Ice-resurfacing kid is guest of Predators forward Hartnell in Toronto

TORONTO -- When Jaxen Randell, then 7 years old, decided to attach a bucket of water with a towel dragging behind it to his tricycle and pedal around his backyard rink, he never imagined he would become perhaps the most watched ice resurfacer of all time.

He also never thought it would earn him a trip to his first Toronto Maple Leafs game. That came Wednesday, when he met Nashville Predators forwards Scott Hartnell and Ryan Johansen before Toronto's 3-2 shootout victory against Nashville at Air Canada Centre.

"We were in our backyard one night and I saw my tricycle in a snowbank and I said, 'Oh Dad, can I ride this on the rink?' and he said, 'Why would you want to do that?'" said Jaxen, 11, of the idea he came up with in 2013.
Soon after, a video of Jaxen resurfacing his rink was posted online. It has had more than 13 million views on Facebook.
"I was surprised because it was just one little video," said Jaxen, a Maple Leafs fan from Mississauga, Ontario, whose favorite player is Toronto forward Mitchell Marner. "I didn't think many people would see it but once it got looked at, I was really excited. It was a crazy feeling."
Watch: Jaxen's Youtube Video
After a friend sent Hartnell the video recently, the forward invited Jaxen and his parents, Aaron and Chantel, to the Predators game in Toronto.
"I wish I would have thought about doing that when I was a kid to make sure the ice was smooth on our backyard rink," said Hartnell, who gave Jaxen an autographed game-used stick. "He looked like he was really enjoying himself out there and meeting him really put a smile on our faces."
After meeting with Hartnell, Jaxen got to sit on the ice resurfacer used at Air Canada Centre.

Hartnell said meeting players when he attended an Edmonton Oilers game as a kid left a big impression on him, and he hoped to give Jaxen a similar memory.
"He seems like a great kid, has a great family," Hartnell said. "You definitely want to reach out to kids like that and make sure it's a special day for him and his family. I remember being a kid going to [see the] Oilers and having the guys high-five me coming out to the rink, those little things when you're a kid growing up probably last a lifetime. Hopefully this was a great experience for him today."
Jaxen said, "This was so much better than I could ever have thought. I had no idea we'd get to meet some of the players. That was so cool and to get a stick too was awesome."