Diehard Fan from the UK Lives a Dream by Seeing the Ducks Play in Person

It was a special weekend for the Ducks, who defeated the Kings and Avalanche in dramatic fashion to significantly bolster their playoff hopes. But for one Ducks fan in particular, it was the culmination of a dream come true.

James Tasker is a 27-year-old from England who had never seen his beloved Ducks play in person until this past week and a half. Tasker, who lives in the city of Bristol in Southwest England is a Training Development Officer for the Directorate of Flying Training in the UK military. He had some significant time off coming to him, and he knew precisely what he wanted to do with it.
"I knew if I wanted to go away, it was going to be for hockey," says Tasker, who plays the game for the Royal Air Force and also coaches and officiates. "So I looked at the schedule and saw the games in Canada and then the game at home against LA, and I thought,Why not? Let's do it."

Tasker made the voyage to watch the Ducks play at Calgary, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver on their recent road trip. He then flew into California prior to last weekend to take in the Kings and Avalanche games at Honda Center.
The trip cost him more than 5,000 pounds (equivalent to about $7,000 US dollars), but Tasker says its been worth every penny. "It's been 13 seasons following the team, and this is the first chance I've had to follow them in person." he says. "I've met some fantastic people along the way, even away fans who support the other teams. The highlight was probably getting taken out for dinner by a Winnipeg fan after we lost to them in overtime. That was unusual, but it was great."
Tasker's path to becoming a Ducks fan is an unusual one, and developed when he was a 15-year-old and was given free tickets to see the Peterborough Phantoms play in the first hockey game he witnessed in person. "I knew absolutely nothing about hockey, and I just fell in love with the game," he says. "I had no idea where to start, so I bought a hockey game for my Playstation, and the first team listed alphabetically was the Ducks. I stuck with them ever since."

Catching the Ducks on TV isn't easy for someone who lives in the UK. Tasker has to drag himself out of bed at "half past 2 in the morning" just to watch the Ducks on NHL.TV on a laptop or with an Amazon Fire stick. "You have to either get up really early or stay up very late," he says with a laugh. "During the week I don't get to catch many games."
Tasker wasn't able to see the Ducks play in London back in 2007 (just months after they won the Stanley Cup) when they played a pair of games against the Kings at O2 Arena. "I was too young to drive then, and there was no way I could afford to go to those games, but I wish I had been there," he says. "Since then I've bought one of the game pucks from that game because of how much it means to England to have actually had an NHL game, and especially the fact that it was the Ducks, it really was special to me."
He says seeing the Ducks for the first time in person at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary was a surreal moment. "These are players I had just seen on Playstation or on video," he says with a smile, "and to actually watch them in the flesh was incredible."
Tasker's favorite Duck is Ryan Getzlaf because, "I just think he's the perfect role model for the rest of the team. And when I play hockey, I love to kind of lead the team and help in the development in other players. That's a real thing for me. I coach a little bit, and I also officiate, and I just think he's a great role model the way that he plays."
Of the cities he saw on the Western Canada trip, Vancouver was a highlight, despite the game result (a 4-1 Ducks defeat at Rogers Arena). "It reminded me so much of London," he says. "I thought the arena was fantastic, and the Vancouver fans were great too."

His time in California was his first-ever trip to the U.S., and he made sure to spend the day at Disneyland before the Ducks-Kings battle Friday night. As for the rest of the trip, he's heading to Toronto today to see the Hockey Hall of Fame, especially the displays of Ducks legends Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya, which were just added last November.
He'll head back home later this week, with the memories of seeing his team up close for the first time in his life.
"It's just fantastic to be here," Tasker says. "This really has been incredible."