EDMONTON — Kevin Genest says the Edmonton Oilers have always supported him, so it was only right that he put the team at his service.
The 43-year-old said while going through tough times and struggles growing up, he bonded with his parents, watching and supporting his hometown Oilers.
As an adult, on a dare, he returned the love in ink.
During an interview, the mechanic and father of two turns around, pulls up his shirt and shows off the slightly faded tattoo of a Stanley Cup, which extends from the tip of his spine to his lower back, with the name of the team printed on the trophy.
“What brought the whole family together was we all watched hockey,” Genest said.
“My dad always put me in front of the TV as soon as I was able to sit up straight and took me to my first game when I was seven.”
He said the art needed a touch-up, but he vowed not to go under the needle again until the Oilers beat the Florida Panthers in the NHL Stanley Cup final , which begins Saturday in Sunrise, Florida.
“And when they win, it’s going to be reshuffled a little bit,” he said outside his home in the north of the city.
“The whole back end will probably be covered by then (with) a tribute to the old boys on the bus like (Wayne) Gretzky and then the new guys like (Connor) McDavid.”
The Oilers, led by greats like Gretzky, won four Stanley Cups during their glory days in the 1980s, capping it all off with their fifth and final one without Gretzky in 1990 – all Cups won before Genest was 10 years.
In 2006, they returned to the final, against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Edmonton was excited and ready for a party, and Genest, 25, “wanted to do something crazy.”
A local radio station challenged its fans to do something outrageous to show their support.
His mission was to get the Cup tattooed on his back in less than 10 hours while 18 other people were given other bizarre tasks.
“There was a guy whose butt had the words Go Oil branded on it,” he said.
Another had to sit in each of the 18,000 seats at the Oilers’ former home, an arena in the city’s north end.
Two others had to roll themselves in corn syrup, get tarred and feathered, and run from the arena to a bar on the south side of town.
Genest said he managed to get the tattoo in 10 hours with the help of his loved ones. They fed him face down to keep his sugar levels normal and distracted him from the painful tip of the tattoo needle.
He said former Oilers player Ales Hemsky called him “the craziest person” he had ever met.
Participants qualified for a $35,000 draw. Genest lost the money, but said, “I won the greatest summer ever.”
“I had a tattoo on my back that will never come off and will be constantly remembered during the Stanley Cup run in 2006.”
Genest continues to attract attention because of his tattoo.
When he is shirtless on the beach, people regularly stop him to take pictures of his back. The kids ask their parents to take a photo with his Tesla, a car dressed in Oilers orange and blue and emblazoned with the words “Play La Bamba.”
“La Bamba” is a Mexican folk song that was a hit for Ritchie Valens in 1958 and had a resurgence in 1987 when it was released by the group Los Lobos. It is played after every Oilers victory at their downtown home of Rogers Place. “Play La Bamba, baby!” became the catchphrase of the late Ben Stelter, a six-year Oilers superfan whose enthusiasm and support became an inspiration to star players such as McDavid. Stelter died in 2022 after a battle with cancer.
Since 2006, the Oilers and their fans have gone through some tough times, including 10 straight non-playoff seasons.
Genest said he was in disbelief that the Oilers made it back to the final.
“This is our year. The boys know it. »
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2024.
Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press
