It’s not hard to pick out Ryan Mead at a New York Rangers event. He’s the one in robes and bishop’s headgear.
As the self-proclaimed pope of the “Church of Kakko,” he lords over the Rangers’ faithful who are certain that first-round draft pick Kaapo Kakko can help turn things around for a franchise that announced its official rebuild in 2018.
Mead, a 29-year-old Bay Shore native, wants people to know that he is respectful of people’s beliefs and that his website dedicated to the Finnish phenom is based on absurdity.
“We’ve had the Henrik Lundqvist era and now we’re going to the Kaapo Kakko era,” Mead said, referring first to the goalie who has been the face of the Rangers for over a decade.