A Barrie hockey dad says he has received a lot of positive feedback, especially from parents, after putting a mic on his four-year-old son and filming his hockey practice for a YouTube video that has since gone viral.

“He’s four years old. He’s supposed to be playing hockey and he is saying stuff like ‘I need a nap,’ he’s looking for his friend, he’s talking about going to MacDonald’s after, so he’s not super focused on doing drills,” said Jeremy Rupke. “But he’s out there. He’s having fun.”

Rupke told CTV News Barrie that many of the comments he received focused on how positive his son Mason was when he fell down and got right back up.

“When he fell over and he said ‘I’m okay, it’s okay,’ people loved that, the self-talk, the encouragement, the positivity,” Rupke said. “(He’s) just a little guy out there trying his hardest.”

Mason has been skating since he was two, but only started playing hockey four months ago. Rupke said that he always loved the game and is happy to be able to share that passion with his son.

Rupke said that he came up with the idea to put a mic on Mason after watching him during practice and noticing that he seemed to be talking a lot while on the ice.

“He’s a funny guy. He runs around the house saying some pretty interesting things,” he said. “I was just curious, wondering what was going through his head out there on the ice.”

Rupke is a video content creator and owns a YouTube channel called “Coach Jeremy,” which aims to educate and teach others about the sport of hockey. His decision to put a microphone on Mason before practice one day result was a six-minute video that has garnered more than 3.5 million views since it was posted on Feb. 22.

In the video, Mason is seen sliding around the rink, counting his steps with a “one, two, one, two” and motivating himself every single time he falls down. At one point, Mason declares “I’m gunna have a nap’ and wishes everyone a Happy Halloween, despite it being Feb. 15.

The practice consisted of a few drills, a sword fight with a friend using hockey sticks, and an announcement that he “needs to pee.”

Mason also seemed excited to get “a baby happy meal” when the practice was over.

Rupke said that even though he already has a large YouTube following through his business, he never imagined that this video would get as much traction as it did.

“I was surprised that it got that much so fast,” he said. “It feels amazing. Not so much because (Mason’s) a sensation, just because of all the comments and the joy that the video has brought to other people. Seeing people share it with such enthusiasm, relating to when their kids started to play hockey, that’s what I love the most about it.”