The first Whiteout party of the Stanley Cup playoffs is underway, marking the beginning of the Winnipeg Jets’ post-season pursuit of the championship.
By mid-afternoon, hundreds of fans were gathering downtown in support of the city’s National Hockey League team, with many having high expectations for the local club that matched multiple franchise records with its performance this season.
The Jets open their best-of-seven first-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche at 6 p.m. at Canada Life Centre.
“As long as we skate hard, have passion, have heart, we will take the series,” season-ticket holder Ron Huzar, who stopped by True North Square to watch the playoff party festivities kick off, said.
Like other fans, Huzar and his wife, Tannis Buzza, were dressed entirely in white in a show of support for the Winnipeg Jets.
The pair said they are not intimidated by the Avalanche, who won the Stanley Cup in 2022.
“(The Jets) are going to take the series in four games straight,” Buzza quipped.
True North Sports & Entertainment hosts the downtown street parties, which have become a trademark of the home team’s playoff runs. The Whiteout has now swept through the downtown core five times since the franchise moved to Winnipeg in 2011.
The 5,000-person event — hosted on Donald Street between Portage and Graham avenues, and inside the Metropolitan Entertainment Centre — requires a $10 entry fee and features drinks, food vendors and three massive screens to allow fans at street level to watch the game broadcast.
The parties will be held before and during each Jets home game, with the next slated for Tuesday night. Tickets for Sunday and Tuesday’s street parties were sold out, with $5 from every $10 ticket sold to be donated to United Way Winnipeg.
The Party in the Plaza returned to True North Square for a second consecutive year. Tickets there were priced at $20, and capacity was capped at 1,000.
All 15,321 seats inside the Canada Life Centre were sold out.
“When you put 10,000 tickets on sale and they sell out within an hour, there is your answer about why we do this,” Kevin Donnelly, TNSE’s senior vice-president of venues and entertainment, said of the Whiteout parties.
“The fans, the community — they love this event. They love the opportunity to be a part of something that’s unique and special and kind of wild.”
Planning for Sunday’s Whiteout party, and any that follow, began “in earnest” in February, Donnelly said.
The team behind the event has learned a few tricks about planning and preparation from the previous street parties. Support from the provincial and municipal governments, as well as from Winnipeg Transit and the city’s various emergency services, has made the process easier, Donnelly said.
“It’s a matter of taking the template we’ve got and making incremental changes to improve it for the patrons, organizers and collaborators,” he said. “The singular difference is everybody has seen it before … we are not having to convince people that this is something we should do. They come to the table ready and excited.”
Approximately 150 people were slated to help staff the event, TNSE said previously, including the Winnipeg Police Service, emergency medical technicians and other security and service personnel.
WPS spokesperson Const. Claude Chancy noted officers were onsite and visible, supporting the home team with event-issued Whiteout WPS baseball caps.
“As held in previous years’ events, we do not anticipate any issues and hope fans enjoy the festivities safely,” Chancy said in an emailed statement.
Two CF-18 Hornet fighter jets from the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 4 Wing in Cold Lake, Alta., were set to fly over the arena and the Whiteout crowds shortly after puck drop.
“The aircraft will fly over the arena at an altitude no lower than 500 feet above the highest obstacle on their route. Flybys by RCAF aircraft are carefully planned and closely controlled for public safety, and are dependent upon weather and flying conditions,” RCAF spokesperson Maj. Mathew Strong said in a news release Friday.
“The RCAF is proud to share in national sporting events such as this, with flybys that allow us to demonstrate the capabilities of our personnel and aircraft to Canadians.”
Canada’s national weather service also issued a statement in support of the Jets, issuing a cheeky advisory Sunday that called for a “Whiteout” in downtown Winnipeg.
Despite temperatures in the mid-teens, “Localized whiteout conditions can be expected, however, in the vicinity of downtown Winnipeg,” Environment Canada posted online.
The City of Winnipeg announced street closures Saturday to accommodate the Whiteout street party, warning southbound Donald Street between Ellice and St. Mary avenues would be closed from 8 a.m. Sunday until 3 a.m. Monday. The accompanying sidewalks closed at noon and were to reopen overnight Monday.
By noon, the roadways and sidewalks along Graham Avenue were closed in both directions between Hargrave and Smith streets, with a plan to reopen overnight.
Transit buses were also rerouted off of Graham between Kennedy and Smith streets starting Sunday morning. Regular service will resume Monday.
tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca
Tyler Searle
Reporter
Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press’ city desk. Since joining the paper in 2022, he has found himself driving through blizzards, documenting protests and scouring the undersides of bridges for potential stories.