DALLAS — The heartwarming friendship between an NHL defenseman and a now 12-year-old boy all began because Greg Pateryn remembered the boy’s name.



“Hey, Noah.”



That’s all it took.



“Hey, Noah.”



A simple gesture, an impressive memory, a big heart … and Pateryn earned his biggest fan for life.



It was the early part of last December, and a family friend brought Noah to an open Dallas Stars practice in Frisco. After the hourlong skate concluded, Pateryn walked by a bunch of fans, looked up and said, “Hey, Noah.”



Noah Fellone couldn’t believe it.



Pateryn, who plays a regular-season game against the Stars on Friday night for the first time since signing a three-year contract with the Wild on July 1, not only remembered who Noah was, he actually remembered his name from a visit eight Stars players made to a pediatric hospital an entire month...