Many young Canadians play hockey. They dream of one day playing in the NHL on a professional team.

Last week, that dream came true for University of Toronto goalie Brett Willows.

One minute he was about to eat dinner with his friends at a restaurant called Noodle Bowl on Spadina Ave. in Toronto. The next, he was suited up as a Toronto Maple Leaf goalie, waiting to go in and play in a professional game.

Willows never got to play in the game, but for a little while, he was a Leaf.

When the Leafs’ goalie, James Reimer, got injured, they put in their other goalie, Jonathan Bernier.

But Bernier would need a backup, and that backup was Brett Willows.

So they called him. Willows ditched the Montreal Canadiens cap he was wearing, threw a $20 bill on the table to pay for the few bites of soup he’d eaten, and ran to gather his goalie gear.

Then he raced to the Air Canada Centre.