When elementary students in Austin begin sharing their stories of what they did over break, Southgate Elementary fourth-grader Cooper Jacobsen may just have the best one of all.

Cooper served as flag-bearer for the Minnesota Wild in their 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Dec. 22, and he also ran into his favorite hockey player — literally.

Cooper was on the ice with his flag watching Wild players come out before the game when left wing Jason Zucker lost his footing and slid into him, knocking him to the ice. Cooper, who has played hockey since he was five years old, didn’t take any time at all to think about what happened before he snapped back to his feet.

“I saw the Wild come out like they always do and then I see a guy sliding across the ice going for me, and I was like ‘uh oh,’” Cooper said. “(Zucker) came in and he took me out and I just got up super fast. When I got up, I was like ‘woah, I just beat the fastest guy there is on the Wild.’”

Cooper’s mother Jennifer was with him at the game and she didn’t think for her second that her son was going to have any trouble with the hit — even if it did come from a 5-foot, 11-inch, 183 pounds professional hockey player.

“It was fun. (Zucker) ‘lost his edge’ as Cooper would call it. He just couldn’t stop and get out of the way,” Jennifer said. “Cooper just took it in stride. A lot of people have been asking me if he’s OK. I didn’t even think to ask if he was OK. He just popped right back up and he was fine. The kid has been playing hockey for six years and he’s used to the tumbles and the falls and he gets right back up.”

Zucker felt bad about his hit on Cooper and he met up with him after the game to offer an autographed puck. He also signed Cooper’s jersey.

Zucker and Cooper did an interview that was posted on the Minnesota Wild website where he expressed his respect for Cooper.

“He was standing back on the dot before I got up,” said Zucker, who has 192 points in 365 NHL career games. “That was unbelievable.”

Cooper was caught up in the moment during the game, but he’s gained some perspective on the night since it happened. Especially since some of his hockey teammates have been approaching him and asking him if he’s going to be famous now.

“I was kind of shook (after the hit). I’ve been to a lot of Wild games and none of the kids have been hit like that,” Cooper said. “(Meeting Zucker) was pretty special. I think it was an honor and it was kind of crazy at the moment too. I love hockey a lot.”

Cooper is a forward for the Austin Squirt A team and he has played hockey ever since he participated in free hockey day as a five-year-old. His family has half-season tickets, which is how he ended up on the ice as a flag bearer.

Cooper said he’s even more excited when he gets on the ice now and he’s driven to keep playing hockey. He also knows that he has a memory with the Wild that will last a lifetime.

“I was thinking this is the closest I’ll ever get to him in my life, because I probably won’t meet him again,” Cooper said.

Here is a link to the video with Cooper and Zucker: https://www.nhl.com/wild/video/zucker-takes-out-flag-bearer/t-277437412/c-64253303