Sudden fame doesn’t faze dancing goalie
An eight-year-old Torontoarea hockey goalie whose hip-hop moves on the ice have made him an online sensation is relishing the prospect of being called up to the big leagues — for a dance-off.
Noah Young, who plays on a Brampton novice rep team, has been pumping up the crowd with spontaneous on-ice dancing for years, his mother said Wednesday, but it was only once his performance was captured on video and posted online last weekend that he drew international attention. The short dance routine, set to the song Juju On That Beat by Zay Hilfigerrr and Zayion McCall, has been viewed more than three million times on Facebook and even caught the eye of two professional players, the New Jersey Devils’ Adam Henrique, from Brantford, Ont., and Keith Kincaid.
When asked by Henrique on Twitter whether he could rival Noah’s skills, Kincaid, the team’s goalie, jokingly replied Tuesday evening with a challenge: “I could give him a run for his money. Only one way to settle this: dance off.”
Noah’s mother, Paige Rowswell, said her son would be ecstatic to test his moves against a pro.
“He would lose it. I think he’d be crazy,” she said with a laugh.
The young goalie’s overnight fame has also attracted attention from the local professional minor hockey team, the Brampton Beast, and nearby junior and major junior teams, Rowswell said, adding Noah will be collaborating with them in the near future.
The sudden spotlight has come as a shock to his family and friends, for whom Noah’s dancing is simply par for the course. But Noah is unfazed, his mother said.
Though he plans to keep playing, Noah doesn’t necessarily have his heart set on joining the pro ranks.
“You hear kids talking about the NHL, but he talks more about playing hockey in university when he’s older,” his mother said.
He also doesn’t plan on giving up his trademark moves, she said. “He’ll keep dancing, that’s what he says: ‘I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing.’ ”