Section E3, Seat 7: A London fan’s front-row take on the Memorial Cup

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Even among London Knights super-fans, Sav Neth stands out with his green pants, green wig and excited yelling.

Maybe, you’ve seen him at a Knights home game, or in the stands on TV during the team’s hunt for the Memorial Cup?

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If you haven’t spotted him, you might have heard him – his friends back in London, watching Monday’s broadcast from Michigan of the game between the Knights and the Moose Jaw Warriors, heard him at a big-screen viewing party set up on Dundas Place.

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“I like to scream really loud,” said Neth, the founder of a Facebook-based Knights fan club who has front-row seats to the Memorial Cup – Section E3, Seat 7 – and plans to follow London through the tournament. From that vantage point, we asked Neth to give us the skinny on what he’s seeing and hearing in Saginaw, Mich., and plan to check back with him for regular reports as the four-team tournament to determine Canadian junior hockey supremacy unfolds.

MONDAY’S GAME

The Knights prevailed in a close match with Moose Jaw, the Western Hockey League champions, by a 5-4 margin. Neth said fans could feel the excitement in all corners of the Dow Event Center. The arena is home to the Saginaw Spirit, a tough rival of the Knights in the Ontario Hockey League and one London will play Wednesday night.

After the Warriors scored the first goal of Monday’s game, the Knights came back in a match Neth said was “closely stacked.”

“You’re kind of seeing the see the best of the best,” he said about the London-Moose Jaw game. The (Warriors) came out flying.  But sometimes it takes some adversity for the players to realize – alright, let’s go.”  The Knights rebounded and went into the second period with the lead.

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THE FANS

Leaving aside team and league rivalries, Neth said it’s been “all love” with a lot of friendly banter between fans of the other teams in the tournament. Besides London, Saginaw (the host team) and Moose Jaw, the other team chasing junior hockey supremacy in the tournament is the Drummondville Voltigeurs, champion of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.

At Monday’s game, Neth said he managed to covert a couple hometown Saginaw Spirit fans into Knights fans for a few hours, handing them some spare Knights clappers to help seal the deal. “I said, ‘today would be a great day to cheer for the Knights.’”

THE BIG PICTURE

Taking in his first Memorial Cup, Neth – who’s caught other finals and playoff games – said fans who can should get to the tournament. “It’s been a magical week here in Saginaw.” Smaller than Budweiser Gardens, where the Knights play to crowds of 9,000, the Dow Event Center seats more than 5,000 for hockey and is an older arena. But Neth said there are no bad seats in the place. “It’s a beautiful arena,” he said, adding the smaller size amplifies the energy inside. “That loudness kind of comes out more.”

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ON THE SIDELINES

There’s plenty of other attractions at the arena, away from the games, to entertain and feed fans and their kids, said Neth. There’s interactive events, like face-painting, a Hockey Hall of Fame exhibit, food trucks and merchandise tents. Neth said he’s already spent more than $1,000 on merchandise, some of which he’s bringing back for Knights fans who couldn’t make it to the tournament, three hours away. “They’re doing a great job,” he said about host city Saginaw. “They have put on a great show and everybody’s been awesome here.”

WHAT’S TO COME

Planning to stay at the tournament as long as the Knights remain in conention, Neth was resting his vocal cords Tuesday for the action yet to come. The Knights, undefeated in round-robin play so far, face Saginaw, also 2-0, on Wednesday night in a battle of the unbeatens, with the winner going to Sunday’s Memorial Cup final and bypassing the semi-final.

nbrennan@postmedia.com

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