The Wrap: Whiteout forecast, rural doctor recruiting, wetland conservation, and an RWB dancer hangs up her shoes

Few predicted with certainty last fall the Winnipeg Jets would even qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs — yet, on Sunday they host the Colorado Avalanche in what’s expected to be a tightly contested opening-round series.

We’ve got everything you need to read heading into the Whiteout.

Ken Wiebe and Kelly Taylor take some educated guesses about how the playoff run will impact the Jets’ bottom line.

Mike McIntyre looks at seven storylines for the best-of-seven series.

And Dave Sanderson profiles Jonathan Kozub, the Winnipeg Jets’ official photographer.

Rural hospitals are having to close emergency rooms as they struggle to find staff. A shortage of family doctors means aging in place can be perilous for folks with health concerns.

Desperate to recruit doctors and keep their communities alive, some Manitoba municipalities are taking matters into their own hands — even though health care is not their responsibility.

In recent decades, wetlands have been disappearing at an alarming rate.

In Manitoba, where the equivalent of four football fields of wetlands are lost to agricultural development every day, new programs are now emerging to curb the dramatic trend.

The province has provided funding to several non-profit organizations to incentivize farmers to work with — not against — the small wetlands.

After 19 seasons with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, soloist Yayoi Ban is hanging up hangs up her pointe shoes.

Her upcoming performances in fan favourite Carmina Burana and the world première of Cameron Fraser-Monroe’s Təl: The Wild Man of the Woods at the end of the month will be her last as a company dancer.

Ban’s incredible, quiet leadership and beautiful elegance will be remembered long after she leaves the stage, writes Jen Zoratti.