Devils sign Theo to 1-day contract | SPECIAL FEATURE

Theo, who was accompanied by his mother Diana and grandfather Paul, received his own locker stand with a name tag and jersey. He wore the jersey and sat in his locker as he watched Keefe go through the team’s drills for the morning skate in the afternoon.

After the team meeting concluded, Keefe had one final message for his team before heading out onto the ice for the morning skate.

“Do your best. Theo is watching,” he said.

When the meeting ended, Theo made his way to the locker of his favorite player, Jack Hughes. The two had a private conversation and after Theo walked across the room, he gave the players fist bumps as they made their way to the ice.

“It was cool to meet one of the greatest players in the league,” said Theo about meeting his idol.

“He’s usually very cool and collected. But today I saw him break down a little because it was very cool to meet his heroes,” said Theo’s mother Diana.

Theo also made his way to the ice and sat on the Devils bench while the team did its work on the ice. Theo watched in amazement at the speed and ferocity of the game up close.

“I liked that when it was quiet you could just hear the sounds better and see all the goals up close,” said Theo. “An ice hockey fan’s dream come true.”

At one point, Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon was thrown into the boards and water bottles flew onto the bench a few feet away from Theo. Striker Timo Meier ran past and gave Theo some advice.

“You have to be careful here,” he said, smiling.

At the end of the morning skate, several players came by to give Theo another punch, including Hughes, Nico Hischier and Jake Allen.