I am glad the father had a change of heart and did the right thing, after dishonestly sending the 'wrong' named twin onto the ice to shoot.
If it is indeed true that only the person named on the ticket can shoot for the money, then I feel the kid should not get the money.
I was also thinking that sadly because of this dishonest act, another ticket holder who paid $10 for the chance to shoot and win, if they were to be chosen after the named twin did not show up, well they did not get a chance to shoot and win. A little unfair if you ask me, especially after paying for that chance.
They defrauded the public, they deprived another paying person of an opportunity because the song was outside. Shame on them. They absolutely should not be rewarded for this.
On the other hand, the event organizers didn’t check for identity before letting the wrong brother take the shot; maybe the need to let the other brother come out and take the shot, because he was the chosen raffle ticket and they defrauded HIM by letting someone else take his shot.
I don't see sending the "wrong" son out as dishonest. There was no reasonable expectation of making the shot, so the father was just letting the son who was there have a little fun by swinging the stick at the puck. He may not even have thought about the possibility of making the shot or about the "name must exactly match" rule, a rule that he had probably not read. It's probably more like a fun version of:
"Nate, take the trash out."
"But it's Nick's turn."
"Yeah, but you're here, just get it done."
Kids often get treated as interchangeable by the parents, especially when it makes things go smoother for others, whether getting the trash out before school or getting a boy on the ice to take a shot so the entire crowd doesn't have to wait for the right boy to get back inside for a fun shot that it expected to miss. And waiting until the next day (a very short wait)? Perhaps the organizers didn't give them a chance to explain without disrupting the main event, or perhaps they hadn't read the rules carefully. Perhaps also, they knew but had to think about whether to do the right thing (or chose to take overnight, because they knew what they would do but wanted the kids to learn from the thought process). Regardless of the reasoning, I'm pleased with the result.
At many minor league ball games in the USA, the “randomly” chosen fans are part of large group sales. When you place the order for a large group sale, the group sales ticket agent will ask you which promotion you want to be a part of — “Best Seat In The House” (a soft couch in the stands) — and what do you know, in the first inning someone from your group will be called to sit in the Best Seat In The House. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a game I don’t remember what all the other ones are - if there’s a child in your group and you request it the child can run the bases with the mascot - the child always wins of course.
Maybe since it was a raffle, the drawing wasn’t rigged.