If you weren’t expecting Anaheim Ducks forward Derek Grant to record a hat trick this season -- as he did in the Ducks’ 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night -- you weren’t alone in that thought.
That thought also extended to his closest friends and resulted in a friendly wager over the summer that now gives the Ducks’ forward an opportunity to name a childhood friend’s first-born child.
Grant first mentioned it during a between periods interview on Saturday, and expanded on it on Monday.
With great power, comes great responsibility 👶
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) November 17, 2019
A friend of Grant's said he could name his first-born if he got a hat trick this year! Help him out with a suggestion below ⬇️@AnaheimDucks | #LetsGoDucks pic.twitter.com/Dg40THdQyo
Another buddy had suggested that if he made a hole-in-one the next day on the links he should be allowed to name the baby.
“My one friend said he should get to name it if he gets a hole-in-one that day golfing,” Grant recalled with a chuckle. “I’m not quite as good a golfer, so he made it real for me if I get a hat trick this year, I’d get to name his first child.”
Grant added that even though his friend’s fiancee was a little skeptical of the idea at first, the couple is fully on board with him naming their child.
This probably seemed like a safe bet for his friend to make because before Saturday Grant had scored just 18 goals in 228 career games and had only scored two goals in a game once. He played 92 NHL games before scoring his first career goal during the 2017-18 season.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.