Oilers superfan hoping for win so he can retouch tattoo

It’s been a long time coming, but one Oilers superfan is hoping this will be the year he gets to touch up his massive Stanley Cup back tattoo.

It’s obvious that Kevin Genest is an Oilers fan from the moment you see his car. It’s blue with an orange stripe, has a big “Play La Bamba!” decal on the side and a running tally of the Oilers’ playoff victories this season on the rear window.

“When the kids see it, they get all excited to ask their mom or dad if they get pictures taken with it,” Genest said. “Then you get some dads that kind of freak out about the decals on the back…so it’s cute, it’s fun.

“I grew up watching the Oil, have been alive for all five Stanley Cups and have been patiently awaiting the sixth one to come.”

On top of the car, the born-and-raised Edmontonian has some Oilers-themed tattoos.

He has the 2006 team logo, a ’79 for the year the team came into the NHL and the blue and orange jersey stripes.

There’s also the massive Stanley Cup that covers most of his back.

In 2006, Kevin Genest took part in The Really, Really Tough Contest held by Edmonton radio station 100.3 The Bear.

The contest involved people being assigned over-the-top and weird tasks they had to complete to be entered to win a cash prize.

Some of the tasks from 2006 included sitting in every seat in Rexall Place in 24 hours, which took 15 hours to do, getting married to a stranger for at least six weeks and laying 800 pieces of plywood in 24 hours.

Genest’s task didn’t take as long, but it was a tough time, as anyone who’s gotten a tattoo could tell you. He had to get a Stanley Cup tattoo on his back.

“I was actually working as a heavy duty mechanic…and I remember sneaking into the back of the bunk while I was supposed to be inspecting the vehicle just to call into the radio station at eight o’clock in the morning,” Genest said.

“Got through and then they just said that I had to be at the tattoo shop the next morning.”

Genest was there bright and early, started the tattoo at 8 a.m. and didn’t finish until around 5:30 p.m. The contest also stipulated that this had to have been Genest’s first tattoo and it had to be finished in one sitting.

“Nine and a half hours is quite excessive for one sitting on a tattoo, especially on the back,” Genest said.

Genest was competing for $35,000, which he didn’t win, but he doesn’t regret the tattoo.

“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.

After a few sunburns and nearly 20 years, the tattoo, along with some of the others, has faded a bit.

“Once we hoist the cup again, (I’m) going and getting some stuff added to it, freshening it up and making it look a little new again,” Genest said.

“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.”

The Oilers play Game 4 against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Rogers Place.

For any fans interested in an Oilers-themed tattoo, free tattoos have been offered during games on the concourse throughout the playoffs.

Red Loon Tattoo and Piercing had two artists doing small tattoos on Monday. 

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nahreman Issa