Spring whiteout hits downtown Winnipeg as thousands take to street for start of Jets' playoff run

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Manitoba·New

NHL playoff fever had the streets of downtown Winnipeg buzzing connected Saturday, with thousands of fans flocking to ticker their location squad successful Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

Man who came from Australia among fans cheering connected Jets during Game 1 of bid against St. Louis Blues

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 19, 2025 6:11 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

A radical  of radical   dressed successful  achromatic  filled the streets.

Thousands deed the streets of downtown Winnipeg for Saturday's whiteout party, up of the commencement of the Jets' first-round playoff bid against the St. Louis Blues. (Gavin Axelrod/CBC)

NHL playoff fever had the streets of downtown Winnipeg buzzing connected Saturday, with thousands of fans flocking to ticker their location squad successful Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

On the crystal astatine the Canada Life Centre, the Winnipeg Jets are facing the St. Louis Blues successful the archetypal lucifer of their best-of-seven series.

Outside the downtown arena successful the hours starring up to the 5 p.m. puck drop, Jets fans painted a agelong of Donald Street achromatic for the archetypal whiteout thoroughfare enactment of the season, a sold-out lawsuit with a capableness of 5,000. Another 1,200 were expected for the Party successful the Plaza astatine True North Square, which is besides sold retired for Game 1.

The outpouring whiteout brought fans from adjacent and far, including 1 who travelled astir 15,000 kilometres to ticker the Jets play.

Three men holding a bluish  emblem  look   astatine  the camera.

Rob Psaila, centre, travelled from Melbourne, Australia, to spot Game 1 of the series. He's been a instrumentality of the squad since a sojourn to Winnipeg 4 years ago. (Gavin Axelrod/CBC)

"To travel to a Jets crippled — not lone conscionable a Jets crippled but 1 of the playoff games — gee, you couldn't inquire for thing better," said Rob Psaila, a firefighter from Melbourne, Australia.

He became a Jets instrumentality during a sojourn to Canada 4 years ago, visiting done firefighter friends. Winnipeg was the archetypal Canadian metropolis he visited backmost then, and the lukewarm invited helium got from locals made him consciousness similar helium was astatine home.

So "it was conscionable earthy for maine to commencement supporting the Winnipeg Jets," helium said. "It's conscionable similar my location shot team."

But 1 happening was missing for him: a taxable opus for the squad and astir the team. So helium adapted Melbourne's shot instrumentality opus to the Jets. 

"A warring fury, we're from Winnipeg/ In immoderate upwind you volition spot america with a grin/ Risking caput and shin/ If we're down past ne'er mind/ We'll combat and combat to win!" Psaila sang, giving a rendition of the opus helium adapted for the Jets.

A radical  of radical   dressed successful  achromatic  filled a thoroughfare  closed down.

Fans painted the streets astir the downtown Canada Life Centre achromatic up of the 5 p.m. puck drop. (Gavin Axelrod/CBC)

 
For Winnipeggers, it comes arsenic a astonishment radical successful Australia travel crystal hockey, helium said, but successful Melbourne, determination are fans  of every NHL team.

"Melbourne is simply a sporting superior of Australia. We'll get 30,000 radical retired to 2 bugs racing up a wall," helium joked.

Psaila is readying to virtually follow the Jets connected their first-round run, staying successful Winnipeg for Game 2 connected Monday and past going to St. Louis for Game 3 connected Thursday.

"Let's anticipation the Jets get successful determination and springiness them a bully smashing," helium said. "We are going to bash a fantastic job, I person nary uncertainty astatine all." 

Though helium didn't travel rather arsenic far, Calgary's Brad Yakiwchuck also said helium was successful municipality to spot the Jets "beat the wheels disconnected the Blues" connected Saturday.

Yakiwchuck, who has been a instrumentality of the Jets since the squad announced its instrumentality to Winnipeg, said this is the astir excited he's seen the team's fans successful a agelong time, successful portion aft an awesome regular play that closed with a franchise grounds of 116 points and saw the Jets clinch their first Presidents' Trophy for apical regular-season grounds successful the league.

"I deliberation if determination has ever been a twelvemonth for america to triumph the [Stanley] Cup, this is the one," Yakiwchuck said. "I truly anticipation this is the year."

With files from Gavin Axelrod and Radio-Canada's Ilrick Duhamel

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