Young Pens Fan Who Received Pucks, Jersey Gets Third Puck at AHL Hershey Game
Trey Dopson of Canonsburg, PA, holds up a game puck from the Hershey Bears game on Saturday night (Kyle Mace / Chocolate Hockey)
The 8-year-old who became an internet celebrity after having a puck snatched away from him at a Pittsburgh Penguins game attended the Hershey Bears game Saturday night and completed the hat trick, getting a third puck from Bears trainer Dan “Beaker” Stuck.
Trey Dopson attended Thursday night’s Pittsburgh Penguins game between the Pens and Buffalo Sabres. Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma spotted the youngster, tossing him a puck over the glass behind the bench. Out of nowhere, an older man grabbed the puck, snatching it way from Trey.
“I afraid sort of because I didn’t want to to screw up and miss the puck,” Trey said Saturday night. When the older fan reached out to grad the puck, Trey said he was “stunned.”
Bylsma got another puck for him, tossed it to an usher, who presented Trey with the new puck. Then, Penguins mascot Iceberg presented Trey with a Sidney Crosby jersey. “I was thinking this can’t be a better day for me!”
You deserve it, little man! pic.twitter.com/vSVPEPtWpL
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 30, 2015
The Penguins tweeted out a photo, getting Retweeted thousands of times and the story went viral. Trey’s mom Shirley was not at the game and didn’t even see the event on TV. Then she started getting calls and texts and quickly realized what had happened to Trey. “It’s been crazy and a whirlwind of excitement. We certainly weren’t expecting that when Trey and [Trey’s father] Dave were just going to a hockey game.
Trey is in Hershey for a hockey tournament this weekend and his decided to attend the Hershey Bears and St. John’s IceCaps game Saturday night. Sitting right behind the bench, Trey would get a puck in the first period from Bears trainer Dan “Beaker” Stuck. “My Dad told me to stay still and wait for the puck because we weren’t doing that again.” “Beak” told Chocolate Hockey after the game that he had no idea Trey was the same kid who got all the attention in Pittsburgh.
“The overall big picture has been very positive,” his mom said. “I think people could relate to this story. They all wanted to see Trey have a good time and have a good experience.”
The youngster has been loving all the attention he’s been getting, too. “When we were walking in tonight, the people behind us were talking about what happened with the puck in Pittsburgh and my Dad turned around and said ‘Hey, this is Trey!'”
The experience has been great for the Dopson family, but they’re all ready to return to normal life. “We’re really happy about it but we are ready for it to be done too,” Shirley said with a laugh.