Whiteout zone will double in size

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This article was published 12/04/2018 (2713 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Whiteout of 10,000 strong is brewing in downtown Winnipeg.

After Wednesday’s outdoor street party for Game 1 of the Winnipeg Jets’ best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series against the Minnesota Wild was a big hit with fans, organizers announced they are nearly doubling the size of the event space for Friday’s Game 2.

“Yesterday’s party exceeded our expectations. We knew Winnipeggers wanted a place to come out and celebrate. We knew they were going to come out to be apart of the celebration. But we didn’t quite know how many would come out,” Dayna Spiring, president and chief executive officer of Economic Development Winnipeg, said Thursday.

An estimated 9,000 people attended the event on Donald Street (between Portage and Graham avenues), organizers said. Maximum capacity was 5,500 at any one time, Spiring said, but many came early and left early or just passed through, and as people trickled out, new fans entered.

Following the turnout, organizers met Thursday morning and decided to extend the designated space on Donald Street one block further to St. Mary Avenue, nearly doubling the event’s maximum capacity to 10,000.

In addition, an alcohol-free, family-friendly section will be set up at Millennium Library park. There will also be two more screens set up to broadcast the game, as well as additional portable toilets on site.

“We were pleasantly surprised on a number of levels: attendance, the quantity of people, when they arrived, how long they stayed, the mood within it. It really hit all the marks for us. We were really thrilled with the outcome,” said Kevin Donnelly, senior vice-president of venues and entertainment for True North Sports and Entertainment Ltd. (True North owns the Jets and their home arena, Bell MTS Place.)

Organizers did not reveal how much the first party cost, nor what additional price tag will be associated with the expansion. It also remains unclear how much money was brought in through food and liquor sales — but organizers said that wasn’t the point.

“It’s not our objective to make money on this. We want to do this for Winnipeggers and make sure Winnipeg shows well to the world,” Spiring said.

Insp. Nick Paulet of the Winnipeg Police Service, who is in charge of security for the event, said Wednesday went off largely without a hitch from a policing and security standpoint, adding there were no arrests associated with the street party.

While he would not reveal how many officers were deployed to police the site, additional resources will be made available Friday to deal with the expected larger draw, Paulet said.

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Game 2 of the Jets-Wild series starts at 6:30 p.m. The Whiteout street party will open at 4:30 p.m., and continue for an hour after the end of the game. Prior to the puck-drop, there will be live music, alcohol vendors and food trucks on site.

Southbound Donald Street from Portage to St. Mary avenues will be closed from 10 a.m. Friday to 1 a.m. Saturday. Winnipeg Transit will be rerouted off Graham Avenue between Carlton and Smith streets starting at 5:30 p.m. Friday, returning to regular routes by 11:30 p.m.

During that time, eastbound bus stops on Graham Avenue between Hargrave and Smith streets will be moved to northbound Smith Street at Graham. Westbound stops on Graham Avenue between Smith and Edmonton streets will go to St. Mary Avenue at Donald Street, as well as Edmonton at Graham.

“We hope that we have 15 more opportunities to do this. (It takes 16 wins in the NHL playoffs to claim the Stanley Cup.) We’re asking for people’s patience and understanding as we learn. We’re doing this for them. This is to give a free-admission opportunity for Jets nation to come out and show their support, whether you have a (game) ticket or not,” Donnelly said.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca@rk_thorpe