Miller Donnelly's hockey celebrity didn't come from scoring goals or winning games.
The 11-year-old Sudbury boy dropped the opening faceoff at Saturday afternoon's Ottawa 67s game after thousands of viewers watched his online video asking parents to put less pressure on minor hockey players.
"I just want to play the game without parents yelling at me. Like you have to worry about lots of stuff, we can't listen to that all game," Miller told CTV Ottawa.
"I just want parents to cheer. No yelling. Just have fun and watch their kids play."
In "The Magic Hockey Helmet," posted to YouTube, Miller talks about the difficulty he and his friends face on the ice.
"Once I put on my magic helmet and step on the ice, adults treat me much differently. They yell at me, they curse me, and they call me names," he says.
With more than 39,000 viewers, it's no idle pre-teen musing. Hockey Canada has deemed the problem serious enough to publish a handbook for parental behaviour.
Ron Garby of ottawaminorhockey.com, who helped bring Miller to Ottawa this weekend, said the magic lies in the messenger.
"Maybe this is the medium that will get through to them, because Hockey Canada has spent millions trying to do it," Garby said.
"Maybe just this one boy will have done it with his video."
With a report from CTV Ottawa's John Hua
