Tale Of Two Ninos: Heroic Boy Meets Hockey Hero

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) –  Ten-year-old Nino Johnson of Maplewood, a Twin Cities boy who already did something he’ll never forget, had another big moment Saturday evening, at the Xcel Energy Center.

In June, his grandfather was struggling in the deep end of his backyard pool and was in danger of going under.

But Nino managed to push his grandpa to the side, and saved him.

Turned out, someone else named Nino–Nino Niederreiter of the Minnesota Wild–was watching our story.

And he helped arrange a special honor at Saturday’s Wild game.

Nino and his grandfather were both up on the platform overlooking the crowd, to help get the game started.

Nino also took home a personalized Wild jersey, and was scheduled to meet with Niederreiter after the game.