It was all smiles at the Fairmont Hotel in Winnipeg on Wednesday morning as 12-year-old Jake Lotocki met his hockey hero John Tavares, captain of the New York Islanders.
Jake and his mother Sue had gone to a Jets game in March and Jake wore his Islanders jersey to the game which New York won.
After the Jets lost, he was bombarded by fans yelling in his face for supporting the Islanders and Jake ended up taking off his jersey and wrapping it up as he left the MTS Centre.
Tavares heard about what happened and felt he had to do something so he got in touch with the Islanders communications department and arranged to have an autographed jersey sent to Jake.
Tavares also told him he’d invite him to a morning skate the next time the team was in Winnipeg.
The Islanders play the Jets at 4:00 p.m. Wednesday and because of the early start the team opted not to skate in the morning, so Tavares told Jake to come to the team hotel.
Jake and Tavares met and spent some time behind closed doors.
Jake says he’s ready to put what happened in March behind him and when he goes to the game Wednesday evening he’ll be wearing his Islanders jersey with pride.
