The stick tap means many things in hockey, but it's perhaps at its best when used to show support. A good play is met with stick taps against the boards. If a player gets injured on the ice, he'll get stick taps from teammates and opponents alike when he gets up. However, Saturday night in Minnesota, the supportive stick tap took on a whole new meaning.

Jack Jablonski's world changed in December 2011. After getting checked into the boards from behind in a high school hockey game, Jablonski was left a quadriplegic. He was told he would never walk again, but that has never deterred Jablonski from wanting to defy the odds.

He has set a goal to be able to not only walk again, but to skate again. Now 19, Jablonski has taken on the cause of raising awareness for spinal cord injuries and helping fund research to make it possible for those who have been given the same prognosis to walk again. Jablonski has already been trying to fight that fight with his foundation, the Jack Jablonski Bel13ve in Miracles Foundation, which funds research in a new recovery therapy.

In order to help bring even more awareness to the cause, Jablonski took to the ice during the first intermission of the Minnesota Wild game Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center.

Flanked by NHL great Jeremy Roenick and three members of the 1980 Miracle on Ice team -- Rob McClanahan, Neal Broten and Dave Christian -- Jablonski led the crowd in what was called hockey's biggest stick tap.

The fans, armed with inflatable thunder sticks shaped like hockey sticks followed Jablonski's lead as the former Benilde-St. Margaret's forward, who has limited use of his hands and arms, tapped his stick on the ice. Soon the building filled with thunderous tapping.

Here's more about the initiative:

Fans are also encouraged to make their own stick tap videos to participate in the largest stick tap with the hashtag #sticktap2hope.

Jablonski's story has touched a lot of people. Kids aren't supposed to get hurt doing something they love, but sometimes accidents happen and his was one with catostrophic results. In the years since Jablonski's injury, the hockey community has rallied around him and his family. He's made a lot of famous friends like Roenick and others that have helped bring awareness to his cause.

Now with his first stick tap, perhaps there are many more individuals who will benefit from Jablonski's efforts. It's a step in the right direction, and one that hopefully is the beginning of many more steps for Jablonski and others battling back from spinal cord injuries.