How a TV show led to a Brazilian man’s love of the Edmonton Oilers
Global News
From the soccer-obsessed nation of Brazil, Gabriel Candido is a huge Edmonton Oilers fan and his passion for hockey stems from a TV show.
Nothing brings people together quite like the love of hockey and that couldn’t be truer for Gabriel Candido, a Brazilian man who might just be the country’s biggest Edmonton Oilers fan.
“It’s hard to find someone in Brazil who likes ice hockey,” Candido said in an interview with Global News via Zoom from his home in Curitiba, Brazil.
From a soccer-obsessed nation, Candido’s passion for hockey is rare, and it doesn’t come from the typical family upbringing like many Canadians. It stems from a TV show.
Years ago, Candido was watching an episode of Everybody Hates Chris, an American sitcom created by Chris Rock and Ali LeRoi.
In the episode, the young hockey-loving character Drew gets a present from his dad – a hockey jersey. But the dad buys the jersey from a guy in the neighbourhood who sells knock-off items. Instead of a No. 99 Gretzky jersey, Drew is gifted a “Gritzky” jersey with the No. 98 on the back.
“This episode is so, so famous here in Brazil,” Candido said. “That’s one of the reasons that I became an Oilers fan.”
Candido now has his own “Gritzky” jersey.
A pre-teen at the time, Candido said his love for the game grew even more when his buddy invited him over to play what he thought was an NFL video game. The video game turned out to be an NHL game.
