Manitoba

Winnipeg mayor won't make Jets bet, fears jinxing team

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman said he's celebrating with the rest of the city the fact the Jets are in the NHL playoffs, but won't make wagers or do anything that could mess up the teams' chances of going all the way.

Mayor Brian Bowman says the city's waited a long time for this and should celebrate

Winnipeg Jets fans celebrate the team making it into the playoffs for the first time since 1996. Mayor Brian Bowman doesn't want to do anything to jinx the team making it past the first round. (David Lipnowski/The Canadian Press)

Winnipeg's Mayor loves seeing his fellow Jets fans pulling out the flags and the jerseys to celebrate the team making it to the playoffs, but there are some things he won't do because he's afraid he'll jinx the team.

Mayor Brian Bowman said at this stage he has not made any wagers with Anaheim's mayor, where the Winnipeg Jets play their first playoff game against the Ducks, Thursday.

"You know what, we haven't, I don't want to jinx things. We'll wait until we get to the final for that sort of thing but right now we want the cup and I want to be very careful. I know some of the players can be very superstitious and I don't want to jinx things," Bowman said.

"Winnipeggers want the cup. We've waited a long time and we're going to be there to cheer on our hometown team," Bowman said.

For many Winnipeggers this is bringing back memories of their youth seeing the Jets the last time the team was in the playoffs in the 1990's and the last "white out".
Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman remembers making his own white pom poms the last time the Jets were in the playoffs. (CBC)

"You know what I did? I made my own white pom poms out of white garbage bags," Bowman said.

"They were Glad white garbage bags and I cut them and I taped them all together. I remember going to one of the final games we were in in the playoffs with these massive pom poms that were white and my jersey. And this year those memories are getting built for our kids. And it's just wonderful to see," Bowman said.