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A seven-year-old Edmonton Oilers fan was overcome with emotion when she was surprised with a belated birthday message from her favorite player on May 15. Footage by Joyce Cardinal-Arcand shows her granddaughter Annalise Cardinal watching a special message from Oilers’ captain Connor McDavid at her home on the Alexander First Nation Reserve in Alberta, Canada. Annalise and her mom, Julia Cardinal, launched a Facebook appeal in the days coming up to her birthday, which showed the young hockey enthusiast dressed in Oilers gear holding a sign asking for McDavid to reach out. McDavid did not see the post in time for Annalise’s Oilers-themed birthday celebrations, which were held on May 13. “That’s okay, he must be still taking care of his injury,” Cardinal recalled her daughter saying, in an interview with CBC. While her hockey hero did not see the viral post, it did grab the attention of a kind stranger who was able to “pull some strings” in the days after her birthday. Chelsea Joe reached out to the family with a message from McDavid, which she managed to get through some contacts. Annalise was speechless as she watched the video, which can be seen here, and broke down in tears of joy at the end of the message. Credit: Joyce Cardinal-Arcand via Storyful