The Winnipeg Jets’ tradition of wearing all-white for their Whiteout Street Party tradition was running strong in the first round, as the Jets dispatched the Minnesota Wild in five games. It was evident from the turnout for the event that fans in Winnipeg have been anticipating this moment, the first playoff series win by a Winnipeg team since 1996, for a long time.
A staggering amount of fans showed for Game 5, forcing the city to shut down additional streets to make room. At one point, the number of fans was reportedly higher than 16,000.
To provide a better sense of how many fans have taken to the team’s Whiteout tradition, the Jets posted a time-lapse video of the event spanning its setup and the actual game, all the way through to the morning after. All of these events were compressed into a single minute of footage:
You can see how quickly the street becomes packed by fans, with the crowd extending well beyond the top of the video’s frame, and it’s especially cool to see that many people hanging out well into the night. Though the video moves quickly, you can also generally see the fans react to big moments such as a goal.
It’s pretty neat to see how strongly the city has taken up for its team since being brought back to the city in 2011, and now fans are being rewarded for it. As the team continues to progress through the playoffs, you can expect interest to rise even more, and for the fan community to grow even more resolute.
It’s a fun time to be in Winnipeg, that’s for certain.
