Seven-year-old gets birthday shout-out from Connor McDavid
Viral request gains attention of Oilers captain
A young girl's wish came true on Friday when Oilers captain Connor McDavid sent her a personalized birthday message.
It began when Julia Cardinal asked her daughter what kind of theme she wanted for her seventh birthday.
Annalise picked the Oilers — hockey is a big deal in her Alexander First Nation household and she just completed her last year of initiation with the junior hockey team CR Knights.
She also wanted a cake geared towards her favourite player, famed forward Connor McDavid.
Cardinal wanted to take it a step further, especially since the guest list had to be kept to close family due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I kind of thought to myself, I said 'Maybe I should try and send a message out there seeing if maybe people would share it that it would get Connor McDavid so that he can make her day more special for her.'"
She put up a Facebook post on Monday night with Annalise holding a sign with her birthday wish: a shout out from her hockey idol.
Annalise got her fully-decorated Oilers birthday party on Wednesday — but no McDavid.
"That's okay, he must be still taking care of his injury," Cardinal recalls her daughter saying.
But the post had gone viral and eventually made its way to the intended target. Come Friday, surrounded by family, Annalise watched a video from her idol wishing her a happy birthday.
"Looked like you had a fun birthday party, wish I could've been there but obviously with everything going on I obviously couldn't make it," McDavid said in the widely-circulated Facebook video.
"Just wanted to wish you a happy birthday and go, Oilers, go."
The video rendered Annalise speechless and even brought tears.
Chelsea Joe helped arrange for the recording after spotting the request through social media — she didn't know the family beforehand.
"I saw the post of Annalise's request first from a family member," she said through Facebook messenger. "And who wouldn't want to help this adorable young lady and Oilers fan get her wish."
For the Cardinal family, it was a moment of supreme joy.
"I was surprised," Cardinal said. "I was so, so happy for my daughter because that was her wish for her birthday."
"Thank you, Connor David," Annalise said. "I love you."