Potvin gets Isles tattoo

http://www.newsday.com/sports/ny-sptatt0804,0,1558746.story

Tattooed fans show loyalty to teams and players
BY BARBARA BARKER |
9:57 PM EDT, August 3, 2008



For her 18th birthday, Hicksville's Alyssa Gluck had Winnie the Pooh
with a New York Islanders logo on its stomach tattooed on her ankle.
And Laura Potavin, a 27-year-old insurance broker from Massapequa,
loves the Islanders so much that she endured the pain to have their
logo tattooed on her bikini line.

Sean Lustig of Plainview decided to get a Rangers tattoo four years
ago because he figured it was something he never would get sick of.
But he never quite anticipated that the tattoo would become as
integral to his identity as it has.

"When I went away to school, my nickname became Ranger Tattoo," Lustig
said. "Everybody knew about it, knew I was the guy with the tattoo."

All of Ryan Uchman's friends in Kelowna, British Columbia, know of his
crazy fanaticism when it comes to the Islanders, specifically former
Islander David Volek. Uchman had Volek's name tattooed on his arm
after Volek scored the overtime goal that eliminated two-time Stanley
Cup champion Pittsburgh from the 1993 playoffs.

Oddly enough, getting a Volek tattoo is not the craziest thing Uchman
has tried to do as an Islanders fan living more than 3,000 miles from
Long Island. He owns a Volek game-worn jersey and had planned to wear
it to his wedding, but his bride "had other ideas." He has managed to
alter his work schedule so he can watch Islanders games that begin at
4 p.m. where he lives.

"There's something about this team that gets into your bones," he
said.

Or under your skin, as it seems so many teams have a way of doing for
their tattooed fans. Craig Pinto, who also has a tattoo of the
Portuguese National Soccer team logo on one of his legs, says that
after enduring the ups and downs of being an Islanders fan, getting
inked is nothing.

"A tattoo is only a half-hour of pain," Pinto said. "Islander pain is
30 or 40 games a year. They've hurt me a lot more."