‘They’ve got to win’
Jets fans brave elements at sold-out Whiteout street party
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $1.44 a week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $5.77 plus GST every four weeks. After 52 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/04/2019 (2605 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Neither cold nor wind mattered to the thousands of fans who jammed downtown streets on Friday for the second Whiteout street party of the NHL playoffs.
Thirty minutes before the gates opened at 6:30 p.m. on the sold-out gathering, the first fans lined up, eager to cheer on their team.
“This game is Game 2 and they’re going to need the momentum because they’re going on the road now,’ Andrew Lindsay said as he waited for friends to email him a ticket into the street party.
Decked out in a white jumpsuit he had picked up at Princess Auto — complete with a Jets logo he had ironed onto it — Lindsay had tickets to see the game but he wanted to join the crowd outside the arena to rev up some team spirit before the game.
The Jets were down 1-0 in the best of seven series after losing to the Blues 2-1 Wednesday night in their opening game. The Jets wanted a win in front of a home crowd before heading to St. Louis for Games 3 and 4.
The crowd wanted a win, too.
By early Friday, the game was sold out, with 15,000 tickets snatched up and Winnipeggers gearing up for a blizzard of a party.
The first Whiteout roiled with about half that number, 8,500 people, who packed into the blocks around the Bell MTS Centre on Wednesday.
‘We have a blanket,’ Natalie Simpkins said laughing off the cold.
“And we’re wearing three layers,” added her husband Dave Simpkins.
“We’re here because they’ve got to win,” Natalie added.
The couple wore white face paint and outlined their eyes in bright blue, to pair with their white and blue Jets jerseys.
“It’s not cold,” insisted Neil Spevack, with his Winnipeg Whiteout T-shirt pulled over a winter jacket. “I work outside.”
“We had snow this morning and now we have clear pavement. You can’t get better than that.” added Spevack’s buddy Don Stevens. “I always have faith in my team.”
Friday’s sellout crowd showed the success of the official street party concept, which included a $5 admission this year, with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to charity. Friday’s ticket sales raised $75,000 for the United Way.
alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
History
Updated on Friday, April 12, 2019 8:37 PM CDT: Adds photos.