Winnipeg Free Press https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/snowstorm-closes-minneapolis-airport- forces-jets-plane-to-land-in-duluth-479777143.html Jets forced to return home after real whiteout closes Minneapolis airport By: Mike McIntyre It was a white out on the highway near Monticello, Minnesota this morning. Free Press photographer Trevor Hagan was on his way to Minneapolis to cover the Jets/Wild playoff series. They've handled the Minnesota Wild in the first two games off their playoff series, but the Winnipeg Jets have proven to be no match for Mother Nature. A record-setting spring snowstorm meant the Jets were unable to land in Minneapolis Saturday afternoon and forced the charter flight to be diverted to Duluth, 250 kilometres northeast. After sitting on the tarmac for a couple hours waiting to see if an opportunity to get into the Twin Cities might open up, a decision was made to turn the plane around and head back to Winnipeg by late afternoon. All planes were grounded at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport for much of the day as the area was under a blizzard warning, with some estimates of more than 30 centimetres of snow. The Jets will now fly out of Winnipeg Sunday morning, which is a major change to normal game- day routine. The puck is set to drop for Game 3 at 6 p.m. in St Paul, with the Jets up 2-0 in the best-of-seven series. Winnipeg held a brief practice and media availability Saturday morning at the Bell MTS Iceplex, moving up the time because of the storm system. They took off from Winnipeg just after noon, which was a couple hours earlier than originally planned with the hope of beating the worst of the weather. It obviously didn't work. Several commercial flights out of Winnipeg to Minneapolis were cancelled Saturday, throwing a major hitch in plans for fans and several local media members following the team south. Minnesota chartered back home immediately following Friday night’s game and held a practice at the Xcel Energy Centre Saturday afternoon. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/jets-fans-ensure-main-street-project- clients-will-have-plenty-of-pizza-for-playoff-parties-479781423.html Jets fans ensure Main Street Project clients will have plenty of pizza for playoff parties By: Jane Gerster A photo of Main Street Project clients enjoying a slice of pizza while cheering on the Winnipeg Jets has prompted an outpouring of social media love, as well as a guarantee that those at the shelter will be kept in pizza so long as the Jets keep winning. Main Street Project joined Winnipeg Whiteout revelers Friday night, sharing a picture of pizza boxes stacked high and people on the floor, eyes turned up to the game, pizza in hand. "Our folks in shelter are having a pizza party and cheering on the NHL Jets tonight!" Reads the tweet, which garnered plenty of likes, as did the same photos shared on Facebook. "Aw – that is awesome," wrote one person. "SO AMAZING!" Wrote another. Other people added heart emojis as well as a thumbs up. Inspired by the response, a board member started an online fundraiser to see about keeping the spirit up. Within hours, it had surpassed the initial $1,000 goal. The goal has since been upped to $3,000. "The comments are just so supportive and a lot of people are saying things like, ‘everybody deserves to celebrate,’" said Cindy Titus, communications fund development coordinator with Main Street Project. "I think that’s a really important point: everybody loves the Jets," she said. "Everyone from Tuxedo to downtown and even the most vulnerable in our city want to celebrate how well they’re doing." Pizza is an obvious way to celebrate, Titus said, "everybody loves pizza, who doesn’t love pizza?" Main Street Project specifically orders from Santa Lucia because the pizza place already donates 20 pizzas on the first Monday of every month. Titus said they wanted to share their gratitude. "We’re super grateful," she said. The Jets, who beat the Minnesota Wild 3-2 and 4-1 during the first two games in Winnipeg, are in Minnesota Sunday for game three. Main Street Project will be watching — with pizza. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/no-signs-of-stage-fright-for-jets-young- stars-479776273.html No signs of stage fright for Jets' young stars By: Mike McIntyre Forget the kids just being alright. For the Winnipeg Jets, they've been a huge part of jumping out to a 2-0 series lead in their opening-round playoff series against the Minnesota Wild. Any questions about whether Winnipeg's youngest stars might buckle under the pressure of their first playoff appearances have quickly been answered. Connor Hellebuyck has won both starts, giving up just three goals in the process. Patrik Laine has scored in both games, chipped in an assist and stepped up his physical play. Nikolaj Ehlers and Jack Roslovic each have a pair of helpers. Kyle Connor has looked dangerous on Winnipeg's top line. And Josh Morrissey has been highly effective in helping shut down Minnesota's top offensive threats. A small sample size, for sure. But certainly, there are no signs of stage fright in the early going. "Continuation of the regular season. They were really important players for us all year. They’ve handled the emotion of it very well. I haven’t seen a difference between the young players and the older players in our game," Jets coach Paul Maurice said Saturday just before his team departed for the Twin Cities in advance of Sunday's Game 3. (6 p.m., Sportsnet, TSN 1290). "Probably both teams were a little tight in Game 1, early, and you couldn’t tell by the numbers or names on the back, how many games they had in. I think they handled that quite well," he said. "What these guys have done is they hang on to the game that they’ve played. They’re coming to the rink and sometimes the young guys don’t get caught up in the moment. They all feel they’ve got 20 more years of it, so why bother? They’ve looked comfortable." Morrissey said he knows it's only going to get more difficult, especially facing an ornery Wild team looking to get back in the series while enjoying the comforts of home at the Xcel Energy Centre. "I think in the playoffs momentum really doesn’t carry over from game to game. So every night it’s a new battle. We’ve played really well in these first two games, I think sort of played exactly how we wanted to and now going into Minny, they have loud fans and it’s a tough rink to play in. We’ve got to be ready to go. It’s a whole new game," he said Saturday. The 23-year-old, playing his second season with the Jets, admitted he battled some nerves on his first few shifts. "Once you get out there and get playing the game and get into the feel of the game and make a pass or a hit or something like that, you just feel like you’re playing. You know the time of year you’re playing but you’re still just playing that same game," said Morrissey. Centre Adam Lowry isn't exactly a veteran at the age of 25. But he's making his second playoff appearance after being on the 2014-15 team that was swept in four straight games by the Anaheim Ducks. Lowry said it's impressive how quickly this crop of playoff rookies have adjusted. "I think they’re handling it extremely well. First game, first period we seemed a little sluggish. It took a little bit for us to kinda get settled into our game. But after that, I think we’ve really played solid. All those guys have been key contributors," he said. Roslovic is a perfect example. Relegated to the sidelines as a healthy scratch for Game 1, the rookie jumped right into the mix for his Game 2 debut after Mathieu Perreault was unable to play due to injury. He set up a pair of goals while looking very effective on a line with Bryan Little and Andrew Copp. "He didn’t look out of place at all. If anything, he was controlling the play and making plays out there. For a guy who’s jumping into his first playoff game and the atmosphere, it’s pretty nice to see. For us guys who’ve been around, we’ll just keep trying to help them out as much we can," said defenceman Tyler Myers. "They’re coming in with confidence and that’s all you can ask from the young guys. They’ve been unreal for us throughout the first two games here." Maurice didn't have an update Saturday on Perreault's potential availability for Game 3, but it's a safe bet to assume he remains a "game-time decision" as he was for Game 2. Translation: Maurice isn't tipping his hand about injuries during the playoffs, not wanting to give the enemy any information. "They’re the next best home team in the NHL so they’re going to get into their comfort zone real good. It’s a loud building," Maurice said of what he expects from the Wild. "What we need to do is handle it. Our game won’t change, the things that we want to accomplish on the ice, but it’s going to feel different on the bench.