Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

An area 12-year-old girl got what she described as the opportunity of a lifetime last weekend skating at the Minnesota Wild game after winning a contest through a credit union.

Brooklyn Hullopeter said she got to skate out on the ice during the pre-game instructions and national anthem as part of the Hiway Credit Union “Youth Starting Lineups” Sweepstakes.

Her stepmother had entered the family into the contest, and she found out March 16 she was elected for the game that weekend against the Capitals.

Brooklyn said when she arrived that day the fulfillment coordinator for the Wild let them downstairs, and when they got there, they saw all of the players doing warm-ups, including playing soccer and basketball. They then put their stuff in a room, walked out to look at where they were going to skate and then went back upstairs for a while before getting dressed and ready to go out on the ice.

She said she and the others also got to see Nordy, the mascot, and then their names were called, and each participant was introduced in the Hiway Credit Union Youth Starting Lineup.

They waited for all of the players to come out, watched a light show and then skated to the boards and were congratulated by all of the Wild players.

She said once the starting players were lined up on the first blue line, she and the other youth got to skate in-between the players during the national anthem.

“I was excited to stand next to Oskar Sundqvist — No. 70,” she said.

They then watched the game, which she said was exciting as everyone was yelling and cheering in the stands.

“I wish I could go back to that day, because it was so much fun,” she said. “It was the experience of a lifetime.”

While she was nervous, she said she was also excited to skate out in front of thousands of people.

She said her favorite part was watching the players do warmups and then watching the game itself.