They may not have ever played hockey or seen a game in real life, but a group of young orphans halfway around the world have become the most unlikely group of Vancouver Canucks fans leading up to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

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.

With old playoff towels and Canucks flags in tow, Raisinghani started teaching the children about ice hockey during his weekly visits, explaining the rules and the values of teamwork and dedication.

He showed them YouTube videos of ice hockey, much to the bemusement of those who have never seen ice before.

"They were just like ‘what's that?'" Raisinghani said.

"They've seen grass hockey before, they've seen street hockey, but they've never seen it on ice. They compare it to the World Cup of soccer, because that's what they know here in Africa."

After the lessons, the orphans had a chance to make their mark on a banner to spread support for the Vancouver Canucks. The children worked as a team to choose their own number and work on their own special jersey.

Some of the children have even started talking about becoming professional hockey players, Raisinghani said.

Raisinghani now wants to go beyond teaching the children about the value of hockey to helping them play. He is in the process of bringing in hockey sticks and tennis balls so the children can start working on their skills.

"A lot of these kids are in the situation where they don't have parents, they don't have mentors, and to encourage them to do team building things like this will let the kids realize that anything is possible for them," he said.

"They're no different than anyone else in the world."

Raisinghani plans on providing the kids information about the Canucks' progress during the playoffs when he visits again this weekend.

"They're going to find out pretty quickly that those Chicago Blackhawks aren't going to stick around for very long," he said.

To find out how you can help children at the Light of Hope orphanage, send an email here.