Dentist looks to put a unique smile on an Oilers fan’s face
Northeast clinic to hold social-media contest to give away logoed crown
Face paint, Connor McDavid jerseys and hockey flags are common ways to pay homage to the Oilers.
But for some, the team being in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs calls for next-level expressions of fandom.
Fans are experimenting with more permanent ways to commemorate playoff success, opting for dental crowns that will last around a decade and even getting lifelong tattoos.
“After all the dark ages, finally light has come to Edmonton,” dentist Alex Pavlenko said Friday. “It’s not about business … it’s about the whole community atmosphere and spirit.”
His clinic, Sana Dental in northeast Edmonton, has offered customized dental crowns for several years, accommodating requests such as placing initials or diamonds on teeth.
But with the Oilers in Round 2 against the Anaheim Ducks, Pavlenko wanted to offer his patients the chance to add a blue-and-orange logo to their smile, he said.
The crowns became available Thursday, but there’s a catch — patients have to genuinely need one.
“If you need one because of a broken tooth or decay … if they clinically require a crown,” he said, noting he’s waiting for his first enthusiastic patient.
Artwork on a crown costs about $200 plus the average price of the procedure, which is around $1,300, he said. He’s hosting a competition to give one person a free Oilers dental crown. Interested fans can find the information through the clinic’s Facebook page and on Twitter.
“The Oilers already have exceeded expectations for many fans, we’re already riding the wave,” he said.
Meanwhile, Darcy Niedzielski, 32, decided it was time to make good on a long-standing plan to get an Oilers tattoo.
With the team in the second round and some spare time, he decided to get an Oilers-Nation logo on his upper-left thigh before heading to Rogers Place to watch Game 2 on the big screen.
He planned to get the tattoo this summer, before the team made the playoffs.
“With them making the second round, I wanted it now,” he said while Jessie Jones of Shambhala Tattoos, 8111 104 St., inked the outline of the raised fist and oil-drop logo.
A resident of downtown, Niedzielski said he’s loved the energy during the playoffs and the random chats with strangers in Oilers gear. He expected the tattoo would also be a conversation piece.
“It’s like any other tattoo,” he said. “If you see something that’s relatable you can talk about, it’s a quick little friendship that’s bonded by the tattoo.”
Jones said that, so far, she has only had one other request for an Oilers tattoo. But she expects that will change as the team moves through the playoffs.
“In the past I’ve done them for sure, but not so much in the past few years,” she said. “One of my clients is looking at getting one ... yesterday he said he’d get it if we make it through this round, but then he said, ‘Who am I kidding, I’m still going to get it.’ So I’ll probably be tattooing him soon.”