Crews are already rushing to put the ice back in the MTS Centre as the Winnipeg Jets scramble to get ready for the abbreviated, post-lockout 2013 NHL season.
The rink work began Sunday, just hours after the league and the players’ association announced a tentative deal to get the game back on the ice. The MTS Centre remains off-limits to media and the public for the time being, but the team may stage a photo-op of the Jets logo being applied to the ice on Tuesday.
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Jets spokesman Scott Brown told Global News the club is contacting season-ticket holders in the next few days just to reassure them that more info will be released as soon as the league’s new, likely 48-game schedule is released later in the week.
There is no word yet if the Jets will offer any discounts or other incentives to fans as an apology for the four-month lockout.
Meanwhile, Jets co-owner Mark Chipman plans to be in New York on Wednesday as the league and union are expected to ratify their new deal. Until that happens and Chipman returns to Winnipeg, the club won’t be making any formal comment on the end of the lockout, Brown said.
Winnipeg Downtown BIZ executive director Stefano Grande is enthusiastic about what the return of the NHL will mean for businesses.
“We’re so hungry for the NHL,” Grande said. “We’ve missed the 15,000 people a night (brought downtown by Jets games)… We don’t have that level of traffic downtown.”
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