Before Ariana Grande had "Seven Rings," the young NHL fan was hit by two hockey pucks.
On Saturday, Feb. 9, sportswriter Mike Commito posted an archived article from the Sun-Sentinel that featured a picture of a young Ariana Grande riding the Zamboni. While the image is cute, the joy ride seems to be compensation for Grande being on the receiving end of strays slap-shots as the piece is titled "Boca Kid Gets Puck and Ice: 5-year-old Fine After Being Struck 2nd Time."
"A real cutie in her red Panthers jersey, tiny Ariana Grande-Butera attracts plenty of attention when she sits in the first row behind the penalty box. Attention from the officials, from the players, from fellow Panther fans. But the 5-year-old Boca Raton kid, who has gone to just about every home game since she turned 2, also attracts pucks. Yep. Hockey pucks," the 1998 article reads before describing two separate incidents where a hockey puck hit Grande. The piece also notes that the record-breaking artist was the first fan to be struck by a hockey puck in the Florida Panthers new arena.
This revelation resulted in a viral moment leading Grande herself to comment on the situation.
"Started from the bottom now we here #thankunext," Grande tweeted with a picture of the article that is now her Twitter header. She then went on to make a joke about her younger self and misspelled tattoo.
"if i’m honest ..... this is still exactly what i look like without lashes and my pony ..... anyone who knows me knows me knows," Grande said. "i’m twenty five. i was five here. the only difference now is that hand now says bbq grill finger."