Tennis coach Cervara grows NHL hat collection at U.S. Open

Through all the excitement and energy of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, hockey fans might want to keep an eye on some of the off-the-court action.

Tune into any of Daniil Medvedev’s matches and you might catch a glimpse of Gilles Cervara in the coach’s box. Cervara has coached the former world No. 1 since 2017 and brings a unique hockey flair to tennis matches.

The French coach collects NHL hats and shows them off during major tournaments. He adds to his collection as he visits different cities. Most recently, he wore a Florida Panthers hat during the Wimbledon Championships in London, a tournament that started about a week after the Panthers won the Stanley Cup last June.

“If I wouldn’t have been in Wimbledon, I would’ve flown to Miami to watch a game during the Stanley Cup,” Cervara told NHL.com.

Cervara started watching hockey when he was 12 years old in France and fell in love with the sport after watching the goalies play. One goalie in particular caught his eye.

“I was impressed with Patrick Roy,” Cervara said. “He was the most charismatic goalkeeper at that time for me and that was how I started following hockey.”

That was in 1993, when Roy won the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens. It was also the season Roy earned the Conn Smythe Trophy for the Most Valuable Player during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“I was so inspired and impressed by the goalkeepers,” Cervara said. “And I became a big fan of Patrick Roy … who just won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens.”

From there, rather than picking a particular hockey team to follow, Cervara was more focused on specific players. He followed Roy to the Colorado Avalanche (where he won another two Stanley Cup championships) and said he still holds out hope to someday meet the current New York Islanders coach.

He had a stint of following the Philadelphia Flyers when Eric Lindros was on the team, and last season he was enthralled by Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. So the tennis coach started following the Panthers. Behind Bobrovsky’s stellar play, Florida won the Stanley Cup, so it was only natural for Cervara to break out the Panthers cap for the Wimbledon Championships.

Now shifting gears to the U.S. Open in New York City, Cervara chose to support the New York Rangers during the tournament after receiving a Rangers hat as a gift from a friend. He has a regular Rangers hat for match days and a camouflage Rangers hat for practice days. He said one of his first stops in New York was the NHL Store in Manhattan to see the caps.

All in all, Cervara has about 30 hats in his collection that keeps growing. He doesn’t have a favorite but tends to keep the hats local, depending on what city he is in.

So don’t worry if he’s not supporting your team during this tournament, because that might be the next addition to the collection.