The million dollar shots!

Darwin Head, who by now is most likely the most popular sawmill worker in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan put on a pretty amazing display Wednesday night as he captured the Chevrolet Million Dollar Shootout broadcast live on TSN from GM Place in Vancouver.

Darwin was the lucky one chosen from over 8.6 million entries and was flown to Vancouver to take his shot during the Canucks/Avalanche game Wednesday night.

Standing on the far blue line, he managed to finesse fifteen of his 20 available pucks into the far end net within the required 24 seconds, a feat good enough to win him one million dollars. Prior to his million dollar success, Head and two friends, Lance Badger and Randy Bout, each won Chevy Malibu hybrid cars when they easily put 15 pucks in from centre ice. They're good luck also gave a fan in the audience at GM Place his own Chevy simply by being in the right place at the right time.

Darwin had practiced for the last couple of weeks back home in Prince Albert, braving the cold Saskatchewan air to put in his practice shots on an outdoor rink. When he arrived in Vancouver he picked up a few hints from Bobby Orr, who is a spokesperson/goodwill ambassador for GM and who is the face of the Chevy Million Dollar Shootout.

Head, who as a boy grew up and played hockey on the Mistawasis First Nation reserve just outside of Prince Albert, found that those old skills didn't desert him. With the crowd clearly on his side he managed to sneak goal number fifteen into the net just before the time had expired.

The lifetime Saskatchewan resident says he has no plans to quit his job and will pay off his house and take care of his family with his winnings. With a success rate of 15 for 20, he might want to see if there is some interest in his skills with some NHL teams, at 35 he might have a few more years left in the tank to put some of that touch to work.

At a million dollars for this year, he's already ahead of more than a few third or fourth line NHLers who can't claim fifteen goals to their name, even goals shot into an empty net...

Saskatoon Star Phoenix--Sask. man wins $1m in hockey shootout at Vancouver Canucks game
Winnipeg Sun--Shooter has a million reasons to smile
ESPN--Sawmill worker wins $1 million, car in contest at game
Vancouver Province--Saskatchewan sawmiller on target for million-dollar shootout
TSN--Head wins $1 Million shootout grand prize