The Story of Herm

(Editor's Note: The Story of Herm and The 19 is not unlike other epic tales of adventure, intrigue, and the visa application process. The retelling of the tale not only adds to its legend, but often it also reveals a side to the storyteller that was...unexpected. When Tyler from the Triple Deke offered to perform The Story of Herm as a series of short, interpretive dances, Matt Saler from On the Wings intervened...)

What's "Herm"?

Not "what," "who."

Okay, who's Herm?

A Detroit Red Wings fan. From Brazil.

Brazil? As in Brazil, Indiana?

There's a Brazil, Indiana?

Yeah, west of Indianapolis. A thriving metropolis of 8200 people. Seat of Clay County, crappy roads...

What'd you do, look it up on Wikipedia?

Yep.

Okay... Anyway, no, Brazil the country. He-

There are hockey fans in Brazil?

Don't interrupt. I'm tryi-

Sorry.

What? I told yo-

Sorry about interrupting.

Okay, it's no problem. Just let me finish. Brazil the country. And yes, there are hockey fans in Brazil. A respectable number, in fact. Ever heard of the blog, Red Wings Brasil?

You're asking a guy who didn't know there were hockey fans in Brazil if he's heard of a Brazilian hockey blog?

Good point. Well, it's a really good blog, worth checking out. Worth learning Portuguese if you're good with languages.

What's Portuguese? A language? Why don't they speak Spanish?

You, a guy whose go-to site is Wikipedia, are asking me this?

Good point yourself. Please continue.

So, Herm blogs there, one of five bloggers. He's also a regular contributer in the world-famous comment section of the blog Abel to Yzerman.

Abel to Yzerman? Why not Abel to Zetterberg?

Dude, don't be that guy. Seriously. Or we're done here.

Okay, okay. Sorry.

So, Herm's one of the 19-

Nineteen what? Readers? This blog only has nineteen readers?

Okay, you're being That Guy again. Shut up.

That's a little ru-

Shut up.

The significance of "19" to a Wings fan base is not something I should have to explain to you.

So, the others in the 19 really appreciate Herm's role in the community at A2Y. And when Kris, who blogs at Snipe Snipe, Dangle Dangle...

These blog names...

... interviewed him and the 19 found out he'd never even met another hockey fan or been to a hockey game, Herm 2 Hockeytown was born. The 19 came up with the idea of bringing him to the States for a game. The date of March 26th was chosen for obvious reasons.

Who're they playing? Someone good, I hope.

Well, it's only Minnesota, but the point of this is the experience of catching the game in person, not only with Herm, but with the rest of the 19, some 90+ people.

Won't be a great experience if everyone falls asleep...

Yeah, well, they say Minnesota's not so boring this year...

Anyway, obviously, "bringing" Herm to the States meant money. So, a donation drive was kicked off. We raised a capped $1000 in 30 hours. And since we don't like caps in Detroit, it was soon removed. We collected another $1000 before too long and have since reached $2,292.84.

Wow, is all that needed to bring Herm over?

We're beyond bringing Herm over at this point. Every penny that's not needed for that part of the project goes to the Children's Hospital of Michigan. This is about helping the kids as much as it is about giving one of our brothers a chance to catch a game in person.

How much goes to the kids?

That depends on viewers like you. Sorry to go all fund-drive on you, but it's the truth. The sky's the limit. We're not just asking for money in a vacuum, either. We've got a prize drawing for cool hockey swag planned and we're selling T-shirts for the experience , the proceeds from which will go into the pot we'll hand over to the Hospital.

Ah, so a "I helped bring Herm to Hockeytown and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" sort of thing?

No... first of all, the shirts aren't lousy, they're awesome. And second, you can come to the game too. If you're not part of the block containing the 19, you can still get great deals on tickets if you call Ryan Michaels at 313-396-7504. That way, you get the experience of being a part of this.

Okay, so you're all just going to converge on the Joe at gametime?

Sorta. We've also got a pre-party planned at Hockeytown Cafe, where we'll be doing a podcast recording, too. The whole thing's going to be a Wings love extravanza, from 4:00 that afternoon through the weekend. Lots of stuff planned apart from the game.

So this must be just a Wings fan thing.

Actually, no. We've had donations from even Pens fans. We want it to be a yearly thing that helps out people in the Detroit area going forward, but we want it to transcend our little corner of the hockey fanbase, too. If you know other hockey fans, let them know something cool's going on in the Wings' fanbase and that they can be a part of it.

Good luck with that. Seriously.

Thanks. So, are you in?