Every young hockey player’s dream would be to skate with the professionals.
Twelve-year-old Jack Edwards of Summerland found a way to make this dream come true for his friend, 11-year-old Brett Cerutti.
Both boys play minor hockey on Summerland Pee Wee teams.
Jack’s mom Karen Edwards told him he could enter a contest that the Vancouver Canucks and Save-on-Foods were presenting called Every Kids Dream. The contest was open to B.C. Minor Hockey players between the ages of eight and 13.
At every Vancouver Canucks home game, one lucky winner would lead the Canucks in their pre-game skate and stand with the players along the blue-line for the singing of the national anthem.
The winner and a guest would then be able to watch the rest of the game from their complementary seats.
Jack decided to enter the contest by writing a letter.
“My friend Brett was in Children’s Hospital at the time, and I was thinking about him every day,” explained Jack. “The letter basically said that if I won, I would want him to take my place and be the winner.”
It was a couple of weeks before Jack heard anything back.
“I remember that afternoon like the back of my hand,” he said. “I was sitting in a chair eating tacos, watching America’s Funniest Videos. My dad started to film on his phone, so I knew something was up. Then my mom said that I had won the contest. I was pretty much overwhelmed.”
There was some doubt at first as to which of the boys would actually have the on ice experience.
The organizers of the event had to be convinced that Brett was well enough to skate and was also a minor hockey player.
“In the beginning they just wanted Jack to go on the ice and not Brett,” explained Karen. “I said there was no way that was going to happen, because Jack didn’t write the letter with that intention. He wanted it for Brett.”
After much communicating back and forth between Karen and the organizer, a plan started to unfold. Brett would be the one to skate. It would be a surprise for him and the cameras would be there to capture the moment.
“It was really hard to keep the secret for that long,” said Jack.
Brett’s mom, Charene Cerutti was also in on the plan.
“I brought Brett’s equipment over to Karen’s house the night before,” she explained. “They put it in Jack’s bag, so it would look like it was Jack’s stuff.”
She said that her son was excited to be going on a road trip and to be going to a Canucks game. She was a little nervous as to how he was going to react once the cameras were rolling and the surprise was revealed.
Jack happily related how the rest of the story unfolded.
“I had my hockey bag, filled with Brett’s gear,” he said. “We met at gate 16, where there was a hallway of famous dudes. We were immediately taken in where it’s really comfy. We were sitting on the couches when two camera guys came out. Then I told Brett that he was going to be skating with the Canucks instead of me. He asked where his gear was and I said it was in my bag!”
Jack described the experience as “heartwarming.” “Brett was smiling, so I was smiling too, because smiling is contagious,” he said.
Brett said having a friend like Jack was “awesome.” He explained that he had thought he was going along to just watch the game and then he ended up on the ice skating with the Canucks.
“It was like a dream,” he said.
Charene thought what Jack had done for her son Brett was amazing. “When it comes to the Canucks it really is every boy’s dream, so to give that up was really a big thing,” she said. “Jack is such a kind boy.”
Jack’s mom Karen agreed. “He wanted to do that for Brett. It’s amazing. He’s melted my heart,” she said.