Pateryn first met Noah during a Dallas Stars visit to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children while Noah's sister was a patient there. The kids and the burly, bearded D-man hit it off -- thanks in large part to Noah's willingness to let Pateryn help him convert his Tyler Seguin "TS"-embroidered hat into a "GP" hat -- and a few weeks later Pateryn recognized Noah at an open practice he and his family attended.
The player and family have stayed in touch ever since, with Pateryn and Noah primarily communicating via Instagram.
"He helps me, he asks what I do every week," said Noah, who has dyslexia but with some encouragement from Pateryn has made marked improvements in school. "He asked how I'm doing in school, how my hockey team is doing, and it's just really good having an NHL player to talk to, basically every week."
Recently, the family received word they'll likely be moving out of the country soon. Noah's dad was just accepted into a consular training program, and Noah and his folks will learn their destination within weeks.
So after Anthea saw the joy in her son's eyes when he and Pateryn were reunited during the Wild's visit to Dallas earlier this season, she knew she had to get her son to the State of Hockey to see Greg play again.
"Greg's been so encouraging, and he keeps in touch," Anthea said. "Noah's kind of good at keeping that going. In case we go [far away], it'll be good to have somebody that's hockey-oriented, because Noah eats and sleeps hockey."
But first: Thursday morning, Anthea handed her son an iPad with a video message from Pateryn saying he was excited to see him in Minnesota. After a 929-mile plane ride and a full day in downtown St. Paul, the kid was still beaming.
"I was really surprised and I was so excited to go," said Noah, who wore a custom-made Pateryn hat Thursday. "I was speechless."
