'It's very special to me': Oilers superfan shows off collection of a lifetime
Edmonton Oilers superfan Tina Duncan is an avid collector of the team's memorabilia who has transformed her basement into a fan's paradise.
Duncan's love of the game started young; since she was three years old she's been cheering for the Oilers.
"My family were hockey fans, my parents grew up in Montreal, but when they moved out west and had my brothers and I, we all just adopted the Oilers," Duncan said.
She started playing street hockey with her brothers as a kid, having to take on the role of goalie. Since then, she's come to love that position and played on teams.
"My brother told my dad that he should put me in a league and at the time there wasn't any girls teams, so I played community league," Duncan said. "When I was older, they didn't allow girls to play, so I went into ski racing…when I was 21, I got back into hockey and I played on a women's team in Jasper and just loved it.
"I play the occasional beer league game now."
She's been collecting memorabilia since high school, her first piece being a crested Roman Hamrlík jersey.
"I just liked the style of play and I met him and he was such a super nice guy and I said, 'You know what? Nobody has a Hamrlík jersey,'" Duncan said.
Her basement fan cave now contains many special pieces, including seats from Northlands Coliseum and a rather unique carpet.
"When I moved in here the carpet was really ratty and pulling up and stained and I just thought well, 'I want Oiler carpet,' but where am I going to go to get it," Duncan said. "So I contacted a few carpet stores and End of the Roll carpet superstore said, 'Oh, well we're the official outfitters of Rogers place, we can get you the same carpet that's in the Oilers locker room,' and I thought, 'Sign me up.'
"The general manager came over, we spent about an hour and a half just brainstorming, this is my own idea, it's copyrighted, nobody can steal it and we made it happen."
Some of her favourite pieces are from Gretzky, McDavid and Khabibulin. Khabibulin, who was a Winnipeg Jet when she became a fan, was the player she pretended to be while playing street hockey with her brothers.
"I won a craziest fan contest in 2012, and I got to meet an Oiler of my choice… I wanted to meet Khabibulin," Duncan said. "The Oilers organizer said, 'Well, he's very superstitious, he doesn't like to do meet and greets, so pick a backup player just in case he says no.'
"She told him how big of a fan I was, so he agreed to do it, he came out and he signed my jersey."
She also got a stick from Khabibulin at that meet and greet and a glove from him at the next game.
"Move aside McDavid, I'm here for the goalies," Duncan laughed.
Duncan is also a billet mom for two players: one is an Oilers fan who loves the setup and the other is a Flames fan.
"When I first saw the basement, I really thought that it was incredible to see how much (Oilers stuff) you can actually buy," said Hudson Enns, a Canadian Sport School Hockey League player.
The Oilers play Game 5 in their playoff series against the Los Angeles Kings Wednesday at 7 p.m. Edmonton leads the series 3-1.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Matt Woodman
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Signs of Alzheimer’s were everywhere. Then his brain improved
Blood biomarkers of telltale signs of early Alzheimer’s disease in the brain of his patient, 55-year-old entrepreneur Simon Nicholls, had all but disappeared in a mere 14 months.
Box tree moths have infested Ontario and experts say more are coming. Here's what to do to protect your garden
An invasive moth species is on the rise in Canada and, if you've planted a certain shrub, it could stand to ruin your garden.
Lyon-bound Air Canada Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner from Montreal turns back midflight due to pressurization alert
Passengers heading from Montreal to Lyon, France on Friday were forced to return home and depart the next day after a pressurization indication was detected in flight.
Oilers dominate Canucks, win to force deciding Game 7
The Edmonton Oilers avoided elimination from the NHL playoffs Saturday night, beating the visiting Vancouver Canucks 5-1 in Game 6 of their second-round series.
The eight most expensive homes for sale in Ottawa this spring
Ottawa's ultra luxury housing market is blooming like the tulips this spring, with a significant increase in the number of homes sold worth more than $2 million.
B.C. pipeline company argues its 'haulers' are not trucks, for tax purposes
A contractor working on the Coastal GasLink pipeline has been denied more than $333,000 worth of tax rebates because pieces of machinery it purchased – and claimed were not trucks – were deemed sufficiently truck-like in B.C. Supreme Court.
$500K-worth of elvers seized at Toronto airport
Fishery and border service officers seized more than 100 kilograms of unauthorized elvers at the Toronto Pearson International Airport on Wednesday.
Usyk beats Fury by split decision, becomes undisputed heavyweight champion
Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury by split decision to become the first undisputed heavyweight boxing champion in 24 years.
To plant or not to plant? Gardening tips for May long weekend
May long weekend is finally here, and with the extra time off you may be getting the itch to head out to your garden and plant. However, the old debate whether you should plant now, or wait, is still ever-present.