Tales of the Seventh Man
 
How awesome is it to be named your favorite team’s #1 fan? I mean seriously. Everyone has their favorite team that they pull for and live and die for. My dad breathes Yankee baseball and he is a huge fan. But to be officially named the team’s best fan? Thus my surprise when I received a call from the Columbus Blue Jackets saying that I was named the winner of the 7th Man contest -- officially making me the Blue Jackets #1 fan. How does this happen and what does it entail? Well, pull up an iceberg and have a seat.

The NHL sponsors an essay writing contest in which fans, in 250 words or less, explain why they are their favorite team’s #1 Fan. Anyone that knows me knows how much I love the Blue Jackets. I mean, I just got married at the home of the Blue Jackets, Nationwide Arena. So I started writing. The first draft was only 800 words. After a few weeks, I pared it down and sent it in. I talked mostly about the wedding, and how much we were incorporating the Blue Jackets/colors/hockey into it. I also have a basement that I deem “the Blue Jackets Shrine.” This is where all things CBJ reside.

Well, a few weeks before our wedding, I found out that I had won. But with everything else that was happening, winning this was thrown on the backburner. I had to get through the wedding first!

So on April 2nd, one week after the wedding, Liza and I returned to Nationwide Arena as part of my prize package. It was a bit of a sad day. It was the last Blue Jackets home game of the season, but a day to remember. That morning, we had met our Nationwide escort, Chris, at the top of the CBJ parking garage. First up was a tour of the arena: We went to the press level, where our boys Bill and George call the game, the Club level suites (boy, I wish I could get one of those), and the Video Room, where all the scoreboard/video ops take place during the game. This is the place to be! It looked like a dorm room with TV screens and electronic equipment everywhere.

Next, we headed to the morning skate. On the walk over, we ran into George Matthews, the radio voice of the CBJ. I have talked to him a few times before, and invited him to the wedding. He asked about married life and apologized many times for not being able to make it to the wedding -- it’s okay George. As the players skated around for practice, Liza and I found a spot close to the bench, a few rows from the glass. We snapped all kinds of pictures of the guys. Following practice, we were going to get to go to the pressroom, where reporters were interviewing Head Coach Gerard Gallant. But on the way there, we chatted with GM and President Doug MacLean, Fox Sports’ Steve Konroyd, former Blue Jacket Kevin Dineen, and then radio analyst Bill Davidge even said hello. It was rather surreal as all of these CBJ bigwigs came up to us and asked about the wedding and how things were going. It was like we were celebrities.

In the pressroom, following the questions segment, Coach Gallant came over and chatted with us a bit. Blue Jackets Captain Luke Richardson came out for a photo-op. We were then taken to a locker room, where they gave me a “Cousy 7” jersey, and also the other prizes I received.

Liza and I then broke for lunch, but we would return later that evening for the game. The CBJ gave us tickets, and I was being honored before the game for winning the “7th Man” contest by getting to drop the puck. We had to wait down near the Zamboni entrance as they exited and then we walked over to players tunnel, right behind he benches. Liza and I stood there as Marc Denis, Rick Nash, and Andrew Cassels walked past us and onto the ice. How cool is this? While the national anthem played, I stood between, Cassels and Anders Eriksson on the bench. Immediately after, I was rushed onto the ice. I don’t even know what happened. It was such a blur. In front of 18,136 people, I walked to Center Ice, waited for Joe Sakic and Luke Richardson to skate over, and then I threw the puck between them. Sakic won the face-off, but Luke picked up the puck and handed it to me. I shook his hand and then turned to Sakic, shook his hand, told him good luck. I can’t believe I said that. It just rolled of off my tongue. Damn it! Sakic of course went on to score later that night, and I take full responsibility.

The night ended on a down note. Zherdev scored early, but the Avalanche quickly struck back and beat us. During the first period, Fox Sports’ Jeff Hogan came down and did a television interview with us, both about the wedding and the 7th Man. In asking me what I would do if I won the “NHL Fan of the Year”, I simply replied:

“I would disband the Red Wings!”

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Cousy Kane is a frequent contributor for thefootnote.com. He will curse himself until his last days about the Sakic thing.