Kevin Oklobzija

@kevinoDandC

Tuesday is hockey night for Adriana Giancursio.

At 100 years old, and counting, there's a pretty good chance she's the oldest die-hard fan of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

And with her grandson, Ryan Callahan, now in his 10th season of pro hockey, her friends know not to bother her once the puck drops.

On Tuesday night, that will be shortly after 7 p.m. The Lightning and New York Islanders play Game 3 of their best-of-seven second-round Stanley Cup playoff series. Each team has won a game.

Giancursio, of course, was glued to her TV for every moment of the first two games. "I watch every single game," she said recently from her apartment in Irondequoit.

In past years, some of her friends would watch the games with her.

"They're all younger than I am," Giancursio said. "Well, they're old, but compared to me they're young."

On occasion, a friend or two would drop by her apartment to watch the games with her.

Lightning vs. Islanders series also Callahan vs. Prince

They'd gleefully point out Ryan by his uniform number during the game; "There's 24, there's 24." But most of her friends didn't have a deep understanding of hockey. And she didn't have a lot of patience for teaching them the game on the fly.

"They'd ask questions and I'd have to explain," Giancursio said, "and by the time I was through explaining, the game had moved on."

So nowadays she usually prefers to watch alone. Fewer interruptions.

The next day she'll be on the phone, checking in with Ryan.

"I call him the day after the game, all the time," she said. "He says I'm a worry-wart."

More like just a proud grandmother.

"We're lucky enough to have her around at her age," Callahan said. "It's pretty special, at her age, that she comprehends what's going on. To be able to share this experience in the NHL with her is an added bonus."

Giancursio was born Jan. 19, 1916, in Italy, near the Swiss border. "Right below the Alps," she said. "When you stood outside, you could see all the mountains. But it doesn't compare to America. Give me good old America."

She came to the United States when she was 3, although she would return to Italy every year when she was young.

"I remember when I was 16 and I was on the Hudson (River), coming back from Italy with my friends, and we looked at the Statue of Liberty and we all just said, 'Isn't it wonderful to be back.' People can travel all they want but they could never find another America."



She has seen 17 U.S. presidents — "(Franklin Delano) Roosevelt was the best; he's the only one who knew what he was doing" — and has every intention of seeing an 18th elected into office. She's not a big fan of Hillary Clinton and, while she says Donald Trump has quite the mind, "his mouth might get him into trouble."

While Giancursio is older than the NHL itself, she didn't become a fan until her grandson started playing for the New York Rangers late in the 2006-07 season. He and older brother Mike are why she began going to games at Lakeshore Hockey Arena in Greece, bundled up like Randy in A Christmas Story.

"I remember Ryan fell down one day and I thought, 'Oh, my God, he got hurt.' I asked him what happened and he looked at me so disgustedly and said, 'Grandma, I was tired.' "

When Ryan a pre-teen, she would babysit during the day at the Callahan home in north Greece.

"All we did in the cul-de-sac was play hockey, so we dragged her outside to play with us," Ryan said.

She hasn't forgotten. "They'd say, 'Grandma, get the hockey sticks, we're playing hockey.' "

They also made her take part in indoor knee hockey games in the house.

"They'd put her in front of the steps so if the ball went through, she'd have to retrieve the ball, not them; the poor thing," Donna Callahan recalled.

Now, two decades later, she's surely one of the most hockey-savvy centenarians around. As Rangers coach Alain Vigneault learned a few years back.

She and the family — her daughter, Donna, and son-in-law, Michael, Ryan's parents — had gone to watch the Rangers play the Buffalo Sabres at First Niagara Center. Afterward they were waiting for Ryan.

"The coach was standing there and I told him 'You have to give Ryan more (ice) time," Giancursio recalled.

Not wanting to sound like a grumpy grandma, she then told Vigneault, "I like your tie."

Giancursio gave up driving when she was 94. She didn't see the point in spending all that money on insurance and gas when the only places she drove to were Wegmans and the shopping plaza.

"Sometimes I holler at myself for giving it up," she said. "You lose your independence.

"I'm outliving everybody. My friends, when we go out to lunch, they have to tell everyone that I'm 100. I have no wrinkles though. My mother died at 94 and she didn't either. Maybe it's because we were born under the Alps."

Living on her own helps keep her young. As does having hockey to watch. "I think that's how she stays so spunky," Ryan said.

KEVINO@gannett.com