5-year-old Indy hockey prodigy hopes to bust records one day
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — As the Stanley Cup Finals wrapped up this week, NHL fans from all over the world showed their support while watching from home. But one of the sport’s youngest fans lives right here in Indy and becoming a hockey prodigy in his own right.
“Hi I’m Desmond. And, I’m five years old,” said Desmond Garrett.
Coming in at 43 inches tall and 45 pounds, Desmond is a kindergartener by day, and a rising hockey star by night.
“I train as hard as I can, I want to be better than Wayne Gretzky, Crosby, I want to be better than all those players and everyone would be shouting my name really really loud!” said Garrett.
Desmond first stepped on the ice at 21 months old, and he hasn’t taken a day off since. He plays for two local leagues, and in the offseason he trains with kids more than three times his age. Which is probably why his skills stunned the internet when the NHL started sharing clips of him.
“It’s pretty fun being on the NHL Network,” said Garrett. “It was like a dream come true. I always want to be in the NHL, so I’ll probably do it.”
Desmond begins his third season with Indy Junior Fuel this week. He hopes to improve on defense this year, but his goals beyond that are much loftier.
“I want to be the best hockey player that I can, I want to pass everybody’s record. I want to go to one thousand, hundred, million, I want to go to that record, even though I don’t know what that number is, I want to make it to that record,” Garrett added, “And I want everyone to be saying Desmond, Desmond, Desmond, and they’ll be cheering me on no matter what.”
We’re all rooting for you Desmond.