To win a 2002 Ottawa Senators radio contest, Gary Laverdure named his daughter after Zdeno Chara.
Ottawa Senators fans are a passionate bunch, but only a few would be willing to show their dedication to the team like Gary Laverdure once did.
In 2002, when I was one of the morning show hosts at TSN 1200 Radio in Ottawa, we decided to hold a listener contest. Basically, it came down to this: What would you be willing to do to prove you're the "Ultimate Sens Fan."
Admittedly, my memories about it are a little fuzzy, so I caught up today with Laverdure, who remembers it all vividly. How could he not?
"Back when the station was Team 1200, you guys did a contest in October 2002 to find the "Ultimate Sens Fan," Laverdure remembers. "There was a list of items to try to complete, and one was "Name your newborn baby after a Sens player; middle names were okay. So we did it. And we won the prize valued at $50 thousand."
I do recall thinking that no one would do the baby name thing. But Gary proved me wrong. And he didn't pick Jody Hull. He went all in with Zdeno Chara.
The prize included season tickets five rows up from the ice, a trip to see the Senators in Toronto, playoff tickets, and more. And Laverdure couldn't have picked a much better season to attend. The Senators won their only President's Trophy that year and made it to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final (damn you, Jeff Friesen).
So, as a rabid Sens fan, everything worked out nicely for Gary. But what about his newborn daughter?
"Kelli did not like being named "Zdeno" when she was little," Laverdure said. "That is, until the 2012 all-star game in Ottawa when Chara was with the Bruins and was captain of one of the teams (plus winning the Stanley Cup).
"She is a big fan of his and loves the story now."
Two decades later, on her 2024 graduation day, Kelli stood tall in Ottawa with her name in lights, just like the big man she was named after.
She even got a photo today with Senators legend and assistant coach Daniel Alfredsson, who received an honorary degree from the University of Ottawa.
