After three straight losses to the Edmonton Oilers, staying optimistic might be tough for some Calgary Flames fans.
But that’s never a problem for one group of longtime Calgarians, that has found a new way to show support for the hometown hockey heroes.
Residents of the Whitehorn Village Retirement Village have recorded a video of themselves cheering on the Flames.
“I cheer for them all the time,” resident Joyce Zalucky said. “You must hear me when the game is on. Every time, they hear me in the whole building.”
The residents’ video is set to the music of Calgary entertainer Joey Braunwarth, who performs under the name Wild.
“I’m a huge Flames fan and I took my love of music, paired it up and did a little Flames track,” Braunwarth said.
Braunwarth visited Whitehorn Village on Thursday to lead the seniors in singing part of his song.
“They get happy, they get so excited,” the facility’s recreation director Claudia Castanaza said.
Castanaza produced the video of the residents moving and lip-synching to Braunwarth singing his song “Win the Cup.”
“It gets their spirits going,” Castanaza said. “Right now, especially because it’s almost the end of COVID, we’re trying to get things back to normal again.”
Braunwarth says he’s glad the people at Whitehorn Village saw his video and decided to do their own version of the song.
“I think it’s great. I remember my grandparents’ spirit for the Flames and that’s honestly where I got mine,” Braunwarth said. “So to do this is nostalgic and totally worth it for me.”
And while Zalucky may be several decades older than many of Braunwarth’s fans, she’s impressed by his talent.
“Oh, he’s great,” Zalucky said. “Puts everything into it and makes everybody go.”