Bring the viewing party to Donald Street

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/04/2018 (2761 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s highly unusual for this space, traditionally reserved for Free Press editorials, to be used for a party invitation. But then, it’s unusual for Winnipeg to throw a public party because the Jets made the playoffs.

Consider this an invitation to a downtown gathering that promises to be a humdinger.

An invitation is not required for the 15,321 fortunate fanatics who have tickets to tonight’s opening game. They’ll be inside the rink, bearing on their white-clad shoulders the exciting responsibility of raising a ruckus inside Bell MTS Place, inspiring the Jets with their cheers and chants.

Rather, this invitation is extended to those who won’t be seated inside the rink for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they are part of a pool that owns a pair of season tickets but, though the luck of a draw, didn’t get the seats for the opening game. Perhaps they can seldom afford tickets, constrained by a tight family budget that requires more practical expenditures, such as groceries for the kids.

These are the fans who are invited to Donald Street to watch the game on two giant outdoor screens during the first Winnipeg Whiteout Street Party.

“This is one of those once-in-a-generation opportunities, and we really felt we needed to celebrate,” said Dayna Spiring, president and CEO of Economic Development Winnipeg.

How much does it cost to get in? The price is reasonable: one good attitude.

The enthusiasm of Jets fans will be on display across the league when TV coverage cuts away from game action to show fans at the street party watching the giant screens and shouting, “Go Jets Go!”

It will be the duty of these fans in the national limelight to be responsible ambassadors for Winnipeg, cheering heartily in the outdoor-plaza chill but stopping short of the overheated hooliganism that led to hockey-playoff riots in Montreal in 2008 and 2010, and in Vancouver in 2011.

Some fans will be inclined to avoid the crowd and watch the game at home, where everything is as familiar and predictable as their favourite chair in front of their own television. Climate controlled. No worries about parking. No lineup for the washroom. Same old snacks from the same old cupboard.

The downside, however, is that it’s nothing special to watch a Jets game at home.

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And, for truly passionate fans, special effort is required to mark a season that went into the history books as the Jets’ best ever — 52 wins and 114 points.

A season this spectacular should be celebrated with fans emerging from the isolation of their homes and gathering together because, after all, it’s the fans who are the unchanging foundation of the Winnipeg Jets.

From the first incarnation of the Jets in the World Hockey Association, through the seven seasons since an NHL team bearing the next-gen Jets logo returned to Winnipeg, the team’s ownership has changed, the coaches have changed, the rink has changed and (perhaps a hard truth) the roster will change as today’s beloved players might eventually move along when another city offers to pay them more.

It’s the fans who are permanent. It’s their loyalty that ensures NHL hockey thrives in Winnipeg.

To fans who are tempted to remain homebodies, we ask one question: When you post a selfie of yourself cheering the Jets, do you want to portray yourself alone in your rec room, or do you want the selfie of you jammed shoulder-to-shoulder with a few thousand of your closest friends?