CALGARY – In the midst of a heated NHL playoff series, the Calgary Flames are being praised for their classiness after a tweet to the Winnipeg Jets saluting the team and acknowledging the fans for a “great season.”
The image ran in the Winnipeg Sun on Friday and is set to be published in the Winnipeg Free Press on Saturday, said a spokesperson for the Flames. VP of Communications Peter Hanlon said the Flames came up with the idea.
READ MORE: Winnipeg Jets wrap up the 2015 season
“We were extremely impressed with the Winnipeg whiteout,” said Hanlon.
“We share a very passionate fan base, and it was really great to see Winnipeg back in the playoffs again.”
The Winnipeg Jets Whiteout was born on April 16, 1987 as the Jets prepared to play the Flames in Game 6 of the first round of the playoffs. It was an answer to the Flames’ “C of red” in the Saddledome. The creation of the whiteout has been attributed to fan and marketing expert Rod Palson.
“I threw out the idea of everyone has a white shirt, T-shirt, sweat shirt, let’s encourage our fans to wear white with the theme, good guys wear white,” said Palson in a Tuesday interview. “Three days later the community was white–it was just an enormous response.”
READ MORE: Meet the man behind the Winnipeg Jets’ whiteout
The first time modern Jets fans saw the whiteout was Monday night at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre against the Anaheim Ducks in Game 4.
Scott Brown, spokesperson for the Jets, said Flames owner Ken King is a “very close friend” of Jets’ owner Mark Chipman, and he wasn’t surprised by the class of the Flames.
“Our fans are flattered by the amount of national attention they’ve been getting–rightfully so–for the showing of emotion and support they gave the Jets this week.”
With a file from Lorraine Nickel
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