Last week’s stories about Shane Gostisbehere’s day with the Stanley Cup, at the Carolina Hurricane and Westport resident’s home here, intrigued hockey fans — and others who don’t know a puck from a duck.
But it was not the only time a local resident had a close encounter with the National Hockey League’s famous hardware.
Note to non-fans: It’s a tradition for players on the championship team to have the trophy for a day, in the off-season.
But even the most ardent fans may not know that athletes are not the only ones who can hang with the Stanley Cup.
And mascots.
Which is why Seth Schachter has very intriguing tales to tell.
Seth Schachter, with the Stanley Cup.
A resident of 16 years, and now a paraprofessional in the Weston schools — after helping raise 2 children as a househusband and working with the Staples High squash program, following early retirement from a ales and marketing career — he seems an unlikely candidate for an NHL hockey mascot.
But you never know who is behind the costume of, say, Mr. Met.
Or the New Jersey Devils’ “devil.”
Growing up on Long Island, Schachter was a goalie — and a New York Islanders fan. He played hockey at SUNY-Binghamton, and had a 2-year side gig as the minor league Binghamton Rangers “Rocky the Raccoon” mascot.
Seth Schachter’s first encounter with the Stanley Cup came as a boy, on a visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
In a real-life parallel to the “Simpsons” episode in which Homer Simpson moves up from his job as a baseball mascot for the minor league Springfield Isotopes to the majors (Capital City), Schachter got his chance during his first post-college job, with the Environmental Protection Agency in Philadelphia.
The Devils needed a new mascot. The previous one — a 23-year-old nicknamed Slapshot and dressed as a puck — was fired after accusations he groped 3 female vendors at the rink.
The team re-branded its mascot as a 7-foot devil, dressed in red and wielding a pitchfork. (The team name comes from a mythical creature, said to live in the Pine Barrens since the 1700s.)
After 4 rigorous interviews, and a skating tryout, Schachter was hired.
Seth Schachter, in action.
And promptly fired.
The 1994 NHL season began with a lockout out. after a year played without a collective bargaining agreement. Over 20 front office employees were laid off, including Schachter. (He’d also signed on as a sales and marketing associate.)
When the lockout ended, he was one of only 3 rehires. Forty-games later — in an abbreviated season — they won their first Stanley Cup crown.
It was a hectic time. During the day, Schachter wore a suit and tie. At night he donned a heavy costume, greeted fans, skated around doing antics, and even drove a 4-wheel ATV on the ice (popping wheelies).
It was exhausting. He could hardly see (out of the mascot’s mouth). But he was in his early 20s. He had his own dressing room. He was given a championship ring.
Seth Schachter’s championship ring.
And that summer, he had the Stanley Cup.
The Devils swept Detroit in 4 games. The mascot flew there in a private jet. He was photographed near the Meadowlands, snagging an octopus with his pitchfork. (It’s a Red Wing tradition for fans to throw one on the ice. Don’t ask.)
One day, Schachter was asked to take the Stanley Cup to his parents’ apartment in New York City. It had an early morning appointment the next day, and officials feared it would be delayed by New Jersey traffic.
“I could have had a big party,” Schachter says. Instead, he invited 3 college friends to see the trophy.
They drank and ate popcorn from it. That night, Schachter brought it to bed with him.
Good night, Stanley Cup!
He became one of the Devils’ go-to employees, ferrying the Stanley Cup from place to place. After one night event, the gates to the arena and offices were locked.
Schachter took it back to his apartment. His landlords — though ardent New York Rangers fans — were impressed.
Another time, with his future wife and mother-in-law at Woodbury Commons in New York, Schachter took a photo with the trophy in the parking lot. He put it back in his vehicle.
Then they went shopping.
“I was such an idiot,” Schachter says now. “What if someone saw us taking the picture, and then broke into my car?”
Seth Schachter, his girlfriend (now wife), and the Stanley Cup in the back of the car.
Ah, to be young and a National Hockey League mascot.
But that was not Schachter’s career goal.
At an All-Star game in Boston, he met other mascots. Some were in their 50s.
He realized that was not for him. After 2 years with the Devils — they did not retain the Stanley Cup in 1995-96 — Schachter got a big-boy job, with an Atlanta engineering firm. He hung up his skates.
Over the years, his mascot years faded into the past. He seldom thought about them.
Until the other day, when an “06880” story about another Westporter, and another Stanley Cup, jogged his memory.
Suddenly, he was back drinking and eating popcorn out of the world’s most famous hockey trophy.
And sleeping next to it.
(Every Westporter has a story. And “06880” tells them all. If you enjoy this hyper-local blog, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
