Draped in white with a miniature Stanley cup pasted onto her head, Sheila Hathaway joined the tens of thousands of revelers that flow into the joy of Winnipeg Jets' return to the playoffs of hockey on Tuesday night.
Grabbing another big cup of the Stanley Cup next to her breasts, she admitted that she was a little overwhelmed by the excitement that is engulfing the city.
The jets beat Nashville Predators 7-4 on Tuesday night to take 2-1 in the second round, the best of the seven.
Three hours before the game, the streets outside the arena near the intersection of Portage Avenue and Main Street, where fans could watch giant outdoor video screens, were jammed.
In the same corner of 1972, Ben Hathkin, the first owner of the team, announced the historic signing of Bobby Hall, the first escape of the NHL star in the club of the World Hockey Association.
Sheldon Unrau and his daughter Samantha joined the crowd outside before heading to the places that they sat throughout the season. Samantha is only 20 years old, but her father remembers the day well in 1996, when the Jets left Winnipeg on sunny days in Phoenix.
"This is very bad," says Mr. Unrau. "In time it seemed hopeless."
It took 25 years before the NHL granted Winnipeg a second chance and allowed Atlanta Thrashers to move to the capital of Manitoba. And now the residents are dizzy with the success of their team.
It's easy to understand which affection Winnipeggers have for their team, and about the pandemonium that accompanies it, go through the playoffs.
And everywhere, the white sea, the tradition associated with the playoffs of 1987, when the advertising manager, whose agency was hired by the team, encouraged 15,000 people dressed in white. From this moment he helped to distinguish the atmosphere from any other home team of the NHL.
Three of the Party Stuff stores in Winnipeg were crowded with customers who were looking for white wigs, white hats, white sunglasses and white makeup.
Jonathan Glass, owner of one of the outlets, says that over the past six weeks he has sold more than 1,000 beards at $ 10 for fans who want to look like Jets' star Patrick Line.
The 20-year-old Finnish striker saved his whiskers even after he took a stick on the chin at the end of the regular season and needed stitches.
"It was destructive in terms of business and from a cultural point of view," Joe Daley says when he stands behind the counter at the sports memorabilia store he operates opposite the Red River. "When Jets left, it was like this:" Here we are, the prairie city, again and again. "
"People talked about leaving. It was embarrassing.
Mr. Daly is 75 years old, he loves his hometown and his love of hockey the best. He was the goalkeeper for the aircraft during his seven years in the VAZ, took them to three league championships and was an inaugural inductee to the League's Hall of Fame.
He played with Mr. Hal: "When I heard rumors that he was going to come to Winnipeg, I said" Yes, and the pigs will fly "- and against Wayne Gretzky, who was a thin 17-year-old with Indianapolis Racers.
"This is the most exciting thing I've ever experienced for the Jets, since I stopped playing," Mr. Daley says. "Fans live a dream."
Jets finished the regular season with the best home record of the NHL at 32-7-2. They won their last nine games at Bell MTS Place and all three home games in the first round against Minnesota.
The Winnipeg Arena is the smallest in the NHL with a capacity of 16,345 people and is probably the loudest.
"Chaos in our building creates a unique atmosphere," says Captain Jets Blake Wheeler. "We like to play in front of our crowd."
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