Wild storm is brewing in Winnipeg

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This article was published 11/04/2018 (2711 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s Whiteout Street Party descended on the city like a prairie blizzard.

An hour before the puck even dropped, thousands of Winnipeg Jets fans streamed through the gates onto Donald Street outside the Bell MTS Place to celebrate their team’s return to the playoffs.

The party for Game 1 of the best of seven western conference playoff series against the Minnesota Wild started at 4:30 p.m. on Donald Street between Portage and Graham avenues. Capacity for the block party and the side lane crowded with food trucks was 6,000. It filled in minutes with white-clad fans.

Within the sea of people, there were fans dressed in anything white, from white plastic painters suits, white business suits to endless Jets jerseys. One man wore a white bed sheet toga style, shoulders bare to the 2C spring skies.

“It’s too much excitement in the city right now,” said Tyler MacFarlane, dressed head to toe in white like his three buddies. The trio wore white helmets, white jerseys, white pants, even white beards “Norm’s girlfriend hand made us these from scratch, from fabric,” MacFarlane said  gesturing to his yarn string beard as he pointed out his buddies, Norm Lavallee and Cody Laschyn.

Economic Development Winnipeg unveiled plans for the street parties last week and promised to hold them for every home game during the playoffs.

“Beautiful. You’re beautiful people. This is awesome. We are ready. We are Winnipeg,” one announcer pronounced over loudspeakers at a break in the beat.

“We are amazing, freaking-out excited,” Liesa Guenther shouted out over the roar of the crowd. She and her sister Colleen Cramer wore white, from the helmets on their heads to the boots on their feet.“We are diehard fans from 25 years ago,” Guenther said, as her sister pulled out her cell phone and pulled up a photo of the pair from the last time The Jets played the play-offs. The photo showed the pair standing together in a photo outside the old arena from 1996.

Manuel Sousa, another fan dressed up his white Jets jersey with a white wig done up with a Mohawk style, spikes rising above the crowd. “I had a trunk full of gear. I had to decide what to wear for this,” Sousa chuckled.

Not everyone chose to stay; a few fans trickled away as the game got down to business. The crowds were too much, one fan said. “It’s like crazy. It’s a huge success but it’s not good for watching the game,” the fan said. “I’m going home to watch the game.”

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Afer the game, fans surged from the Bell MTS Place into a throng of thousands cheering outside as the Winnipeg Whiteout Party ended with the sounds of horns blaring The Jets’ victory Wednesday. 

“I’m sorry but did we win? ” said one bemused fan. “Everybody’s freaking out so I assume we did. I can’t see the screen from behind here,” the fan said before he was gone in the crowds.

Cheers followed the flow north on Donald St. as fans headed out of the downtown.

“Go Jets Go,” was heard rippling through the departing throng. Over and over again. 

“Hey, goodbye guys,” one fan called out as she left the Whiteout.