contest was announced. Still, I don't think even 'The Great One," Wayne Gretzky, could have made that one in the first try. This was like hitting the perfecto at Pimlico. It was as unlikely as a Scud missile hitting its target. This was the "Miracle on Ice, V. 2."

Kim Smith, the boys' mom, pointed out there was nothing on the raffle ticket saying the person listed was the one who actually had to attempt the shot, according to the report. I'll be honest, I might have kept my mouth shut. But honesty prevailed. That alone deserves compensation.

"We were getting a lot of phone calls and the boys, we could tell, weren't feeling right about it," Pat Smith, the boys' father, told "The Early Show" the next day. "So I thought I'd better call over there, and tell them it was Nathan who made the shot.

"I think the more important lesson is that you tell the truth and, no matter how much money is involved, it's always more important to tell the truth."

The truth may set you free, but it didn't turn the heart, if there is one beating, of the promotion company holding the money. To the penalty box for you!