Fan engagement has been high since Day One, much of it organic, like the "True North" chant during "O Canada."
In the seven seasons since the relocation, the Jets, who play in the NHL's smallest market, have developed an extensive brand saturation. You can't go anywhere in Winnipeg, or in much of Manitoba, without seeing the Jets or their logo everywhere you look, from jerseys to flags, baby clothes to billboards, and barbeque covers to vehicle license plates.
"It's going to be pretty crazy, or I hope so," forward Nikolaj Ehlers said. "The people I've met around town are super excited and so are we."
Andrew Paterson, an afternoon radio host for TSN 1290, said when excitement rises to the level of expectations, something that's taken a while in Winnipeg, you get the potential for something special.
"This team is doing things that no Jets team has ever done, first and foremost," Patterson said. "But the other thing that's different, as opposed to 2015 where it was a just dogfight to get into the playoffs and it was just great to be there is ...for the first time in peoples' lifetime here, you can maybe quietly, reservedly say, 'The Jets actually have a chance to beat anybody they play.' And that is why people are incredibly excited for the pomp and circumstance and the party of the whiteout.
"The way they look at the team as a legitimate contender is something foreign here, but a heck of a lot of fun. I think a lot of people in Winnipeg are getting pulled into it, people who weren't necessarily hard-core fans before."