Frances DiNovis might have found the coolest outfit for her 99th birthday.
The New York City native, who is currently living in Florida, turned 99 on Tuesday and, to celebrate, put on Wayne Gretzky’s No. 99 New York Rangers sweater.
Also on Tuesday? Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final between the Rangers and the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Florida.
DiNovis is a lifelong Rangers fan and, while she couldn’t make it to the game in-person, she watched Game 4 on TV with her daughter, Janet Bertino, and some other family. The thrilling game came down to overtime, and DiNovis was watching intently the whole way through.
“We’re all yelling at the screen and she goes, ‘They can’t hear you!’ ” said Bertino with a laugh.
DiNovis was born in 1925 and spent most of her life in New York before retiring to Florida in the late 1980’s. Having spent significant time in both areas of the country, there may have been some question about which team DiNovis was going to root for in this series.
But being a “die-hard New Yorker,” as Bertino described her, it was going to be Rangers all the way.
The Gretzky jersey solidified it.
Bertino said the family was trying to decide how to celebrate the milestone birthday when her husband remembered he had a Gretzky sweater with the No. 99. So, they had DiNovis put it on and gave her a mini-Stanley Cup to add to the hockey theme.
The family plans to watch the rest of the Eastern Conference Final together, and the Stanley Cup Final should the Rangers make it that far.
DiNovis wasn’t available for a full interview for this story, but she had Bertino share one quick message on her behalf:
“Go Rangers!”
