With Friday’s 5-0 win over the Minnesota Wild, the Winnipeg Jets have made it into the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since returning to the city in 2011.
The excitement is bringing Manitobans together -- literally.
Winnipeg Police were forced to close the downtown intersection of Portage and Main on Friday night, as approximately 36,000 people crowded into downtown to watch the game, including roughly 15,000 at the sold-out game inside the Bell MTS Centre.
looking great from , ! Love the way this community has come together.
— Winnipeg Police (@wpgpolice)
Vince Sinclair drove all three hours from Gypsumville, Man., with his family just to share in the excitement of the street party.
“We were watching it on TV the other night and we just had to come here tonight to try to be here with everybody,” he told CTV Winnipeg. “This is our home.”
This is crazy!!!!!
— Sheila North (@SheilaNorthMKO)
Fan Kurtis Perkins said he was “speechless” about the 5-0 win.
"Here we are, 2018, the Jets are on fire,” he said. "It's exciting. Very exciting."
Winnipeg Police said there were 12 people arrested for public intoxication but “no serious incidents” or reports of property damage, despite the unusually large number of people downtown.
And by morning, the streets appeared to be spotless.
Can the roughly 35,000+ Jets fans who partied Post win pause for a minute and thank enviro team for making Donald Street spotless.
— Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan)
I took this photo at 7:30am today. 6 hours post party. That’s impressive!!
Next up, the Jets will take on either the Nashville Predators or Colorado Avalanche in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.