Habs superfan will fly 3,000 km from Calgary to attend games

A Montreal Canadiens superfan spent 10 years on a waiting list to get season tickets to see the Habs play. This year, his dream came true — the only hiccup is he now lives in Calgary.

Robert Hing is an athletic director and physical education teacher at St. Gabriel the Archangel School in Chestermere. He is also a diehard hockey fan.

Hing moved to Calgary from Montreal in 2006. A few years later, he put his name on the waiting list for Canadiens seasons tickets, figuring he might one day move back to the team's home city.

"I've been a Habs fan as long as I can remember," Hing said Thursday on the Calgary Eyeopener.

This year, Hing was finally able to secure half season tickets, to 21 games, but the problem is that the Bell Centre, where the games take place, is about 3,000 kilometres away in his former hometown of Montreal.

"Now it's happened, so that is exciting," he said.

"There is a bit of a drawback … I'm really not in a position to use most of those tickets, given that I live in Calgary."

More than a game

Hing grew up in Pembroke, Ont., but much of his father's family, who emigrated from Mauritius, a French-speaking island off the coast of Madagascar, lived in Montreal.

Growing up he would visit Montreal and take part in the city's hockey fandom often.

"We spent a lot of time in Montreal, that was really our only family in Canada, in Montreal," said Hing.

"Even though I grew up in Ontario, I really considered Montreal a bit of a hometown in a way, so in that way it's not really surprising that I would cheer for my de facto hometown team."

Now he's got the tickets, and he's not going to pass up the opportunity to see his beloved team in person.

"[It's] definitely something I'm really looking forward to, for a good portion of my life," said Hing.

Sharing is caring

Fortunately, Hing goes back to Montreal to visit family a couple of times a year, and he will be able to make at least two to three of the games he holds tickets for.

His plan for the others? Sell a few and donate the rest to other Habs fans.

"Montreal Canadiens tickets aren't the easiest tickets to get, especially when things are going well," said Hing.

"I thought it'd be a neat idea if every once in awhile I would kind of offer tickets to fans who really love the Habs and maybe can't afford to go or can't get there any other way."

In order to do this, Hing creates hockey trivia he posts on his personal Twitter feed. Fan can answer questions in the hopes of winning tickets.

Hing says he'll give away "as many as I can afford.… I know if I get the right person, it would mean a lot to them."

For the love of hockey

It's not the most financially responsible decision he's ever made, says Hing, but he didn't want to turn down the tickets and have to wait again if he does move back to Montreal.

"I'm just going to do it, this has been a lifelong dream," said Hing.

His wife, who is a Calgary Flames fan, supports the purchase, as hockey was something they originally bonded over while dating.

"I've had friends say to me a few times you can't take money with you, so that's the way I'm kind of looking at this at the moment."