Joyous Jets fans flock to grab playoff colours

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This article was published 11/04/2015 (3824 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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In the end, the Winnipeg Jets were left with no choice but to embrace the Whiteout — their fans had made the decision for them.

The morning after their beloved team had secured a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since coming back to the city in 2011, fanatics flocked to sports retailers around town to snap up jerseys, T-shirts, hoodies — anything white — in a Boxing Day-like frenzy in advance of the first NHL playoff game in this city in 19 years.

In the Jets Gear store at the MTS Centre, Fred Carpenter clutched a couple of white away jerseys because he knows you can’t wear the home blue once the post-season starts. He has vivid memories of the craziness during the Whiteouts from the ’80s and ’90s, and he’s looking forward to helping create a new kind of excitement when the puck drops on the Jets’ first playoff game next week.

“Getting into the playoffs last night, it was just great. I wanted to run around streaking,” he said.

Joining him in the chaos was Rebecca Dowswell. She was just a kid when the original Jets left town, but her father passed on the love of the Whiteout to her.

“He was telling me last night about the last time they were in the playoffs. He remembers exactly where he was. It went into five overtimes and he remembers the game-winner was scored at five o’clock in the morning. You want to be a part of that just like your parents were,” she said.

When asked if her father’s memory might not be what it once was, she smiled and said, “Absolutely not!”

In her hands, Dowswell clutched a number of white T-shirts, which were for her, her fiancé “and a guy back at work who is watching the phones for me.”

Clancy Ethans was perhaps the one person in the Jets Gear store who wasn’t there to buy anything. He already has an extensive collection of Jets clothing, including the white jersey he was wearing.

“I just wanted to be part of the hype. It’s an exciting time for Winnipeg. We’ve been Jets fans for a long time. I want to be part of everything. It’s great. I can’t stop smiling. (Thursday) night I was crying, today I’m smiling,” he said.

Ethans remembers the old Winnipeg Arena being so loud during playoff games that as a kid, he had to plug his ears.

“Not anymore. We’re going to be cheering, and it’s going to be crazy. I will probably be in tears. It’s huge for Winnipeg, it’s huge for us as fans, and it’s huge for the team.

“I’m looking forward to us going deep (in the playoffs) and having our own Red Mile. I’m not sure where that’s going to be, but we’ve got to find a place in Winnipeg where we can get together, cheer, have a great time and be proud to be Winnipeggers.”

Jets spokesman Scott Brown said the Whiteout might have been associated with the original Jets, but the passion it stoked came from the fans.

“It reached the mythical status because of the fans and the community. We thought we owed it to the community to give them that opportunity once again to recreate it and give it its new history with Winnipeg Jets 2.0,” he said.

“The conversations we had (about the Whiteout) were very short. There was not much debate. We got an indication of how strongly this community feels about the Jets and their history with the name conversation back in 2011. We knew right then it would be the same type of conversation when it came to wearing white at playoff games.”

One thing that will be different this time around is the team on the ice will be wearing a different colour than the fans in the stands. Since 2003-04, home teams have worn their dark jerseys after decades of wearing white in their own rinks. The Jets will not be asking for an exception to wear white, Brown said.

“We don’t think that’s the proper thing to do, and I don’t think the NHL would do anything like that. (The Whiteout) is what we’re encouraging our fans to do, and we’re pretty sure it won’t take much encouragement. It will be something different (with the team wearing dark jerseys) and a change in tradition but it’s a good one,” Brown said.

It’s very possible True North will have something to help Jets fans out once they get to the rink. Some old-time fans have been pulling out the pompoms they were given more than two decades ago.

“There may be something like that. That’s one of the cards we’re keeping close to our vest until the first home game,” he said.

The city’s firefighters union announced Friday all fire trucks in the city will be adorned with a Jets flag on the back for this year’s playoff run.

“So every time you see them going to an emergency call, whether it’s a fire or a medical emergency, you’re going to see the Jets flag flying proudly,” union president Alex Forrest said.

Jets playoff tickets go on sale Tuesday and will cost between $107.75 and $340 per game.

 

— with files from The Canadian Press

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca