It’s not a secret that Edmonton Oilers fans are among the loudest and most passionate fans in any room. However, if you’re wondering just how far an Oilers fan will go to share their love for the team and ultimately hockey, then you must know the story of Mike Hominsky. That’s because the 30-year-old arguably held the most remote Oilers watch party in history.

At a time when reports of NHL viewership and coverage inconsistencies are doing the rounds, the Ontario-born NHL fan hosted a watch party near the South Pole. Yes, you heard that right. When Hominsky gathered his colleagues to tune in to the Oilers’ game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday, he was in one of the most inhospitable places on the planet, a place that was closer to Antarctica than it was to the Alberta capital.

How the Edmonton Oilers fan spread the love of hockey

When Mike Hominsky signed up for a job at the remote research outpost last October, he didn’t forget to bring his Edmonton Oilers jersey with him. Although the Oilers fan knew the frigid South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands wouldn’t be the easiest place to catch NHL games, he also knew he couldn’t give up so easily.

While Hominsky didn’t find it difficult to watch games after all, he faced a different problem altogether. “On the build team, there is me from Canada, a fella from Australia, a guy from Scotland, and another guy from England,” he said, as per the Daily Hive. Hominsky was outnumbered in a research team that hailed mostly from the United Kingdom—a place where hockey isn’t so popular. So, he just had to start spreading the joys of hockey to his colleagues. Simple, right?

Not quite. But Mike Hominsky wouldn’t be deterred, even if it was slow-going at first. “Being a hockey fan, it’s been trying to introduce that down here, saying that it’s a pretty good sport… I’ve been convincing and slowly hyping things up,” he explained. The dedicated fan did everything from dressing up in his Oilers jersey for Halloween to dishing out hockey facts at random. However, his biggest success came when he got everyone to watch the Oilers vs. Leafs game, albeit with the help of a genius idea.

The reward that compelled everyone to participate

As you may have guessed, the team at the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands can’t just walk down the road to grab a bite between shifts. Instead, they have to rely on supplies and rations. So Mike Hominsky cleverly used his chocolate bar rations after meeting a colleague who was fond of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The solution was to do a 50/50 raffle among all the team members. “Down here, each month, they give you a couple of chocolate bars… I didn’t eat any of mine so I saved them up and that was the 50/50 raffle,” revealed the hockey enthusiast. “That brought a lot of people out actually, more than the hockey.”

Although the Toronto Maple Leafs ultimately trumped the Oilers on February 2nd, the thrilling game drew almost everyone to the watch party. “I definitely convinced people to pick a side before coming to the game,” said the 30-year-old. While Hominsky noted that there were slightly more Oilers fans than Leafs fans, the watch party and the 50/50 raffle were a resounding success.

What Mike Hominsky managed to accomplish at one of the most remote places on earth mirrored his own journey in becoming an Oilers fan, in a way. That’s because the 30-year-old was once just like his colleagues who didn’t grow up watching hockey. Although Hominsky has always loved hockey, he only became an Oilers fan after moving to Edmonton at 18 for work.

After living so close to Rogers Place and catching plenty of Oilers games, it didn’t take long for him to convert from a Senators fan to an Oilers fan. Now, thousands of miles away from Edmonton, Hominsky has recreated his experience of falling in love with the Oilers for his colleagues. Talk about coming full circle.