It was a one in a million shot, worth $50,000, and no one was more surprised than the 11-year-old boy who made it. But now he may not get the prize money. INSIDE EDITION has the story.
It seemed impossible: hit a hockey puck through a tiny hole from 30 yards away to win $50,000.
Incredibly, 11-year-old Nate Smith pulled it off.
"It went in and the crowd just went nuts," remembers Nate.
But he has now been told he may not get the $50,000, and you won't believe why.
Nate was at his local hockey arena near Minneapolis with his twin brother Nick and their dad, Pat.
Nick entered his name for a chance to try to make that $50,000 shot. Nate decided he'd sit it out.
In a random drawing, an official picked Nick's name.
But Nick had stepped outside for a second.
"He told me he was going outside, and I said, 'What if your name gets drawn?'
And he said, 'You can take the shot,' " Nate says.
Sure enough, Nate took his brother's place. He put on a helmet and took the ice.
Nate took the shot, and despite the odds, he scored!
"I was shocked because I didn't think I could do it. I didn't think it was going to go in at all," Nate says.
"I'm just like, 'Whoo hoo!' I went running over to center ice, and he was coming off and he had his stick in the air and he was celebrating and everybody was giving him high fives," says Pat.
Nate was still celebrating when Nick returned to the rink.
"I come in and my friend was telling me, 'Nathan just won $50,000,' and I'm like, 'Yeah, right.' So I come in and he's standing on the ice, I'm like, 'What the heck,' " says Nick.
The boys' father later informed organizers that it was Nate who took the shot, not Nick.
"It's just a twin thing kind of; they do that all the time. If one can't do it, the other one does it," says their mom, Kim.
Now the organizers are investigating. Pat says he's been told it's 50-50 whether Nate will awarded the prize. The news has sparked a firestorm.
TV's George Stephanopoulos said he thinks they should forfeit the prize.
INSIDE EDITION's Paul Boyd spent some time with the boys at City Ice Pavilion in Long Island City, New York, and the boys are both pretty skilled hockey players.
Boyd asked Nate how he'd feel if he has to forfeit the prize money, a portion of which he was going to donate to good causes.
"I would feel bad, but at least we were honest about it," Nate says.
