It's over, at least for the Winnipeg Jets and their fans but not without a feeling of pride no matter how diminished it may be in light of defeat.
That's the story and if you want cheese it was being served like it was midnight at a Manitoba social, big large cubes of it, and that seems appropriate given the way the game and season ended. Even Sportsnet put the MTS centre fans as the 'third star' of the game and rather than talk about the Ducks most media talked about the Jets and their fans and the return of playoff hockey.
Remember, many picked the Jets to beat the Ducks *looks in mirror* and some said they might go far in the post season. After it was over, and even before then, it was easy to see this team is not yet built to make the post-season and succeed, especially when you play a team like the Ducks: best in the west and built to exorcise past playoff demons.
There will be time to talk about the 8 players on the roster with injuries, 4 of which with broken bones. There will be the opportunity to discuss the roles of Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien with both entering their contract year. There will also be time to look at the defence core, one that had a lot of trouble with the pace, play, and nuances of playoff hockey. There will also be time to look at the free agents in Frolik, Tlusty, Stempniak, Stafford and more...
Right now it's time to look at what the simple story, and perhaps only important one, is: a city that loves it's team and hockey.
There are passionate fan bases, there are huge fan bases, and there are other amazing hockey markets but even the cynics know that something different exists in Winnipeg. That 'something' is what the media from Canada, the US and beyond have marvelled at and wanted to explore. Winnipeg is the city that everyone wants to hate, cold in the winter, hot and muggy with loads of mosquitos in the summer months. Close to nothing and far from everything.
It's a place no one would want to live in if they had a choice and those that do must have something wrong with them if they do. Of course no professional athletes would ever choose to play there with 29 other great markets and cities, Winnipeg you are the butt of all the bad jokes.
Actions speak louder than words but after the second attempt at chanting 'Katy Perry' faded other ones started as the hopes of a game five slipped away.
"Stick To-Gether!" began in a hat tip towards Dustin Byfuglien's comments from Tuesday. But in the end it was a 15,000 people standing with 9 minutes left in a 3-1 game waving towels and bellowing out "Go Jets Go" so loud that only the players could hear the whistles on the ice. The funny thing is that simple chant, "go Jets go" is what has always stayed with Winnipeg it's why no one felt that the WhiteOut left when the Jets 1.0 did. The traditions of the Jets belonged to the fans and even though it was only two games, those traditions and phrases are what kept people interested in NHL hockey for it's fifteen year absence.
Yes there was NHL hockey to watch, and most fans had another team to cheer in the absence of their own civic one, but those aren't the things that inspire locally. They help dreamers dream. It was the traditions and memories that kept the feeling alive and gave Mark Chipman reason to pursue that dream. That's why the Jets and their fans are getting so much attention, because there really isn't much like it. They show up everywhere across the NHL, yell out "True North" during the anthem and in general are appreciated and respected by other fans. Can that be said about Leafs or Habs fans?
I'll try and draw another comparison to make one understand the relationship with Winnipeggers and their hockey team, it's actually very similar to the Grateful Dead and their fans. Being a deadhead for years it makes perfect sense.
The Dead were misfits, odd ducks, and had no reason to be in existence for as long as they did other than they did things differently and built something because of being different. That is Winnipeg and the majority it's citizens; they are awkward, goofy, passionate, isolated and utterly different. That's why there is so much attention on them- what other fan base is like the Jets' fan base?
The funny thing about Byfuglien's quote is that is what Winnipeggers have always done- stick together. The fans stuck together in their quest to preserve tradition, one they created. They stuck together in the hopes that somehow a team would come back to Winnipeg and they stuck together through 4 seasons of mediocre hockey as the mess that was the Thrashers was cleaned up. They stuck together because they wanted their moment- now the pressure for that first playoff game was as much on the fans as the players because of four seasons of watching them too not just the hockey. People knew the MTS Centre was loud, passionate and full of energy and it's something that is rare in the world of corporate suites, club seats and premium services in arenas.
The Jets fans were refreshing because being in that building was different- and for media across the country that was worth noting and exploring. It may not always be this way but crapping on something, as many did, because it was not addressing the failure of the team's goals is rather short-sighted if not ignorant and poor journalism. There's plenty of time and reason to do that, last night and today isn't it.
I'll leave you with these two video showing how different it really is in Winnipeg.
The final minute.