For Sidney Crosby, it meant rushing to shower and dress after the game, and then sparing a few moments for a young fan.

The meeting amounted to just 10 minutes — but for Mason Rodriguez, there’s no “just” about it.

Those precious 10 minutes, spent one-on-one with a busy hockey superstar who could have easily brushed the meeting off, or kept it to a quick signature and photograph, are 10 minutes to last an entire lifetime.

“It was a dream come true — I’ll never forget it. He was the nicest guy,” said Mason.

And really, that’s all this is. A famous hockey player, being nice to a young stranger.

Crosby is one of those players who seems to get what that brief, bright moment means to a kid like Mason, whose eight years have been pretty dark at times, thanks to a scary disease called cancer and long months of bad news, surgery and chemotherapy.

Now in remission from stage 4 lymphoma, Mason needed something to focus on, and so he made an autobiographical video about playing hockey once again, with Crosby as his inspiration.

The video, made for a therapy study run by Dr. Catherine Laing and Mike Lang at the University of Calgary, shows Mason playing his favourite sport, while narrating future dreams: “When he was 18, he finally got drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins and got to play with Sidney Crosby.”

That lofty goal is 10 years and a lot of practice away — but the meeting Crosby part is now taken care of, thanks to the Penguins and the team’s generous captain.

“It meant everything to me, it felt like Crosby was telling me to keep working hard in hockey,” said Mason.

It was more than Mason hoped, after completing his video and expressing a wish that Crosby himself might see it.

Family and friends made sure that happened, forwarding the film to the Penguins organization and filling social media with links to Mason’s story — and then the Penguins approached Crosby about meeting the kid after Saturday’s game in Calgary.

Mason was already going, thanks to a friend donating tickets, and the Flames made the day magical by offering a post-practice tour of the dressing room, where Jiri Hudler and Sam Bennett played host to Mason and his brother Bennett.

But for Mason, the best was yet to come.

Crosby has shown his kindness for many young fans in the past, but making time on an exhausting back-to-back game road trip was a lot to ask — especially since it would be a rare post-game meeting, and require the team captain to hurry along.

But Crobsy stepped up — and even after the Penguins loss to Calgary, he stepped into the room with a big smile for Mason.

“Sorry we couldn’t get a win for you,” Crosby told the wide-eyed boy, to which Mason replied, “But you played great.”

It’s an encounter described by Mason’s mom Jennifer Rodriguez, who watched her son’s dream come true, along dad Diego.

Jennifer has to explain, because Crosby didn’t want reporters and cameras in the room, distracting from the meeting.

This was a personal moment between a fan and a professional hockey player, and Crosby wanted those 10 minutes focused on Mason.

“He said I had some good moves in my video, I loved that he watched it. I cannot believe Sidney Crosby watched my video,” said Mason.

Jennifer says her son and Crosby chatted “like old pals,” with Crosby signing a few autographs and even making a little video clip for Mason’s team, the McKnight Mustangs, in which he says “Go Mustangs Go.”

Jennifer says the family will never forget Crosby’s kindness.

“He really gave his full attention to Mason, and though he must have been in a hurry, he never gave the impression he was rushing to get out of there,” said Jennifer.

“Honestly, it was amazing.”

michael.platt@sunmedia.ca