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EDMONTON — Kevin Genest says the Edmonton Oilers have always had his back so it was only fair he put the team on his.
The 43-year-old said that while navigating tough times and hardships growing up, he bonded with his parents watching and rooting for the hometown Oilers.
As an adult, on a dare, he returned the love in ink.
In an interview, the mechanic and father of two turns around, pulls up his shirt and flashes the slightly faded tattoo of a Stanley Cup, stretching from the tip of his spine to his lumbar, with the team’s name stamped on the trophy.
“The one thing that brought the whole family together was we all watched hockey,” Genest said.
“My dad always just put me in front of the TV the moment I was able to sit upright, took me to my first game when I was seven.”
He said the art needs a touch-up but he has pledged to not go under the needle again until the Oilers defeat the Florida Panthers in the NHL Stanley Cup final, which begins Saturday in Sunrise, Fla.
“And, when they do (win) then it’s going to be done up quite a bit,” he said, standing outside his home in the city’s north end.
“The whole back is probably going to be covered by that time (with) some homage 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 in their 1980s glory days, capping it off with their fifth and last Gretzky-less one in 1990 – all Cups won before Genest was 10 years old.
In 2006, they made it back to the final, against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Edmonton was hyped and ready for a party, and the 25-year-old Genest “wanted to do something crazy.”
A local radio station dared fans to do something outrageous to show support.
His mission was to get the Cup tattooed on his back in less than 10 hours while 18 other people were dared with other bizarre assignments.
“There was one guy that actually had his backside branded with the words Go Oil,” he said.
Another had to sit in every one of the 18,000-plus seats in the Oilers’ old home, an arena in the city’s north end.
Two others had to roll in corn syrup, get tarred and feathered, and run from the arena to a bar on the city’s south side.
Genest said he successfully got the tattoo within 10 hours with the help of loved ones. They fed him with his 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’d ever met.
The contestants qualified for a $35,000 prize draw. Genest lost the money, but said, “I won the greatest summer ever.”
“I had the tattoo on my back that will never come off to constantly be remembered for the ’06 Stanley Cup run.”
Genest continues to get attention because of his tattoo.
When he’s shirtless on the beach, people regularly stop him to take a picture with his back. Kids ask their parents to take a photograph with his Tesla, a car done up 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 released by the band Los Lobos. It’s played after every Oilers victory at their downtown Rogers Place home. “Play La Bamba, baby!” became the catchphrase of the late Ben Stelter, a six-year-old 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 endured some lean times, including 10 consecutive seasons out of the playoffs.
Genest said he is in disbelief the Oilers have 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
