Hockey Surprise | Video

| 12/22/2011

A soldier`s homecoming is always something to be celebrated, but for one soldier`s return at the Bismarck, North Dakota airport, it was a little quieter than normal.

That`s because he was saving his return from his first deployment for a surprise.

"At the Bobcats game, they`re going to take them out on the ice and let them shoot a puck and I`m gonna take my mask off," Sgt. Thomas Lawler said.

After weeks of preparation, the surprise was pulled off, in front of a packed arena.

"I was so shocked. It`s the best Christmas ever. The best Christmas present I`ve ever had," said Codi Kae, Lawler`s daughter.

Sgt. Lawler is home for ten days before he returns to Kosovo for another nine or ten months.

He isn`t sure if he`ll make that return trip a surprise or not.

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