It's Back

As Winnipeg emerges from it's well-known white winterscapes and brutal temperatures, the city has been gripped by the fever of the Stanley Cup Playoffs once more as the second-best team in the NHL embarks on its second foray into what is known as the "second season" in the NHL. With those steps into the playoffs, the fans of the Winnipeg Jets will turn their fanaticism up several dozen notches as the Winnipeg WhiteOut will become reality for the Jets and whomever they welcome to BellMTS Place. It's a playoff tradition in Winnipeg despite the gaps between appearances, but it goes back much further than the 2015 series against the Anaheim Ducks.

Rogers Sportsnet decided to dig into the famous Winnipeg WhiteOut to find its origins. Honestly, there are a few things in the following video that I wasn't aware of, so this is a pretty solid piece of video journalism by the Toronto-based sports network. As is said in the video, though, the WhiteOut is the link between two eras of NHL hockey in Winnipeg.

The Minnesota Wild will be the first - of many? - teams to experience the WhiteOut in 2018, and I suspect that the sold-out BellMTS Place will be louder than ever before. Can the Jets shake off the history of the current franchise and win a playoff game, let alone a playoff series? We'll know that answer shortly, but I suspect the sixth man in the stands will be doing everything they can to push the Jets to new heights.

It may not be winter, but the forecast is calling for a spring of WhiteOuts in Winnipeg!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!