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The Winnipeg Jets are having #WPGwhiteout capacity issues; we have solutions

By Bruin Belisle

WINNIPEG, MB - MAY 3: Winnipeg Jets fans pack the streets during the Whiteout Street Party prior to NHL action between the Jets and the Nashville Predators in Game Four of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell MTS Place on May 3, 2018 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images)
WINNIPEG, MB - MAY 3: Winnipeg Jets fans pack the streets during the Whiteout Street Party prior to NHL action between the Jets and the Nashville Predators in Game Four of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell MTS Place on May 3, 2018 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The Winnipeg whiteout (#WPGwhiteout) street party has been growing every game and it seems they have a new problem. What happens when the streets hit capacity?

For the first time in recent memory, Winnipeg isn’t flooding with water in the spring. Given the massive success of the Winnipeg Jets in the NHL playoffs, the city is flooding with people, instead. The city is expecting close to 30,000 Manitobans outdoors in the streets surrounding the Bell MTS Center during the Western Conference final games.

Though the crowds have been as incredible as you’d expect from 20,000-plus friendly Canadians, it comes to a point where the city just doesn’t have the manpower (peoplepower — sorry, Trudeau) to adequately manage crowds of this magnitude.

The city, in partnership with the Winnipeg Jets organization, organized 27,000 free tickets to be given out on a first-come-first-serve basis via the Internet. Of course, these tickets were scooped up in a matter of minutes.

While this shows the incredible fan base and love for this team, it’s also left many Manitobans annoyed, especially those who weren’t able to scoop up tickets. Relax, Winnipeg. You have a problem, we have solutions. Here are a few ideas that allow all 700,000 of you to get down to the whiteout.

Have the street party extend to one of the thousands of farmers fields surrounding the city

Manitoba is the flattest province in Canada. Winnipeg is basically a city in the middle of millions of acres of prime farm land. I know we’re getting in to planting season, but the Jets are making a real run at this! Just have the party overflow into the fields. It’ll be like Woodstock, but with ice-cold Budweisers and friends instead of illicit drugs and dirty hippies.

Raise the screen, like, 10 feet

Two solutions in and we have two “Manitoba is flat” jokes. How original. It’s dead accurate, though. If the city were to just raise the screen a little higher, everyone in the city could watch the games from their living room windows.

Borrow police officers from Saskatchewan

The CFL (Canadian Football League) season doesn’t start for another month, so the crowd police in Saskatchewan aren’t watching over the rowdy Roughriders fans yet. Have them drive over and cover the Jets games!

Don’t restrict ticket sales

Manitobans are some of the nicest people on Earth! There’s no way a riot breaks out in Winnipeg. They are nothing like those degenerates in Vancouver. (Shots fired, Vancouver!)

Go watch the games in Vegas

Everyone knows the Vegas Golden Knights don’t have any real fans. Here’s your chance to head down to Vegas and have a street party there! Take the whiteout south and own the Vegas streets. You’ll be the only real hockey fans in the city! (Shots fired, Vegas!)

Have the Palomino bouncers work the outdoor crowd

Show us someone who says the famous Palomino Club in Winnipeg isn’t over-capacity every night and we’ll show you a liar. It’s not a bad thing, the Pal is ridiculously fun, but you can’t tell me they don’t let in a few too many patrons. Have these guys work the games and your “27,000” number can be stretched a little.

Have ticket-seekers complete the IKEA maze to obtain tickets

Have you ever been to IKEA? It’s a nightmare disguised as a trendy furniture store. Have anyone who wants a ticket complete one trip through IKEA. If they can make it out of the store without any assistance, they get their street party ticket.

Show the games in IKEA

IKEA is so big that you could probably up the capacity just by showing the games there. Have 27,000 downtown and another 40,000 in IKEA. They would have the luxury of enjoying the games in some of Sweden’s finest designed furniture that no one can pronounce the names of. The only problem here is that they would all then have to find their way out of the store, which, as we spoke about, is difficult.

The success in Winnipeg has been a great story for the city and for hockey. The fans are proving to be the most faithful in the league and there is no doubt the city will find a way to accommodate them.

Look Winnipeg, if you can’t make it to the official street party, talk to your neighbor with the biggest television set and have your own. You know that everyone on your block is going to be watching the games, so you might as well all get together and have your own little block party whiteout.

If all else fails, we’ll make the call to IKEA.

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