By Danny Karmin
Wayne Messmer has performed the rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner over 5,000 times — yet each time he’s handed the microphone, he sings like it’s his first solo.
“You’re only as good as your last performance,” Messmer said. “Somebody will have never heard me sing before and I want them to be wowed. You want to impress them, and I’ve never been a fan of anybody who just kind of sleepwalks through what they do.”
The vocalist has been a staple for Wolves hockey since the beginning, not only for his tunes but in the team’s business operations.
Messmer was named Senior Vice President as part of the Wolves’ origins on Jan. 25, 1994.
“I get the feeling that an architect gets when he looks at a building that people are praising,” Messmer said. “I saw this as a blank page and watched as it developed and took flight.”
Now entering his 32nd season, Messmer sticks to a game day routine that hasn’t changed much from his earliest days. Like any seasoned performer, he begins with a vocal warmup—an essential ritual for what he calls his “delicate instrument.”
Rehearsing his voice is just as important now as it was decades ago, a testament to his enduring commitment to the craft.
Driving up to Allstate Arena about an hour and a half before showtime, his routine commences.
His vocal warmup involves singing a multitude of notes and sustaining them in various pitches from ranges of high to low.
The national anthem is considered difficult to sing for the average person due to its large vocal range. The song spans an octave and a fifth harmonic voice interval — a range that exceeds the average comfort zone of many.
“The warmup is like flexing the muscles involved in the process of singing,” Messmer, 74, said. “I will easily sing through the bottom note (B-flat) and the top (F) to hear how things are working vocally.”
Once his vocal cords are tuned up to his liking, Messmer makes his way inside the arena.
The Chicago native then checks in with Wolves President of Operations Courtney Mahoney for any team, promotional or community-related information for that specific game.
Messmer, like many hockey players, has his own set of superstitions by which he swears.
Before every game, he steps onto the ice with his left foot first, always taking the same path to the end of the carpet by the penalty box, often alongside a local hometown hero. And no matter what, he refuses to take the microphone until the public address announcer has officially introduced the Wolves’ goalie.
“It’s weird, but that’s my thing,” Messmer said.
Performing alongside a nominated community hero “is a magical moment,” he said.
“Each Hometown Hero has distinguished themselves by helping or protecting others,” Messmer continued. “That quality is exemplary in my eyes and it is quite humbling to stand together on the red carpet. I make it a point to meet every one of our heroes, and often, their families.”
Once the anthem concludes, Messmer makes his way from the penalty box and into a sea of people awaiting him in Aisle Three.
“You’re getting high fives, fist bumps, the ‘can we get a picture’ requests and the ‘I love you, man ‘ type of stuff from the fans–which is so cool,” he said. “It’s funny because I walk up the aisle and you’re slapping hands and I’m thinking, ‘geez, I feel like a politician here.’ ”
A passionate and boisterous fan base is what Messmer envisioned when he began singing in ’94.
During game action, he prefers to sit with fans as he’s had seats by the Zamboni entrance for years.
“To have been there for the birth of the organization and through the preparation makes it so personal to me,” he said. “I’m just very, very proud to have that association.”
