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MIC’D UP TODDLER: we put a microphone on 3-year-old Makari Hollander during the Ottawa Centaurs' Learn to Play camp.
The video opens with Shane Hollander kneeling in front of a toddler on a bench, tying up his laces.
“Are you so excited?” Shane asks, tucking the long laces into the ice skates. The little boy nods passionately, the helmet and facemask looking big on his little body. “I bet, ready to go see papa?” He asks as he lifts the boy off the bench and onto the floor. The toddler races towards the gate where the camera is, and the screen freezes as he passes it. A graphic pops up next to the child’s face giving more information on him.
Makari “Mak” Hollander
- Son of Ottawa Centaurs’ own Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov
- 3 years old
Through the clear face mask, it’s easy to make out his small, freckled nose, and lopsided grin. The video resumes, and he is speeding to a tall man with a matching lopsided grin.
“Papa! Look! I’m fast!” the subtitles read. A bubble pops up to inform the viewer that this man is his father, captain Ilya Rozanov. Ilya races after his son, putting on a show trying to catch up with him. He pretends to fall, gasping for air and holding a hand on his chest.
“You’re too fast! I can’t skate anymore, you have to play for me, my sunshine,” The subtitles read. Ilya’s voice is overshadowed by the loud giggles Mak makes.
“Papa! I can’t skate for you, I’m too little!” He says as he skates in a circle around his papa, before Ilya abruptly grabs Mak and sits up, hugging him close and tickling him. This only makes the toddler’s giggles turn to shrieks of joy.
“I must now retire, you have to play for me!” The mic makes out through Mak’s happy squeals.
The video cuts to Mak skating laps with the other kids, singing the instrumental to a song to himself, casually gliding from one foot to another during the warm-up. The next clip is Mak with his belly on the ice, trying to army crawl on the ice, but not making any forward progress.
The video then cuts to Mak with a Centaurs player, an info bubble informs the viewers that this is Troy Barrett. Mak is practicing his stick handling, breathing loudly into the mic.
“Here, buddy,” the captions read for the muffled sound Troy’s voice makes in the mic, “watch me, like this,” Barrett says before sliding his puck back and forth with his blade. He demonstrates slowly, exaggerating his movements for the boy to see. Mak studies his movements before trying to recreate it.
“I’m doing good?” Mak asks, focused on his movements.
It looks as good as a 3-year-old could make it, but Troy smiles and says, “perfect!”
The camera then captures Shane, looking proudly at his boy on the ice, a small baby girl held to his chest, her dark eyes big and interested at the scene in front of her. A small graphic pops up next to her, Marina Hollander: the smallest Hollander. It pans to Mak, who is working for the puck in a corner, very heavy breathing is heard in the microphone. The puck breaks loose, one of Mak’s teammates takes it and starts to skate to their side of the rink. Makari looks over to see his little sister, an inaudible mumble that sounds like sister leaves his lips before he follows the puck down the ice.
“Baby sister is watching, I need the puck,” Mak says to himself, “my puck, is my puck.”
A quick montage follows of Makari’s laugh. He giggles his way through drills, warmups, and falls. It’s as if laughter is his main form of communication.
The next clip is from a mini-game with all the 3-5 year olds. Mak is fighting over the puck by the net before he edges it over the goal line. Before he can celebrate his goal, his head scans the rink, searching, determined. His eyes lock on Shane who is sitting on the bench, a blanket draped over his front, smiling proudly. Mak’s face lights up as he skates as fast as he can towards him.
“I scoreded! Did you see daddy?” Mak yells almost running into the boards.
“I did! You’re doing it!” Shane says, the smile can be heard in his voice as he matches his son’s enthusiasm as much as he can. Mak circles back to the group of kids, laughing in delight.
The next clip shows Mak skating to Ilya, motioning for him to bend down and whisper-yelling in his ear “is daddy coming to play, too?”
“Not right now, sunshine, maybe if daddy is feeling like it in a little bit,” Ilya responds.
“Because baby Marina needs him?” Mak asks.
Ilya smiles at him, “exactly, my little sun.”
The next clip is another stick handling drill, Mak’s face is set in concentration. Under his breath, the audience can hear him saying affirmations. “I am the puck, is mine.”
We then see Mak in a group of children, pointing at something behind the camera that the audience can’t see.
“See? That’s my baby sister, she’s going to watch me do hockey,” He tells the other kids.
“I have a baby brother!” one replies.
“My daddy says I’m getting one soon!” another one says. A small graphic pops up to let the audience know this is Sadie Barrett-Drover, daughter of Centaurs’ Troy Barrett and Centaurs’ social media team Harris Drover.
“Uncle Troy is going to have a baby?” Mak asks, confused. Sadie laughs like it’s the most absurd thing she’s ever heard, causing Mak to start his belly giggles again. Sadie then loses her balance and slips, pulling Mak down with her. This makes the toddlers laugh even harder as they roll around on the ice.
The chaos then cuts to a quieter hallway interview, the sounds from the rink dulled but still audible.
“He is growing so fast,” Shane says in the final interview shot, “since he started walking he has wanted to skate, he loves to go fast, and he loves trying to show off for his sister.” Shane smiles to himself, a rarer sight from his usual on-ice persona.
“Last season was… different. It was weird being at home when Ilya was on long road trips. I wanted to play, obviously, I missed it,” Marina cuts him off, making a small noise from where she is sleeping in his arms. Shane smiles down at her, “I missed the ice, but I am very grateful that I didn’t miss this.”
“Our Makari is going to be the best hockey player ever. His papa is best forward in the league,” Ilya states before his eyes flick to someone off camera, a small smirk creeps on his lips, “and his daddy is almost as good as his papa,” The person playfully hits Ilya’s shoulder before Ilya huffs a laugh and continues. “He thinks he is the fastest person ever. And he is.”
“Even if our Solnyshko does not want to do hockey, he will be the best at whatever he wants to do,” Ilya adds, “but it is no secret, I am happy he loves hockey right now.”
The final seconds are a small compilation of pictures, Mak with the puck, Mak and Sadie smiling as they skate next to each other, Ilya kissing his daughter’s forehead where she sleeps on his chest, and Shane and Ilya mid-race. The last picture is of the whole Hollander family. Mak making a peace sign with his cheeks bunched up at his eyes in between Shane, who is smiling at the camera, and Ilya, holding a sleeping Marina, smiling softly at his family.
The comments on the Centaurs’ post:
@shanehollanderhockeyplayer
Thank you all for the well wishes on my return! I’ll do my best to make this season great!
@hollanov4ever
SHANE IS BACK AND CUTIE MAK CONTENT?? WHAT DID WE DO TO DESERVE THIS 😭
@hockeymandan
Kid can skate! I agree with Rozanov, fastest person ever!
@hockeyupdates
Makari is the new Centaurs’ captain in my book.
@ilya81rozanov
he will do great as my replacement
@janetsims245
How cute! “My puck. Is mine.” I’m obsessed.
@harrisdrover
Congrats on the pregnancy @troybarrett14!! 🎉
@troybarrett14
this is the first i am hearing of my own pregnancy lol
@centaursfan225
The heavy breathing is killing me. Also the way he finds his parents before celebrating?? My heart 🥹
@nhlmedia
We are officially in the Hollanov family era.
@yunahollander24
My 4 loves ❤️