Mini hockey star in the making from Waterloo, Ont. goes viral

A young hockey fan from Ontario is getting some major attention for his social media presence. CTV’s Ashley Bacon explains.

A two-year-old from Waterloo, Ont. is taking the ice and the internet by storm.

With hundreds of thousands of video views, Connor ‘MacDangles’ already has NHL teams taking note of his impressive skills.

“He loves it. As soon as he picks up something new, he likes showing it off to us. He’ll practice skating backwards at home, without skates even and like, crossovers and whatnot,” said Cam MacMillan, Connor’s dad.

Connor was named after two hockey superstars, Connor McDavid and Connor Bedard.

When asked who his favourite player is, the toddler said: “Connon McDavid!”

His natural ability caught the attention of other skaters at local rinks and prompted his parents to post some videos to social media, of his moves.

“My wife, she posted a couple of videos on TikTok and Instagram. just kind of as a joke because he was getting so much attention at the public rinks and then they kind of just blew up and they got a lot of views,” said MacMillan.

Some of those hundreds of thousands of views included accounts belonging to NHL franchises.

“We’ve had the Pittsburgh Penguins reach out, the Florida Panthers, Vancouver Canucks asking him when his draft is going to be,” said MacMillan.

MacMillian said Connor is learning new skills along the way.

“I mean we’re working on stick handling but he’s already starting to move the puck on the ice, as you might see, but one step at a time.”

The family said they’ll continue to support his passion.

“At the end of the day, as long as he’s enjoying what he’s doing, it’s for the best,” said MacMillan.

It’ll still be a few more decades before NHL teams can fight over who gets this next Connor on their roster.

Connor won’t be eligible for a draft until around 2040.