Youngsters at the Light of Hope orphanage in Lagos, Nigeria, were introduced to the game by Monty Raisinghani, a Surrey, B.C. engineer who visits the facility every weekend.

Raisinghani, who has been working in Africa since January, said he started teaching them about his favourite NHL team after visiting them several times.

He said many of the children lack the rights and liberties of people in the first world, and he wanted to provide them with some positive role models and leaders so they can start to “dream big” and do the best they can in life.

Then his thoughts turned to hockey.

“Not only is it a sport, it something where you need teamwork, you need communication, you need to work together,” he said.

“I did not need to look much further than the Vancouver Canucks. That was when it all started,” Raisinghani told CTV News in a Skype interview on Tuesday.

Full story here at CTV.

Raisinghani is visiting the children again this weekend and plans on sharing the Canucks progress against the Blackhawks. Here’s hoping he has some good news to share. :)