‘The whole plane just went wild’: Winnipeg Jets fans celebrate Game 7 victory up in the air

Winnipeg Jets' fans celebrate Sunday's Game 7 victory while on a WestJet flight from Calgary to Winnipeg on May 4, 2024.

Winnipeg Jets’ fans were likely on cloud nine celebrating the team’s Game 7 win over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.

For Dylan Zacharias and the volleyball team he coaches, it was almost a literal example.

Zacharias and members of the Providence College Jr. Pilots girls volleyball team were in Calgary for a tournament and preparing to fly home when Game 7 was on. The flight was boarding when the game-tying heroics took place.

“We went absolutely wild in the airport,” he said in an interview Tuesday afternoon.

The tricky part was getting to watch the game on the flight itself. Zacharias said one of the parents hooked up an iPad and was able to get the broadcast on so the rest of the team could watch.

“We actually stayed on the tarmac for the entire first overtime period,” Zacharias said.

When the first overtime ended and the plane took off for Winnipeg, the airing of the game resumed with the help of the in-flight Wi-Fi and an iPad.

They were also able to replicate the feeling of being in Canada Life Centre 30,000 feet in the air.

“One of our girls turned around, and she was like, ‘Everyone, grab the barf bag. We’ll wave it around like it’s the white towels’” Zacharias said. “So the whole plane all of a sudden started grabbing the white (bags) and were waving them around, and they started the ‘Go Jets Go’ chant.”

Zacharias was listening to the radio broadcast of the game due to the video delay and actually heard Adam Lowry’s game-winning goal a few seconds before it aired on the video feed.

“The whole plane just went wild,” he said. “Everyone started cheering. The flight attendants grabbed the light switch and started flicking it on and off to celebrate with us.

“It was a full team experience there for everyone on the flight.”

Zacharias said the moment of celebration is something he and the team will remember for a long time.