Jets and Moose make Winnipeg hockey history, but Manitoba's AHL team overshadowed

Once a hockey playoff-starved city, Winnipeg has tucked a napkin into its shirt collar to enjoy a banquet it's never before seen.

For the first time, two professional hockey teams from the city are in the playoffs.

"It's a good time to be a hockey fan right now in Winnipeg, that's for sure," said Adam Zacharias, who has held season tickets to the Manitoba Moose since the team returned to Winnipeg for the 2015-16 season from St. John's.

The Moose?

Yeah, remember them? The American Hockey League team that sustained Winnipeggers during the 15-year NHL gap in the city?

Let's refresh: They moved here from Minnesota (we're all familiar with that place) in 1996, the year the original NHL Jets fled to Phoenix.

They made it to the third round of the AHL playoffs in 2001 and again in 2005. In 2009, two years before the Jets 2.0 set up shop, they energized the city by finishing first in the league and waltzing through the playoffs to the Calder Cup final.

They fell short of the championship goal but their efforts galvanized the city's hockey fans.

Now the Moose — who relocated to St. John's from 2011-2015 and were rebranded as the IceCaps before coming back to Winnipeg and reviving the Moose name — are in the playoffs for the first time since their return.

However, their success has been nudged into the shadows by the whiteout frenzy over the Jets' fortunes.

"Yeah, there's definitely some of that," said Zacharias. "We have the season tickets so we go to every game and a lot of the events … so for us it's not really that overshadowed. But if anybody wants to talk hockey with us, it's always Jets.

"Not a lot of people come up and ask us about the Moose season. It's always, 'How about the Jets? Look how the Jets are playing,' unless we're the ones who bring up the Moose."

Moose help propel Jets

Zacharias and his wife, Morgan, originally planned on just getting season tickets for one year "to tide us over while we worked on getting some Jets tickets."

But the couple fell in love with the AHL game.

"It's fantastic hockey. We barely go to any Jets games now. It's all Moose," Zacharias said.

Although it's the Jets' season in the spotlight, several Moose players have contributed to the parent club's prosperity.

Through the year, Nic Petan, Brandon Tanev, Marko Dano, Eric Comrie, Michael Hutchinson, Patrice Cormier, Brendan Lemieux, Julian Melchiori, Tucker Poolman, Sami Niku and Jack Roslovic have been called up to fill in for injured or ailing Jets.

"That's really been a factor in the last couple of months of the season. And then we also had a bunch go down to injuries," Zacharias said.

"It's almost a whole different team from the start of the season, but that's just kind of the way it is with the farm team — you have to expect that."

The Moose took a bit of a hit because of it. They had been sitting at the top the league's Central Division — and sometimes leading the entire AHL — for a good portion of the season.

They team even recorded its best first half in franchise history with a record of 25-8-3-2 (wins-losses-overtime losses-shootout losses) before finishing 42-26-4-4.

That put them third in the Central and 10th overall. Meanwhile, the Jets soared into a second-place finish in the NHL and a number of the Moose players have stuck around.

Mixed feelings

Zacharias has mixed feelings about the Moose call-ups, especially Roslovic, whose name and number is on Zacharias's jersey.

"You really feel kind of proud when he goes up and he stays up, but at the same time you really miss seeing him around," he said.

Some Moose alumni who are now permanent members of the Jets roster include all-star goalie Connor Hellebuyck, forwards Kyle Connor, Joel Armia and Andrew Copp, and defencemen Ben Chiarot and Josh Morrissey.

It's a credit to the development of the Moose coaching staff, and head coach Pascal Vincent was rewarded this season. Last week he was awarded the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL's most outstanding coach.

"It's been an amazing season. They've had such a turnaround from the last couple," said Zacharias. "Every time we go there it's been a blast. It's really exciting to finally have the chance to go to the Calder Cup playoffs."

The Jets and Moose both play at Bell MTS Place in downtown Winnipeg and even share the same mascot — Mick E. Moose performs double duty at both Jets and Moose games.

But there is one big difference between the two clubs, both of which are owned and operated by True North Sports & Entertainment — affordability.

Jets first-round playoff tickets range from about $200-$600, if you can get one. Moose tickets for the first round range from $17-$33.

"If somebody does want to get that playoff hockey experience in that environment, you can actually take the family out to a Moose game and not break the bank," said Zacharias.

The Moose's best-of-five playoff series begins with games 1 and 2, Saturday and Sunday, in Winnipeg against the AHL's defending champion Grand Rapids Griffins. The series then switches to Michigan for Game 3, and games 4 and 5, if needed.

"The Griffins have kind of had the Moose's number this season so it's going to be a really, really tough first round. If they get out of the first round, it should be a lot easier going forward from there," said Zacharias.

A spokesperson for the Moose said no big street parties are planned for downtown during the home games, unlike the Jets. The team also hasn't suggested anyone wear white but expects it might just naturally happen, since Winnipeg hockey fans tend to do that in playoffs.

The Zachariases will be among them.

"We both have white jerseys … and my wife has a white hat as well. So we'll be doing the whiteout," he said.

"I'm just looking forward to going to our first [playoff] game and kind of seeing what it's all about."