A budding young goalie has not only snagged prime seats for his family at Friday's NHL playoff game between the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks, but will also lead the hometown heroes onto the ice.
Draven Vorauer is ecstatic that he has won the honour of wearing his Aldergrove Minor Hockey Association goalie uniform on the Rogers arena ice for the opening ceremonies' skate, as well as standing at attention alongside his hero, Roberto Luongo, for the singing of the national anthems.
Following the ceremonies, Draven and three family members will be escorted to their seats for the game.
Draven, aged nine, won the memorable prize in a draw at Save-on Foods.
His mother, Robin, says it caps off a "Cinderella" season for Draven, whose Initiation level team is the Aldergrove HR4-1 Snipers, and she hopes some of the Snipers' magic rubs off on the Canucks.
As reported last month in The Aldergrove Star, the Snipers started their season last year as true underdogs, but came back with a vengeance to win most of the season's games and the Aldergrove Spring Tournament. It has been a team effort, but Draven's prowess as a goalie was key to those victories.
Draven moves into Atom league next season, and here's hoping that he can bring some Stanley Cup mojo to Aldergrove arena.