Many kids grow up getting to play the sports they love, but for one 16-year-old New Berlin teen, getting on the ice has always been a little tricky.

"Zach and his family have stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in Albany when Zach receives treatment for his leukemia, and we've grown as a family over the years," said Meaghan Pinkowski of the Ronald McDonald House of the Capital Region.

Ordinarily, Zach Lamont and his family live out of town.

"We live two hours away near Cooperstown and I have no idea what we would've done without them," said Willard Lamont, Zach's dad.

Zach was always a big sports fan growing up, but his love shifted from basketball to hockey over the years.

"We used to take him to the Colgate basketball games and we accidentally wandered into the Star Rink. From there it just blossomed," said Willard Lamont.

Zach doesn't know exactly what attracted him to hockey, but he got hooked.

"I just fell in love with it at a young age," Zach said.

And as Zach grew older, he fell in love with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Last year, with help from the Ronald McDonald House, Make-A-Wish and one of the Capital Cup players, Zach met his favorite NHL player.

"Sidney Crosby," Zach said. "It was like meeting Superman for a little kid. It was excellent."

But there was one thing Zach and Sidney couldn't share: the ice.

"He's dreamed of having hockey skates ever since he became a hockey fan," Willard said.

Zach has a gene that makes him very tall and he wears a size 18 shoe, so finding shoes to fit is tough enough, let alone hockey skates.

"They custom made these skates just to fit Zach's foot," Willard said.

Pure Hockey in Clifton Park digitally measured Zach's feet and ordered his skates from True Hockey in Quebec. On Tuesday, his skates arrived and Zach was fit at the store.

"It just means the world to me and my family and it's really a dream come true," Zach said.

Lamont's skates were warmed up in a special "oven," then fit to his feet and molded as they cooled. The whole process took about an hour.

While Zach met his favorite player and been an honorary captain for the Capital Cup previously, the Ronald McDonald House wanted to give him the thing he's really always wanted: the gift of hockey. And on Saturday, Zach served not only as an honorary captain at the Capital Cup games, he also was a teammate.

"It's a really good relationship between the families, the hockey guys, and the house as well," Pinkowski said.