On Saturday night, Stavanger Oilers player Greg Mauldin stepped out of the away changing room and onto the ice in an arena that was now unrecognisable to him. However, as he would be reminded, it’s not always the place that makes somewhere feel like home but the people – or more specifically, the fans.
The date is the 25 May 2022 and it’s the Champions Hockey League Group Stage Draw. Hockey fans across Europe are staring at a map in anticipation of where their undying support for their team might take them. In the back of Mauldin’s mind, he knows that there is the possibility of one particular fixture, a date with destiny.
One by one, the names of teams are read out; Stavanger are the first to be announced in Group E, then it’s Ilves Tampere. There are now two spots left in Group E and as the Draw goes on, the point where Stavanger's second opponent for 2022/23 finally comes around with only four teams who could possibly fill that place – Mountfield HK, Villach SV, Skellefteå AIK and Fribourg-Gottéron.
One twist of the draw puck later and the logo is revealed – it is that of a dragon flying behind an ‘F’ and a ‘G’. More importantly, it is the logo of a team that shaped a huge part of Mauldin’s career.
"The first message I got at the draw was from Julien Sprunger (captain of Fribourg and Mauldin’s former teammate). He told me that Stavanger and Gottéron, my two homes, were in the same group," said Mauldin speaking for La Liberté.
Mauldin played for Fribourg for five seasons (2012-2017), which is a long period of time, particularly for a player that isn’t native to the country where the league is based. In his first season with the club, Fribourg’s 75th anniversary, the team reached the playoff final but subsequently lost 4-2 to SC Bern. Despite the loss, Mauldin had begun to develop a relationship with the fans that would transcend his time at the club. This would involve being given the nickname of Barracuda because of the haircut he had during the playoffs which resembled the character of Mr. T from the television show ‘The A-Team’.
Fast forward four months and the fixture had arrived. Fribourg would begin the morning with a post saying, ‘Barracuda is back home today!’.
The excitement for Mauldin’s return had become its own event; fans chanted his name, and a banner had been especially made for the man they call ‘Barracuda’. Anyone unaware of the context would have thought that Mauldin himself was a team, supported by both sets of fans. Stavanger would go on to win the game 1-0, but it is the celebrations afterwards that will long be remembered.
Mauldin would repay the adoring home fans and pay homage to his first season at the club by doing what Fribourg fans call the ‘Kiwi dance’.
The dance, which got its name from former player Joel Kwiatkowski – hence ‘Kiwi dance’, first began in 2012 when Mauldin and teammate Andrei Bykov were listening to the song L’Amour Toujours by Gigi D’Agostino.
After seeing Mauldin and Bykov grooving along to the song, Kwiatkowski went on to choreograph a dance that would become a ritual for Fribourg fans at the end of their games for the remainder of the 2012/13 season.
“I will never forget this day. It was definitely the craziest moment of my career. Of course my first NHL goal was also special, but what happened here was truly unbelievable. It went right into my heart. It will be engraved in me all my life,” said Mauldin.
The fans of Fribourg will have another opportunity to show their admiration for a player they consider to be one of their own as their team faces off against Stavanger once again on 11 September.