There’s a new fan club in Tiger Town. If you have attended a Princeton Men’s Ice Hockey home game recently, you might have spotted the group in their Amazon baker hats and aprons.
The three long-time Princeton fans, Jonathan Prévost, Craig Evans, and Antranig (Anthony) Dereyan, started dressing up this season, and now one of the most iconic hockey rinks hosts an equally iconic fan group.
“Buy the stuff. Let’s do it.” Those were the famous last words Dereyan told Prévost, and now the trio can’t attend a game without their uniform.
The idea to dress up came from watching the Quinnipiac Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey student sections transform into Teletubbies as they cheer for the Bobcats on the ice.
“We were watching Quinnipiac on T.V., and there were a bunch of Teletubbies in the background, and I was like we need something like that at Baker,” said Dereyan.
But of course, copying that costume was out of the question.
“I’m not being a Teletubby! What does that have to do with Quinnipiac anyway? Nothing! We put things together better,” said Evans in an interview with ONNJ Sports.
So, naturally, the Bakers of Hobey Baker Rink came to mind. Long before becoming the Bakers, Prévost, Evans, and Dereyan found their way to each other as spectators.
Dereyan explained the first time he met his fellow Bakers like this: “There was a guy sitting next to me and when I got in he had the two seats 1 and 2, so I had 3. And then [Evans] came a few years after. He was a little bit taken aback by how I introduced myself to the players.”
Evans said he moved his seat next to Dereyan originally because he could catch more of the Princeton attack action from the new vantage point.
After that, Dereyan and Evans bonded with Prévost in a classic way: making fun of opposing teams.
“We met [Prévost] because he was sitting in front of us and I was trying to figure out acronyms for RPI [Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]. I was trying to figure out what it could stand for… Really Poor Intuition…and Jon helped out,” Dereyan recalled.
Each of the Bakers has their unique stories about becoming Princeton Ice Hockey fans first before becoming friends with each other as well.
Prévost is a part of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at Princeton. He was born and raised in the Orange Bubble, and he has attended Princeton games since the nineties.
Evans is from a hockey family. He played the sport, and his son, Chris, played Princeton Youth Hockey in Hobey Baker Rink as a kid. A perk of playing for that team was tickets to Princeton games. 14 years ago Evans decided why not get season tickets after enjoying the free games, and he has kept up the tradition ever since.
“My son loves it. He wants to come so bad to a game. He would be proud to be a Baker,” Evans said.
As for Dereyan, he grew up a hockey fan and the sport followed him throughout the schools he attended thus far in his education. He went to Quinnipiac for his master’s, which causes some friction when the two cats face off against each other.
“Which has a bigger roar: the Tiger or the Bobcat?,” Dereyan asked his buddies.
Prévost and Evans unanimously shouted without hesitation: “The Tiger!”
Currently, the Tigers are producing one of their best seasons in recent years, with a record of 15–12–3. The Bakers couldn’t be more thrilled.
“The winning streak at home was great, we really needed that. It’s been a long time,” said Prévost in reference to the 10-game winning streak at Hobey Baker Rink earlier in the season.
Princeton is set to play in the ECAC Quarterfinals starting March 13 after earning a bye week from their regular-season performance. If the Tigers make it all the way to Lake Placid to play in the Semifinal, which they haven’t done since the 2017-2018 season, there is no doubt the Bakers will be there.
The costume won’t stop at the end of Princeton’s present season, either.
“We need to bring bowls and spoons next year,” Dereyan said. “We should bring baked goods and hand them out to people,” he also suggested.
The Bakers always come prepared with extra hats and aprons in case others around them want to join in on the fun too. Their goal is to get the entire penalty box row involved by next season.
The Bakers have been featured on ESPN broadcasts, gotten requests from fans for selfies, and even the head coach of the Tiger team, Ben Syer, recognized their dedication to being Princeton Ice Hockey’s special supporting squad.
If you ever catch Prévost, Evans, and Dereyan at a Princeton game, make sure to refer to them as bakers, not chefs. The distinction is essential.
“Some guy called us chefs, I was insulted. We’re bakers. What was he talking about?,” Dereyan explained about an experience earlier this season.
While Hobey Baker Rink doesn’t welcome any chefs, one thing’s for sure: the Bakers are leaving their own legacy of Princeton pride.
