Winnipeggers supporting the Jets all the way from China

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A Winnipegger in China is converting everyone around her into Jets fans.

Norma-Jeanne Vlacich and her husband live in Guangzhou, 70 kilometres west of Hong Kong.

The 13 hour time difference hasn’t stopped them from tuning into the playoffs.

“It’s okay when it’s an evening game because it can be 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. and that’s a good time,” she said. “My husband and I have now a playoff breakfast that we like to call it, instead of beer.”

“But I saw that the fifth game is going to be a 2 p.m. start, so the Jets really need to pull this off and do it in 4, because I don’t like to get up at 3 a.m.”

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Supporting the Jets came naturally to Vlacich, but her enthusiasm encouraged others to get behind the team.

“My husband is a Leafs fan. Not his problem — he was born in Toronto — but he is now a Jets fan,” Vlacich said.

Her husband works at an international school, and Vlacich said he has also been converting his colleagues into Winnipeg supporters.

“There’s a lot of teachers that are American and from other countries that teach at the school, and they are all pro-Jets fans now.”

Both of the couple’s children attend the University of Manitoba, so the pair plan to return to home at some point and cheer on the Jets from Winnipeg.