The absurd idea began as absurd ideas begin.

That is, jokingly at first, and then suddenly it's a story.

Dan Johnson used his absurd-idea-turned-story to enter the Sportsnet.ca Connected Fan contest after catching a commercial while watching highlights.

So the Whitehorse PeeWee Mustangs coach wrote his Calgary Flames super-fan story on the Sportsnet website in February and, based on votes, became one of five semi-finalist on Tuesday.

Up for grabs is the grand prize: four tickets to a Calgary Flames regular season home game, a guided tour of Sportsnet's broadcast facilities for the four ticket holders, a signed Calgary Flames jersey and a Sportsnet prize pack.

This all sounded pretty good to Johnson, who wrote a couple hundred words of his absurd-idea-turned-story on the website.

As of press time, Johnson was leading the semi-finalist with 3,070 votes, followed by a Flames fan from Thunder Bay, Ont., with 2,303 votes.

Johnson's absurd-idea-turned-story story:

It was 2004.

He was listening to game five of the Stanley Cup finals between the Flames and the Tampa Bay Lightning on the radio in his truck at the ball diamond in Whitehorse.

Somewhere in his mind was the pact he and his brother Matt made about driving to Calgary if the Flames won that game. With the series tied 2-2, the Flames would return home for game six.

And then Flames forward Oleg Saprykin scored in overtime to break a 2-2 scoreline.

The Flames were to play game six with the chance to win the Stanley Cup at home.

Matt materialized at the diamond.

"Knowing my brother, I knew he wasn't there just to say hi – I knew we were going,” Dan said.

"It was one of those things that we talked about first kind of half joking. Then when it came closer to reality, we said, ‘We have to be there.' It's one of those life moments where you got to do it.”

Before he knew it, Dan was on the road calling his boss for the day off.

"I hadn't had time to really contemplate actually doing that. I had told my boss on the way out, jokingly, ‘If Calgary wins tonight I'm on my way down so I won't be in tomorrow.' I think it was a Thursday. And it seemed like it all happened very quickly. It felt like the next thing I knew I was in Watson Lake in the morning making a phone call saying, ‘Hey I'm really not coming into work, I'm actually going to Calgary.'”

The Johnsons arrived at Calgary's Red Mile and watched the game in a pub. The Flames lost game six, of course. And so on. The Johnsons stayed up "fairly late” walking around the city streets.

But the loss seemed only to goad the Johnsons to go farther.

"There was a brief discussion (I don't recall how serious it was): we figured Tampa wasn't that much farther than going back home,” Dan said. "But luckily we didn't end up going there because it would have been a disappointing drive home after losing the Stanley Cup, I guess. It was one of those things where you've already gone pretty far – why not?”

Dan and Matt spent one year in Calgary when their father moved there for work in 1986, the first time the Flames made the Stanley Cup finals only to lose to the Montreal Canadiens.

After that year the family was hooked.

"I was pretty lucky to be there then, and I've just been a Flames fan since then, basically. Coming back to Whitehorse, the only connection I had with any NHL city was Calgary. My whole family is a Flames family, really,” Dan said, adding that his parents have more Flames memorabilia than he does, including some 15 items bearing Lanny MacDonald's signature.

In fact, most of the other entries for the Sportsnet contest went the "memorabilia route,” Dan said.

He chose the story.

There is a chance for another chapter, with the Flames in similar playoff position this season as they were in '04.

The Flames entered the '04 playoffs in sixth spot in the Western Conference.

The Flames are currently tied for fourth.

Calgary trip round two, Dan?

"I've got a pretty forgiving wife. I think I'd be able to pull that off. See I'm married with a kid now. But I'm pretty sure the thought would cross my mind and we'd definitely have a discussion about it. I think we'd be a little more rational this time, and I'd probably spend the extra bucks and get on a plane. We didn't have any money back then, so I think this time if I was going to go I'd plan it out, maybe even have a hotel to sleep in instead of the bed of my truck.”