Winnipeg Jets fan support ‘like none other’

It was a vivid — and very noisy — reminder of just how hockey-crazed this community can be.

A dreary, rainy Saturday didn’t stop roughly 5,000 fans from packing into Hockey For All Centre to watch the Winnipeg Jets go through their training camp paces.

“It’s awesome. It just shows how great the support is, how great the community is,” said rookie skater Colby Barlow.

The 20-year-old from Ontario, selected 18th overall by the Jets in 2023, drew one of the loudest ovations when he buried a wicked one-timer off a Parker Ford feed to open the scoring during a scrimmage, which was the main attraction of the team’s annual Fan Fest.

It wasn’t just the newcomers soaking in the atmosphere. Even seasoned veterans like Vlad Namestnikov looked like kids in a candy store as they took in the rock-star entrance through a jam-packed mezzanine.

“The support we get here is like none other. It’s great to see the fans again, to sign some autographs, to communicate with the kids. It was a good day,” said the 32-year-old, who is about to start his 13th NHL season and fourth in Winnipeg.

The Russian-born, Detroit-raised forward recalled being one of those youngsters himself, tagging along to Red Wings camps as a kid.

Nobody, though, drew a bigger response than Connor Hellebuyck. Chants of “MVP” rained down on the reigning Hart and Vezina Trophy winner as he made his way to the ice. Right behind him was hometown hero Jonathan Toews, who showed plenty of jump during the 50-minute scrimmage, played in two 25-minute halves.

Team Blue prevailed 5-4 in a shootout, with Danny Zhilkin beating Hellebuyck for the winner. Kyle Connor, Mason Shaw, Nino Niederreiter and Gabe Vilardi — the last with the goalie pulled in the final minute — scored for the losing side.

Barlow, Cole Koepke, Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Brad Lambert had the goals for victorious Team White, which also featured Toews skating alongside new wingers Cole Perfetti and Gustav Nyquist.

“The buzz around here, it seems like the last couple years, I haven’t experienced anything like that,” said Jets coach Scott Arniel, who watched the game from the stands along with team management, co-owner Mark Chipman and injured captain Adam Lowry.

“Everybody was a kid one time. And you looked up to your heroes. That’s what all these kids get to do here and if we’re creating new fans for right now or the future, or maybe creating young hockey players that are going to be playing one day in the NHL, it’s just great to have them all here with their family enjoying all of the different parts of fan fest.”

Veteran defenceman Luke Schenn, acquired at last year’s trade deadline, lingered nearly 30 minutes after the scrimmage to sign autographs and pose for photos, the last player to leave the ice at his first Jets camp.

“That’s a memory for some of these kids that lasts a lifetime,” said Arniel.

“Not too often during the course of the year do they get that close to their players and to see their heroes and see guys like that. It’s pretty exciting.”

After two intense days of drills, the scrimmage offered players a chance to loosen up — though Schenn set an early tone with a couple of big hits on teammates temporarily wearing the opposition’s colours.

“That’s the competitive side. There was some chirping going on before the game started,” said Arniel.

The intensity will crank up another notch Sunday when the Minnesota Wild come to town for the first of six preseason games. Puck drop is 4 p.m. at Canada Life Centre, with plenty of prospects expected to dress for both clubs.

“Last year didn’t end the way we wanted it to and it left that taste in our mouth,” Namestnikov said of winning the Presidents’ Trophy as top regular-season team, only to be eliminated in the second round of the playoffs. The result is a raised bar on internal expectations for camp this year.

“Everyone has one goal here — to win the Cup. We didn’t achieve that last year. Throughout this camp, we haven’t been afraid to talk about winning the Cup. We have to take the next step to get there.”

Namestnikov is expected to start the season centering the third line with Niederreiter and Alex Iafallo, while his previous role as second-line centre now belongs to Toews.

“Wherever I am in the lineup, I’ll go out and do my best,” said Namestnikov, who actually stole the puck from Toews to eventually set up Niederreiter’s goal. “It takes a few practices to get the chemistry back, but I thought today we took a step in the right direction and made some plays out there.”

Toews won’t make his preseason debut Sunday — Arniel said that should come Tuesday against the Edmonton Oilers at the downtown rink — but he’s already making an impression.

“I always talk to our veterans and get a little layout of ‘How many do you want to play?’ We have some guys that only want to play two. We have other guys that want to play three. I have one guy that wants to play six. I’ve already told him he’s not playing six and you probably know who that is,” said Arniel.

That would be Toews, back in the league after a two-year health-related hiatus.

“We want him to play 82 (regular-season) games, but at the end of the day he’s building towards Game 1,” said Arniel

“We’re just trying, each day, to help him get confidence – not that he needs it – but just get feeling good about how he’s playing, recognizing how we play, the system and structure and that stuff. And that’s all coming. I even saw it, detail stuff out there today that maybe last week we had just shown to him that he’s picking up already.”

The famously intense “Captain Serious” even showed some fire on Saturday, slamming his stick and muttering a few choice words after losing control of the puck.

“He’s such a great individual, so driven and so determined. And he’s just a sponge right now,” said Arniel.

For Barlow, who was only two years old when Toews broke into the NHL in 2007, the experience is invaluable.

“The career he’s had, continuing here, it’s pretty cool,” he said.

“His leadership is super helpful. He’s been talking to everybody out there, giving (stick) taps. He’s been great. A guy I’m watching and trying to pick things up from. He’s got that presence and is a guy you want to learn from.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg