It truly is a family affair for the Chans, and one that will live on in Michael's memory - and Section 226 - for the foreseeable future. "He was like, 'tell her to stop that's Iginla's signature on that jersey!'" My other brother came up to me and asked what she was doing, and I told him mom said it was dirty. My mom saw 'stuff' on Michael's jersey, and she was trying to wipe it off. He wore his red Calgary Flames jersey with Iginla's signature on it. "When Michael was in the casket, we put the jerseys on him. I felt like I was folding laundry for the entire Calgary Flames team - there were so many jerseys! "In Chinese culture, you put the things that the person loved in their casket. Michael's obituary described him as a "superfan of the Calgary Flames" who was "proud to wear the Flaming C jersey everywhere." I'm like, 'come on Michael, look out for me, too!'" "Since then I always buy 50-50 tickets when I'm in Michael's seats, and nothing happens. I won the 50-50.' I thought he was just joking around. "He texted me and said: 'You're not going to believe this. "He actually won the 50-50 draw that night. "I gave one of his tickets to one of his friends for that game," said Rosa. And one of his friends got a surprise that Rosa believes Michael was responsible for. 30, less than a month after his death, Michael was honoured as the Season Ticket Holder of the Game, with all of his family and friends in attendance. The fans were going crazy.Īnother remarkable moment came after Michael's passing. We were there for about an hour and a half before the game, and everything was red. "It was the Flames' first playoff game in seven years," recalled Dang. "It does seem like a family there we go up and down with the Flames."Īnd an up note for the 226 family was obviously the 2004 playoff run. I don't go to as many games as Mike did, but he bonded with everybody in that section." "Besides Buck Shot, I think we're the longest standing season-ticket holders in 226. "Once we graduated in 2002, we went and got our first season tickets for the 2003 season." Michael and his long-time friend Tim Dang bought their season tickets after graduating from the University of Calgary. "The relationship that Michael had with these people - everyone in our family kind of inherited those friends." "These are just people he met through 226. Cindy texted me a picture of her and her dad and said: 'Michael's here with us because I know he would've wanted to see this.' I had a tear in my eye. "Buck Shot (Ron Barge) and his daughter (Cindy Barge) came to Michael's funeral, and she had Michael's service folder with her at Jarome Iginla's jersey retirement. Everybody was high fiving each other and hugging - they're really genuinely nice people. "You could see the camaraderie in that section. "It was a big social thing for him," said Rosa. After an 11-year battle with cancer, Michael passed away last November, leaving an empty seat in Section 226 and an empty space in the hearts of those who sat around him.
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