The NHL playoff fever had the streets of the center of Winnipeg Zumba on Saturday, with thousands of fans go mass to see their local team in game 1 of its first round playoff series.
On the ice at the Canada Life Center, Winnipeg’s jets face St. Louis Blues in the first game of his best series of seven.
Outside the center of the center in the hours prior to the fall of the 5 PM album, the jet fans painted a section of Donald Street White for the first party of the Whiteout Street season, an event with exhausted tickets with a capacity of 5,000. Another 1,200 were expected for the party in the square in True North Square, which is also exhausted for game 1.
Spring Whiteout brought fans closely and far, including one that traveled approximately 15,000 kilometers to see the jets play.
“To come to a game of the jets, not only a game of the jets but one of the playoffs games, I could not ask for anything better,” said Rob Psaila, a Melbourne firefighter, Australia.
He became a fan of the Jets during a visit to Canada four years ago, visiting through Fire Firefighters. Winnipeg was the first Canadian city he visited at that time, and the warm welcome he received from the locals made him feel as if he were at home.
Then, “it was natural for me to start supporting Winnipeg’s jets,” he said. “It’s like my local football team.”
But one thing was missing: a main song for the team and about the team. So he adapted the song of Melbourne football fans to the Jets.
“A fury of struggle, we are from Winnipeg/ In any climate, you will see us with a smile/ risky head and spin/ If we are late, no matter/ we will fight and fight to win!” Psila sang, giving an interpretation of the song that adapted for the jets.
For Winnipeggers, it is a surprise that people in Australia follow ice hockey, he said, but in Melbourne, there are fans of each NHL team.
“Melbourne is a sports capital of Australia. We will obtain 30,000 people with two errors that run through a wall,” he joked.
Psila plans to literally follow the jets in his first -round career, staying in Winnipeg for game 2 on Monday and then go to St. Louis for game 3 on Thursday.
“Hopefully the jets enter there and give them a good deterioration,” he said. “We are going to do a fantastic job, I have no doubt.”
Although it didn’t get so far, Brad Yakiwchuck from Calgary also said he was in the city to see the jets “beat the blues wheels” on Saturday.
Yakiwchuck, who has been a fan of the jets since the team announced its return to Winnipeg, said that this is the most excited that has seen the fans of the team in a long time, partly after an impressive regular season that closed with a franchise record of 116 points and saw the jets the trophy of their first presidents for the regular season record in the league.
“I think that if there has ever been a year to win the [Stanley] Cup, this is the, “said Yakiwchuck.” I really hope this is the year. “
Like Yakiwchuck, Jeff Baquiran said this is the best time to be a fan of the jets after the team assured the first trophy of the franchise presidents to obtain more points in the regular season and went up to the top of the Western division.
“He is clicking on all cylinders, time is perfect,” Baquiran said.
While expecting the way ahead in the playoffs to be difficult, Baquirlan trusts that the team will win the series for the sixth game.
“We have four good lines in the ice, a solid defense … This is the team to do it,” he said.
Mike McDonald was about 35 Jet Games during the regular season, where he has seen how team players have not only scored but also took care of back to the ice rink.
“They play in the right way,” said McDonald. “When a boy is not playing … someone gets up and gets that goal.”
He has been watching hockey for 55 years and said that bringing the Stanley Cup to Winnipeg would be “incredible.”
