Winnipeg Jets fans feel the stress as team makes playoff push
'The tension is there, I'm screaming at my TV,' says nervous fan
Winnipeg Jets fans' anxiety levels are taking off during the team's latest push toward the NHL playoffs.
After beating the Minnesota Wild in the Twin Cities on Monday night, the Winnipeg Jets propelled themselves into the second and final wild card spot in the league's Western Conference. It was the first time since last Thursday the team occupied a playoff position.
The Jets' 94 points put them one point ahead of last year's Stanley Cup champions, the Los Angeles Kings, as well as the Calgary Flames, who are also battling each other for the third spot in the Pacific Division.
All three teams have three games remaining and the Jets' season could come right down to the last game against Calgary on Saturday.
It's enough to leave any Jets fan feeling unsettled.
"It's hard to watch. The tension is there, I'm screaming at my TV," said Stew Simons, who splits season tickets with a group of friends.
"I'm getting angry at a sporting event, but we live for this. It's amazing."
Henry Hagenaars, who was picking up souvenirs at the Jets Gear store on Tuesday morning, said, "I can't miss a game. It's not that I don't want to miss a game; I can't miss a game.
"I think they are giving the fans a lot of hope," he added. "I mean, all you have to do is look out on the streets. There is not a person not wearing Jets cap, a Jets shirt."
It's a sentiment echoed by other fans.
"It's intense. I mean, everybody is really hoping that they'll make the playoffs, and I know in my house it's the only conversation that is going on," said Tannis Miles, who became a bigger hockey fan after her kids started playing hockey.
A Winnipeg NHL team hasn't made a postseason appearance since the Jets lost in the first round to the Detroit Red Wings in 1996.
A playoff showing this year would certainly bring some excitement to the city since the league returned to Manitoba in 2011.
"Everyone would be united. We'd be on the same team. We're all wearing jerseys, you'd be high-fiving strangers on the street," said Simons.
Feeling superstitious?
Even the fan superstitions have emerged this week, as Ismaila Alfa, host of CBC Radio's Up to Speed program, found out on Tuesday afternoon.
<a href="https://twitter.com/CBCIsmaila">@CBCIsmaila</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCManitoba">@CBCManitoba</a> Haven't and won't wash my Jets jersey since I bought it until they make the playoffs
—@rhofley<a href="https://twitter.com/CBCIsmaila">@CBCIsmaila</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/marjoriedowhos">@marjoriedowhos</a> if I eat grilled cheese and count to 132 before the game, the jets are 11-2-1.
—@KidShowtime<a href="https://twitter.com/CBCIsmaila">@CBCIsmaila</a> the first rule about the jets winning is you don't talk about the jets winning.
—@DGurevich_<a href="https://twitter.com/CBCIsmaila">@CBCIsmaila</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCManitoba">@CBCManitoba</a> Can't touch anything with a Jets logo, only won once after I wore or touched anything with a logo on gameday.
—@skdcrad