An Edmonton Oilers game last week in which James Neal scored four goals was not only exciting for hockey fans but also for a local woman, who is now $100,000 richer thanks to The Real Deal.
Danuta Ritosa collected her $100,000 prize on Wednesday from the Save-On-Foods Million-Dollar Score and Win promotion.
“It’s excellent. I will share some of it with my family, of course, pay off some bills. I’m getting close to retirement; it would be nice to put some away for retirement,” Ritosa said.
“We want a family vacation, maybe to Hawaii, so hopefully that will happen.”
The contest sees Save-On-Foods customers in western Canada automatically entered each time they scan their More Rewards card while shopping at the grocery store. Then, if an Edmonton Oilers player scores four goals in one game, one customer wins $100,000.
Ritosa was the lucky winner thanks to Neal, who scored four goals against the New York Islanders on Oct. 8.
“I started watching the game halfway because my family had called me and texted me that my name showed up while the game was going on on TV. Then I joined in and I started watching on pins and needles,” she explained.
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“I was sitting on the edge of the chair and, all of a sudden, I just jumped up with my hands in the air.”
If the same player scores five goals in one game, the jackpot skyrockets to a whopping $1 million. Ritosa said she isn’t disappointed she didn’t hit the $1-million jackpot.
“Everybody was saying, ‘One more, one more, and you’re going to get $1 million.’ But then you’re like, ‘OK, but I got $100,000.’ It sinks in but it doesn’t seem real. You kind of think it’s a dream,” she said.
“I’m happy I got $100,000.”
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Prior to picking up her cheque Wednesday afternoon, Ritosa had the chance to meet Neal at Rogers Place following the team’s afternoon practice.
“It went great. He was very nice. We had a nice conversation, we had pictures taken. I thanked him for having a great season, start of the season,” she said. “He said congratulations!”
Neal’s quadruple-goal night was the first four-goal game of his career.
Neal has eight goals for the Oilers so far this season. The Oilers acquired the six-foot-three left winger in a trade with the Flames in July, which saw forward Milan Lucic head south to Calgary.
Save-On-Foods runs the same promotion during Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets games.
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