Minnesota Wild fan and
Hockey mom Theresa Gould named NHL Fan of the Year
Gould to become NHL Commissioner for a Day;
Participate in ceremonial opening Face-Off at Game 2 of Stanley Cup Final
NEW YORK (May 25, 2004) - Theresa Gould, a Minnesota Wild fan from Ramsey, Minn., has been named the winner of the second annual NHL 7th Man Award. Gould will fly to NHL headquarters in New York City on Thursday to become Commissioner for a Day and then to Tampa to participate in a ceremonial opening face-off prior to Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. In addition, she will receive a pair of tickets to the World Cup of Hockey USA vs. Russia to be played in St. Paul at the Xcel Energy Center on September 2.
Gould was nominated by her daughter Laura. In her essay, Laura wrote: "if a seventh man was added to the team, my mom would be perfect, not for her strength or speed, but for her love and dedication to the game. Her love of hockey didn't start as a young child, nor as a teenager but as a mother when my older sister started playing hockey. She learned everything from equipment to the rules of the game. She also managed my sister's team... and has three kids still in youth hockey. She recently volunteered at the NHL All-Star Game. When my sister (Niki) passed away in high school, even through her grief she was thinking of the girl's hockey team, which my sister played on. All of my sister's memorial money went to suiting up the Varsity and JV teams, which she designed and embroidered. One of these jerseys is displayed at the Xcel Energy Center. You can't miss my mom in a crowd; always wearing a Wild sweater, a tattoo on her face, a Wild hardhat with blinking lights... And she drives a red PT Cruiser with the license plate, WLD4WLD. If anyone deserves to be the seventh man, my mom definitely does. Her love of the team has driven her to every game whether the Wild is winning or losing, because my mom believes the Wild will always be the best team on the ice."
Gould was chosen from among 30 team winners by an expert panel of ABC and CBC hockey analyst John Davidson; ESPN announcer Linda Cohn; TSN hockey analyst Pierre McGuire; actress/hockey fan Whoopi Goldberg; entertainer and hockey enthusiast Denis Leary; last year's 7th Man Award winner Roger Farina; and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
"Theresa's dedication and loyalty reflect our fans' passion for, and connection to, our game," Commissioner Bettman said. "This was not an easy decision since there were many worthy seventh man candidates. We are thrilled to be honoring a fan like Theresa. She is the embodiment of the NHL."
The NHL introduced the 7th Man Award last season in celebration of its fans' dedication, passion and loyalty. The 30 NHL Clubs recently honored their respective 7th Man winners, each of whom earned a chance to compete for the League-wide honor.
Fans in the United States and Canada were able to enter by logging on to NHL.com or team websites and submitting an essay of up to 250 words describing their qualifications as the 7th Man of their favorite team. The fan whose essay best exemplified dedication, passion and loyalty to the NHL and to his or her favorite team was named the respective Club's local winner.
Entrants were judged on the following criteria:
- How the nominee best exemplifies the attributes of an NHL fan through his or her dedication, passion and loyalty to the NHL and their favorite team.
- The extent to which the nominee incorporates "fandom" into their everyday life and that of their family and friends.
- The extent of the nominee's use of their favorite team colors and logo.
