Wake Up Winnipeg - Episode 79

Wake Up Winnipeg - Episode 79

Hosted Live/Produced/Recorded by: Andru Valpy

Air Date: 06/01/2011 6:00 PM on UMFM 101.5 FM
Free Podcast Download Location: iTunes.
Web: http://wakeupwinnipeg.com/
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Rebroadcast: 06/08/2011 on CJUM 101.5 UMFM - 6:30 AM

On this weeks Episode, Andru heads out to The Forks Marketplace to cover the annoucement of the NHL's Official Return to Winnipeg.

True North Sports and Entertainment, The NHL and the Province of Manitoba announced that the purchase and relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg Manitoba was complete.

At 11:10 AM CST, Mark Chipman  made the official announcement along side NHL Commissioner Garry Bettman, Premier Greg Selinger and new owner David Thomson.

The announcement however came with two important conditions that are required to make the relocation official.

The 170 Million dollar transaction is subject to the NHL board of Governor's approval which is expected to come on June 21st.

Perhaps what is most important for the relocation, is the official season ticket drive which was announced yesterday called "Drive To 13".

13,000 season tickets must be sold prior to the June 21st Board of  Governors meeting to show the financial sustainability of a Winnipeg NHL Market.

Single game tickets range from $39.00 to $129.00 with Season ticket prices starting at $1,755 to $5,805 per season with  payments ranging anywhere from $71.50 to $525.42 per month over a 3 to 5 year term.

NHL Season tickets went on pre-sale today at noon for any regular Manitoba Moose full season ticket holders and will continue be on pre-sale until Friday at 10:00pm CST.

Season tickets for the General Public will officially go on sale on Saturday at 12:00 pm CST.

While the press conference was taking place, Thousands of Fan's gathered at Winnipeg's historic Portage and Main street where the announcement was being streamed on a digital screen located outside the former Can-West tower.

Others gathered at the Forks Marketplace where "The official" NHL return parties were kicked off.

Fans could be heard in both locations shouting "go jets go", while playing impromptu street hockey games and occasionally singing "oh Canada" on multiple occasions.

Rain, wind, and cooler temperatures did not keep the die-hard NHL fans from celebrating. Some saying, they would have come out even if it was minus 40.

At 6:00 PM at the Forks Marketplace, 7 hours after the announcement was made,  hundred's of fans were still celebrating the return of an NHL team after a 15 year absence while a small group of fans remained on medians and the signs of Portage and Main waiving and cherring as commuters honked horns and shouted from their cars.

Around 9:30 PM roughly 1,000 people that were gathered at the Forks Marketplace moved to Portage and Main after some fans became unruly.

By 10:00 pm, the fans shifted to Portage and Main to continue their celebrations.

Throughout the day members of The Winnipeg Police service had to close the busy downtown intersection due to public safety concerns.

City crews could be seen preparing for closures as early as 9:30 Tuesday morning, as die-hard fans were slowly starting to gather at the historic war monument outside the Bank of Montreal.

At 1:30 in the afternoon, police opened up the intersection to allow for normal traffic use.

Despite the large crowd, police reported minimal arrests and most fans seemed to enjoy the celebrations responsibly. Some fans were even seen taking photographs with uniformed officers who were standing by in the event of unlawful activities.

The announcement came just 1 day before the Stanley Cup play offs between the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins began, as to not take away from the hype around the game.

Winnipeg can expect more announcements in the days and weeks to come.


For more information about the Drive to 13 ticket drive, fans are encouraged to log on to http://driveto13.com