Born to be an Islanders Fan

When Brittany Couso and Victor Calise headed to the delivery room for the birth of their first child, they were prepared with everything they needed: a hospital bag, comfortable clothes, and a projector to watch the New York Islanders game.
"Leading up to the birth, I was really hoping there would be a game on the day that he's born," Brittany said. "We were really looking forward to watching a game with him for the first time."
Baby Anakin was born on Dec. 27th at 12:21pm, just seven hours before puck drop. Victor set up the projector for Brittany in the recovery room, using the hospital curtains to project the game. Despite the nerve-wracking experience of giving birth, listening to the voices of Brendan Burke, Butch Goring, Thomas Hickey and Shannon Hogan on MSG brought a sense of normalcy to Brittany after delivery.

"The hospital can be somewhat of a disruptive environment, but it felt like being at home, being comfortable watching the game," Brittany said. "That's our routine. We bond over that... we sit down and we watch games together."
Victor took to Twitter to post the special Islanders setup in the hospital. His post received a flood of congratulatory comments, even earning a retweet from the team.

"I saw that they retweeted it and I went wild," Victor said. "They said, our first star of the game, which was crazy. I was freaking out in the hospital."
"That was probably one of the most exciting things that's ever happened in our relationship, honestly," Brittany said with a laugh.
While in recovery, Brittany watched her favorite hockey team win 5-1 over the Pittsburgh Penguins that night, as the couple welcomed their son into the world with a victory.
"[The Islanders] won the Tuesday game and then also the Thursday game," Victor said. "My friends and I were just freaking out."
The Islanders were a part of baby Anakin's life even before he was born. Brittany often attended home games at UBS Arena, up until she was nine months pregnant.
"Every time we'd go to a game when I was pregnant, he would move around so much," Brittany recalled. "So I think he's familiar with the sounds of Islanders hockey."
"We had spoken, you know, the whole pregnancy... I wonder if he's going to love it as much as we do? Is he going to be as passionate about it? I think he will be."
Victor remembers how he felt when Mathew Barzal signed a long-term contract with the Islanders in October.
"My son's going to grow up knowing Barzal as an Islander," Victor said of his reaction to the news. "He'll be able to comprehend the player that Barzal is and everything."
The idea of naming their child after a current Islanders player was even a topic of conversation before Brittany gave birth.
"Yeah, I think the going name - if not Anakin - was actually going to be Anders," Victor said of potentially naming his son after captain Anders Lee. "I really liked that name."
During Brittany's pregnancy, the couple searched for hockey-themed baby books - buying "Goodnight Hockey" for their unborn son. The couple brought the book with them to the Islanders Season Ticket Member Meet the Team event, in hopes of collecting player signatures.

"A whole bunch of them, like Adam Pelech, Cal Clutterbuck... they were all like we have this same book at home for our kid," Victor said. "They all knew the book immediately, so they were totally down with signing it."
The first-time parents are excited to read the book to baby Anakin and show him the signatures - just one of the ways they're planning on incorporating Islanders hockey into Anakin's life as he grows up.
"Anytime I think of being able to do stuff with him and everything... it's all Islanders," said the new dad. "It's showing him the game, getting him excited about the game, buying him jerseys."
The newborn is already swaddled in Islanders gear, courtesy of the passion of his parents and a care package from the team.
"This whole experience really just speaks to who the Islanders are, putting this sort of attention, care and interest into their fans," Brittany said. "It's so meaningful for us."
"He already has three jerseys, and he doesn't even fit them yet," Victor said. "He's just wrapped in them. I'm probably going to buy him 20 more."
After a whirlwind few weeks, Brittany and Victor are adjusting to life as new parents, enjoying their newborn son and embracing the beginning of baby Anakin's journey as an Islanders fan. Brittany hopes to come back to UBS to watch her favorite hockey team in-person again.
"It's exciting being home with our baby, but it's also exciting like getting back to life and doing the things that we bond over and that bring us joy."