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Edmonton Oilers fan reflects on $35,000 Stanley Cup tattoo challenge - "Wouldn't trade it for the world"
The Edmonton Oilers have finally reached the Stanley Cup Finals after a long 18-year wait. They played their last Cup Finals back in 2006 and fans are already reminiscing about the bittersweet memories, including a $35,000 Stanley Cup tattoo challenge.
Back in 2006 when the Oilers last reached the Stanley Cup Finals and faced the Carolina Hurricanes, local radio station 100.3 “The Bear” announced a daring contest with prize money worth $35k, where contestants would have to complete given challenges.
Once they completed a challenge, their names were entered into a reverse draw, where the last name drawn would win a prize. One such participant was Edmonton Oilers fan Kevin Genest.
Genest took on the challenge of getting a massive tattoo of the Stanley Cup on his back. That was his first tattoo, and it stretched from the nape of his neck to his lower back. The process took nine and a half hours, involving two tattoo artists working in shifts.
However, he didn't win the $35,000 prize, as his name was drawn eighth-last in the reverse draw. But Genest had no regrets:
“I wouldn’t trade it for the world. My summer was amazing that year,” he said. [H/T Edmonton Journal]
He acknowledged that nine and a half hours was quite excessive for one sitting on a tattoo, especially on the back. However, the lifelong Oilers fan recalled it as one of the greatest memories of his life:
"It was probably one of the greatest memories of my entire life, just with all the hype of us making it all the way to game seven," Genest said.
Kevin Genest wants to touch up his tattoo if Edmonton Oilers lift the Cup in 2024
After nearly two decades, Kevin Genest's Stanley Cup tattoo has slightly faded, and he is eager to refresh it if the Oilers win it this year. He said he plans to add new elements and make it look new again:
"Once we hoist the cup again, I'm going to get some stuff added to it, freshening it up," Genest said in an interview with CTV.
He has a few ideas for the update as well. Instead of changing the cup itself, he wants to work on the background and add the names of all the players who have it:
"I've got a couple ideas. Not on the cup, but maybe as the background of the whole back just doing all the names of the boys who have won it…and then throw 97 and 99 somewhere in there."
Now it remains to be seen if the Edmonton Oilers can beat the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Finals so that Kevin Genest can get to touch up his tattoo.
Game 1 of the finals takes place at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.
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