Kijiji connection: Halifax friends score dates to hockey game with online ad

A creative approach to online dating Two friends and hockey fans posted a classified ad looking for dates to a Moosehead game. The ad went viral in just a few hours.

Their favourite junior hockey team may have lost Friday night, but Halifax duo Connor Beck and Nick Hartling walked away winners, thanks to a unique ad they posted on Kijiji.

When the longtime friends and hockey fans managed to score four free tickets to the Halifax Mooseheads’ game Friday night at the Scotiabank Centre, the fun-loving duo saw it as an opportunity.

“We were kinda just saying how much of a joke it would be if we put an ad on Kijiji or something looking for dates,” said Beck.

“Friday night and we were just trying to have fun, right?” added Hartling. “I think I’m hilarious, I think we’re funny, but I don’t know if anyone else does.”

A few hours before the game, they posted a Kijiji ad seeking “2 beautiful women (19+) who would enjoy accompanying 2 handsome, fit, funny, sweet, kind, caring, down to earth young men (aged 22 – 23)…”

They also listed some requirements, which included enjoying long romantic walks to the beer vendor, a willingness to win the six-foot Subway sandwich, and not being afraid of pushing a kid out of the way in order to catch a T-shirt.

The same tactic was used as a plot device in last year's film "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates," starring Zac Efron and Adam Devine as two brothers who take to television in a bid to find wedding dates.

The film, in turn, was inspired by a pair of brothers posting an ad for wedding dates to Craigslist in 2013.

However, the Halifax duo says they had no idea their bold advertisement would take off.

More than 20,000 people viewed the post and nearly 200 women responded with selfies and three facts about themselves.

“We didn’t expect it to blow up like it did, obviously,” said Beck.

By game time, Beck and Hartling had vetted dozens of young women and secured dates with two of them.

“It was fun. It was really fun, yeah, they were good sports about it,” said Beck.

“It wasn’t awkward or anything, it was good. They were good sports,” agreed Hartling.

As for questions about whether there will be a second date, the pair was sheepish.

"I don't know, you'll have to find out," said Beck, blushing when asked.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelland Sundahl