Jets ready for whiteout, looking for extended postseason run

WINNIPEG --When the Winnipeg Jets make their return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Minnesota Wild in the Western Conference First Round on Wednesday, so will the whiteout tradition at Bell MTS Place.

"I have no idea what it's going to be like," Jets forward Patrik Laine said. "I've seen the Stanley Cup Final live and that was pretty sick. This? I have no idea what to expect, but I've heard it's going to be pretty unreal."
But there's more in play than fans wearing white clothes, costumes, face paint and possibly hair, while attempting to raise their team's game inside the NHL's smallest arena (15,321 capacity).
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Winnipeg, which went 15 years without a team in the League (1996-2011), is buzzing around the playoffs, hoping a long run through spring will make up for past heartbreak and disappointment.
Winnipeg hasn't won a playoff series in 31 years, when the original Jets, who played in the NHL from 1979-1996, defeated the Calgary Flames in six games in the Smythe Division First Round. At the time, the whiteout tradition was near its infancy.
Beginning in 1985, the whiteout was a playoff campaign started by the team's marketing department and a local marketing firm dubbed "Good Guys Wear White." It was Winnipeg's way of countering rival Calgary, who had their "C of Red" campaign.

The campaign quickly caught on, making for some noisy and memorable games at the old Winnipeg Arena, but playoff runs were always short (the Jets went 2-11 in playoff series).
In 2015, when the Jets qualified for their first playoffs since relocating back from Atlanta, the whiteout returned. But by the time the fans had a chance to get involved, the Anaheim Ducks were already in control, leading the Western Conference First Round series 2-0 before completing the sweep in Winnipeg.
"It feels like forever ago," Jets forward Mathieu Perreault said. "I can remember the first game we played here at home, the whiteout and how loud the crowd was, something I've never experienced before. So, I'm actually excited to get to see it again and play in that kind of environment.
"It's a lot different now. Last time, we just snuck in at the end of the year. This time, it feels a lot different and it's a much different team. I was going around the room yesterday thinking who was there (in 2015) and it's only six or seven guys, so this is a completely different team. We're very excited about this year."

Could the arena atmosphere get better than the 2015 playoffs, or possibly rise above the historic and emotional first regular-season game after the relocation against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 9, 2011?
After Winnipeg set regular-season records of 114 points, 52 wins and an NHL-best 32 home wins, Jets coach Paul Maurice hopes so.
"That's the Christmas part of hockey, the best part of it," Maurice said of the playoffs. "You want the city wired and every game to be loud, and you want to live like that.
"You've got to enjoy it and we're hoping for it. We're a real good home team, and a big chunk of that is the crowd we have here. It's wired. Our players feed off it and we need it. We need our home crowd to be a huge advantage for us."

Fan engagement has been high since Day One, much of it organic, like the "True North" chant during "O Canada."
In the seven seasons since the relocation, the Jets, who play in the NHL's smallest market, have developed an extensive brand saturation. You can't go anywhere in Winnipeg, or in much of Manitoba, without seeing the Jets or their logo everywhere you look, from jerseys to flags, baby clothes to billboards, and barbeque covers to vehicle license plates.
"It's going to be pretty crazy, or I hope so," forward Nikolaj Ehlers said. "The people I've met around town are super excited and so are we."
Andrew Paterson, an afternoon radio host for TSN 1290, said when excitement rises to the level of expectations, something that's taken a while in Winnipeg, you get the potential for something special.
"This team is doing things that no Jets team has ever done, first and foremost," Patterson said. "But the other thing that's different, as opposed to 2015 where it was a just dogfight to get into the playoffs and it was just great to be there is ...for the first time in peoples' lifetime here, you can maybe quietly, reservedly say, 'The Jets actually have a chance to beat anybody they play.' And that is why people are incredibly excited for the pomp and circumstance and the party of the whiteout.
"The way they look at the team as a legitimate contender is something foreign here, but a heck of a lot of fun. I think a lot of people in Winnipeg are getting pulled into it, people who weren't necessarily hard-core fans before."