MANCHESTER, NH – Holding a ticket to a sporting event represents different emotions to every ticket holder. A ticket is an invitation to become part of something that is bigger than yourself. It is an open door to seeing the ordinary become extraordinary. It represents hope that your team will be victorious.
For the Gutowski’s of Northwood, tickets to the Manchester Monarchs represent one thing: Family.
Jim, Theresa and Alicia Gutowski hail from a small town about 45 minutes outside of Manchester, but if they had the choice, they would live inside the Verizon Wireless Arena, consuming as much hockey as possible. Since 2005, the “Royal Family” has seen just about every game the Manchester Monarchs have played.
“It was the NHL lockout that got us started,” Jim Gutowski said. “The hockey was so exciting and man, the crowd was into it. After that night, we decided to investigate to see what it would cost to bring the family, and the next thing you know, we were on board and heading to Manchester three nights a week.”
The first game the Gutowskis attended was a meeting between the Monarchs and Providence Bruins, and for maybe the last time, Theresa Gutowski wasn’t rooting for the Monarchs in the Jungle.
“To be honest, I was rooting for Providence,” Gutowski said. “I’ll always be a Bruins fan, but now the Kings are my favorite NHL team. We’re invested in the Kings.”
That investment has matured over the past 11 seasons from attending countless Monarchs games, player events like “At Your Service” and chatting with the players from their seats directly behind the Monarchs bench, a unique and coveted vantage point for the Gutowskis.
“We started in section 103,” Jim Gutowski said. “During the playoffs against Worcester one year we decided to skip around the arena, so we bought individual seats, went to different areas of the arena and those seats were available and we liked it. It was cool to hear what was going on behind the bench between the coaches and players, so we decided to go for those seats if they were available, and sure enough they were. We’ve been there for nine seasons now.”
The proximity of the Gutowski’s seats to the players is the closest a fan can get to the Monarchs bench without being on it, and that location comes with a few perks, including getting to know the players on a more personal level. Before this season, Jim Gutowski’s favorite players had always been goaltenders, mainly because the backups sit directly in front of him, but things changed a few years back during the New Year’s Eve fireworks.
“During the fireworks, Maxim Kitsyn came out and asked ‘what’s going on, what’s going on?’ so I told him, we just started chatting and we’ve been best buddies ever since,” Gutowski said. “It’s been great that he’s been here most of the season, other than those two weeks when he was out with Ontario. We just bonded. I’m like a proud father when it comes to Max.”
Gutowski not only has the ability to mingle with players the second they come off the ice, but he was also honored a few years back when he was named the Monarchs Fan of the Year by the front office staff.
“It was a contest that the Monarchs ran to submit photos of yourself in your favorite Monarchs garb,” Gutowski said. “I must have submitted 40-50 photos, and then one day, I was informed that I won. As a prize, I got to paint the blue line that sits directly in front of my seat.”
The day Gutowski painted the blue line is one he will never forget, but it was the next day that he was even more excited about, as he and his family were invited to paint Max’s crown.
“The logo only lasted about half of the season because there was an event that took it out, but even though it was gone, it was cool to know we had a part in that,” Theresa Gutowski said. “It was neat to see behind the scenes, because as fans, you don’t always get to see that side of things.”
The Monarchs have been an integral part of winters for the Gutowskis, but it was something that happened in the summer that sticks out to the family the most. After watching their beloved team win the Calder Cup, a small moment before the banner raising ceremony was the one that put the icing on the cake.
“My favorite Monarchs moment of all-time is seeing Jim hold the Calder Cup,” Theresa Gutowski said. “The team crossed the street from a restaurant and headed to the arena, and then Andrew Bodnarchuk handed Jim the Cup. I was just beside myself. I thought it was the most appropriate thing and I was so proud.”
“He must have passed 200 people and didn’t even hesitate to give it to me,” Jim Gutowski said. “It was too cool and a dream come true.”
At the end of the day, the Monarchs are die-hard hockey fans, but the ability to get closer to their family is priceless to the Gutowskis.
“It’s very important for our family to be there,” Alicia Gutowski said. “My parents and I are a pretty close to begin with, but this keeps up connected. We always have a blast.”
“Going to the games gets us out together as a family, and it’s something that we mutually love to death,” Jim Gutowski said. “We’ve always been sports fans, but now, it’s something we can go to as a family and enjoy. It’s something we have in common, not only with the three of us, but thousands of other people we get to see on a nightly basis that have become family to us.”
“We call the Verizon our second home,” Theresa Gutowski said. “We walk in the door and we are home, and we call the other season ticket holders our family. When we see all of our fellow Monarchs fans at the arena, we say ‘we’re home now’.”
The Gutowskis are three die-hard Monarchs fans who call the Jungle their second home and know they almost lost their team last January.
“If we didn’t have hockey in Manchester, that would have killed us,” Theresa Gutowski said. “They are the community’s team. They are OUR team.”
“The players know that every time they hit that ice, there will be three people behind that bench, regardless if we are winning or losing, who will be beating on the glass, screaming at opposing players and refs, but most importantly, supporting them whole-heartedly,” Jim Gutowski said. “We love our Monarchs, and that’s what it all boils down to.”
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