Katz Creates In-Air Support for Devils | FEATURE

While the Devils were in Seattle ahead of their game against the Kraken, they got some love in the sky from a dedicated fan. Jeremy Katz flew a 40 minute route in which drew the Devils logo in the sky ahead of New Jersey's game against the Kraken.
"When (the Devils) came last April, I thought I want to do something aviation related. I couldn't do anything back then. And then the idea kind of hit me," Katz said about what sparked his design in the sky. "When the schedule came out I saw when the game was, circled that, and then putting on the calendar for this week try to find a time if the weather works out, go and do it. And then in the last couple of weeks, I've been planning more and more figuring out where can I do it, what are the logistics of it, and then hoping the weather would work out. Weather was iffy but it did work out in the end."

How does one pull off the feat of a very well-drawn logo in the sky?
"My iPad has all of my aviation charts, it's got GPS on it. So what I did, I traced the Devils logo onto a transparency first and I put a couple of marks on the logo and also on the chart. So I knew how to line it up, how to scale it for what I had planned exactly where I wanted to do it. I taped my transparency to my iPad and after I took off, moved into the right spot since I took off outside of the area, and then I had one point that I said I was going to fly to here, and start flying it."

Katz started with the logo and wrapped up the design with the circle around it. With all the twists and turns of the design, he didn't have time to get dizzy. After flying, Katz returned home to catch up on two Devils games he hadn't had time to watch: New Jersey's 5-2 win over the Kings and 4-3 shootout win over the Sharks. Following, he tweeted the photo of his journey out and went to bed. Wednesday morning, he started tagging the Devils, various reporters and accounts and then tuned out to attend a meeting. When he returned to his phone it was full of calls and texts of people seeing what he did.
"All of the sudden, I was getting calls or interviews and now just seeing it pop up everywhere. By now I've had people back in New Jersey contacting me because they've seen the articles. So I thought some people are going to see it, I hope it makes some people smile. I didn't think it was going to take off like this. This is just fun at this point."

Although he's lived in Washington state for years now, Katz was born and raised in Summit, New Jersey. Growing up in the Garden State and cheering for the Devils has been a part of his hockey journey the entire time.
"As long as I've known hockey, I've been a Devils fan. I learned to skate at South Mountain Arena," Katz explained. "I've been a Devils fan forever, I moved out here and it's great that we have a Seattle team, I'll root for them 80 games a year, but first and foremost everything is Devils first and then whatever other hockey team comes behind that."
Katz still makes a trip or two back East when he can and he's tried to time up visits with games in the past. Regardless of where he is, he will always watch the games of his favorite team.
"I try to see them in person if I can," Katz said. "Otherwise, I have watched every single game and I just cut out all news if I'm behind. So it's always fresh, even if I'm a day behind."
When asked if the Devils should anticipate another logo in the sky next season, Katz upped the anty:
"Well I'd really like to draw the Cup at some point. I will find a way to do what I just did, make the Cup, and make it bigger."