ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For the first time in nearly 30 years, the Rochester Americans are hoping for another successful playoff home stand.

Christopher Schenkel has been waiting for his glory moments from the stands for nearly three decades. Fans have been holding on to those glorious memories ever since.

“Winning the Calder Cup in '87 and 1996, I was there,” Schenkel smiled, “I got a bunch of them, but I guess winning the Calder Cup is my favorite memory.”

Schenkel has been in the stands at the Blue Cross Arena ever since.

“I’m going to be very excited, yeah,” he laughed. “I sure have made a lot of friends.”

Schenkel is developmentally disabled, but he's been a fan for nearly 40 years.  

“Team? Yeah, I feel I am a part of the team,” Schenkel said.

His family had taken a leadership role throughout the team’s tenure as penalty box supervisors, scorekeepers and game-day administrator staff. Lindsay Schenkel has been going to games with her brother for years. Her pet bird, Booboo, is even an Amerks fan.

Throughout her family’s years in the stands, her brother has made a name for himself: the “Flag Guy."

“He stores it in a particular place, and it goes with him to each and every game, and he takes good care of it. And, I don't think he's at a game without it,” Lindsay said. “He stands up and he flies the flag and he loves it. So, the more goals the better. The more goals, the more flag flying.”

Every time the team scores, he flies his own customized flag high, full of excitement. It’s built his community strong.

“It's great to see I love it and I love what a great community. Everybody's been open and welcoming and it's like a family. So it makes me feel good to see Chris so accepted,” she explained. “The Amerks are a big part of his life and he enjoys it, and he just loves it. So he kind of lives around the Amerks' games.”

Schenkel hopes the crowd he’s built, as a family, will help to bring the skill and luck the team needs to win the Calder Cup championship game. The excitement would be inevitable.