Remaining selected in the really initially spherical of the NHL Draft is a when-in-a-lifetime minute. Getting announced by one particular specific of the most gifted singers of all time is a single in a million.

At the 2024 NHL Draft on Friday evening time (June 28), the Canadiens welcomed Celine Dion to the stage — explained by Montreal frequent manager Kent Hughes as “our No. 1 fan” — to announce the night’s fifth more than-all draft make a decision on.

Dion was accompanied to the stage inside Las Vegas’ Sphere by her 23-12 months-aged son René-Charles Dion Angélil, who is also a singer and goes by RC Angélil. After a bilingual greeting toggling amongst French and English, Dion purchased down to business. “With the fifth general assortment in the 2024 NHL Draft, the Montreal Canadiens are happy to pick Ivan Demidov.”

Many thanks to Dion’s tense pause forward of stating the 18-year-aged Russian hockey player’s title, the NHL announcers identified as it “the most spectacular draft announcement of all time.” (The announcers also prompt that “Montreal is saying ‘merci’ to the Anaheim Ducks for not selecting him,” suitable right after the California club knowledgeable established curiosity in selecting out Demidov third all round.)

In his place up-draft press convention. reporters asked Demidov what it was like to have Dion announce his title. “It’s unbelievable. It’s like a reserve. Like a motion picture. It’s… me,” he laughed.

The reporters proposed he could possibly be also youthful to know Dion’s audio, but the Russian teen confident them, “No, I know. I watched the Titanic.” Dion, of program, performed “My Coronary heart Will Go On,” the notion song from the 1998 James Cameron epic Titanic, which applied two weeks atop the Billboard Warm 100.

Dion was born about 15 miles exterior Montreal in Charlemagne, Quebec, and has been a vocal admirer of the Canadiens for a lot of years. She has also identified as Las Vegas residence for a extended time, mounting two distinct residencies at Caesars Palace above 16 nonconsecutive years.

The NHL Draft look arrives just a couple instances suitable right after Primary Movie created the new documentary I Am: Celine Dion, which chronicles Dion’s nicely getting fight with Stiff Human getting Syndrome, a scarce autoimmune neurological dysfunction.

View Dion’s NHL Draft announcement and Demidov’s submit-draft press conference under.