Canadiens fan wins $50,000 with miraculous shot during intermission

It may have taken "beginner's luck," but one guy plucked from the crowd at Bell Centre walked out of the building $50,000 richer.

Patrick Proteau won the sum after scoring from behind the opposite blue line during the second intermission of Montreal's game against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.

Proteau serendipitously won the tickets to the game, then was chosen during the intermission contest where a fan gets three shots at winning prizes.
"They offered me a hockey stick, left or right?" Proteau said. "I don't know. I don't play hockey."
He hit his first attempt, winning a mini-fridge, then missed on his center-ice attempt, which would have netted him Canadiens season tickets. Then he moved to the opposite blue line, and the open net was reduced to a space barely bigger than the puck, but Proteau flung it into the slot anyway.

"It was beginner's luck," Proteau said. "I didn't think it was going in. It was going in slow motion, and then I was wondering where [the puck] went until everyone started cheering, and then my jaw dropped."
Proteau said he'd use the money to "spoil" himself and his family. He'll also be going on vacation.
"A trip south is pretty much a sure thing," he said.
LNH.com Staff Writer Nicolas Ducharme and NHL.com Independent Correspondent Sean Farrell contributed to this report.