The fever of the Stanley Cup final intoxicates Quebecers abroad who diligently follow the Canadiens games, coffee in hand when they wake up, thousands of kilometers from home.
“It’s a bit surreal to follow it so far!” But ultimately the only thing that has changed is that I drink my coffee instead of drinking a beer while watching the game Laughs Claudia Campbell, a Montrealer living in Brisbane, Australia, for three years.
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Claudia Campbell, a Montrealer CH fan who lives in Brisbane, Australia, has converted her Australian husband, Dane, and stepson, Cooper, and never misses part of the playoffs, despite the 12 hour time difference.
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For her, as for several Quebecers contacted by The newspaper, it is impossible to miss the series, even if some have 12 hours of time difference.
“I remember the victory in 1993, I was 8 years old. Even though I’m in Australia, I don’t want to miss the victory, ”explains the one who still has a pang in her heart for not living this“ historic ”moment in her hometown.
“If I could, I would have come back to Montreal just to celebrate at home,” says Ken Horth, who also lives in Australia.
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Start time of the match: 10 a.m.
Ken Horth lives in Bateau Bay, a coastal town in Australia.
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For his part, Mathieu Tremblay, a Saguenéen who lives in Siem Reap, Cambodia, gets up at 7 a.m. to watch the blue-white-red take on the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“I’ve been living abroad for 20 years and I’ve never stopped watching them. Even when they’re in the regular season, I don’t miss a game, ”said the 41-year-old.
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Start time of the match: 7 a.m.
Mathieu Tremblay is in Siem Reap, Cambodia, Asia.
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Getting closer to Quebec
And the madness of the series especially allows these expatriates to share this rare feat with their relatives despite the distance.
For Marie-Claude Pilon, a Gatineau resident who lives in Geelong, Australia, even at the office, we plug into the Canadian and we share it with family.
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Marie-Claude Pilon
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“During the games, I talk with my mother and my sister, so for two hours, it’s as if I was with them,” explains the one who has not returned to Quebec for two years because of the pandemic.
Series frenzy
In France, Manon Chénier Chartrand, it is the effervescence of the playoffs that decided her to start following the matches, even if for her that means getting up in the middle of the night at 2 a.m.
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Start time of the match: 2 a.m.
Manon Chénier Chartrand, proud of her Maple Leaf, in Vannes, France.
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“I’m not a hockey fan, but right now it’s really important! And then with the pandemic and all the year that we have lived, it is fun to meet around hockey, ”launches the one who would have liked to be in Quebec surrounded by her family for the occasion.
In Zoungbo-Tossota, a remote village in Benin, Maxime Fortin, from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, somehow follows the scores of the matches.
“No one here watches hockey, so it’s not on TV. Internet is not really good, so I can’t watch the videos. I update the scores as best I can and my family sends me messages from time to time when there is a goal, ”laughs the man who has gone to build a hospital in this West African country.
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Start time of the match: 1 a.m.
Maxime Fortin follows the results from Zoungbo-Tossota, in Benin.
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Even in VR
Jean-Philippe Morin, 28, and his partner Anne-Sophie Dupont, 27, who cross the Americas in a recreational vehicle, managed to connect to the wi-fi of a restaurant in Panama to follow Monday’s game.
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Jean-Philippe Morin and Anne-Sophie Dupont
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“In our lifetime, we’ve never seen the CH win the Cup yet, so for sure, even if we’re traveling, we want to see that. On the road, we couldn’t watch all the games, but there as soon as we can, we follow it! »Supports the one who has been walking since December.
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