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When you come to the provincial capital of Manitoba for the playoffs to face the Winnipeg Jets Justin Evans Jersey , you know two things for sure: it’s going to be white, and it’s going to be loud. The fans inside MTS Centre wear white to playoff games — a tradition started three decades ago during the team’s first incarnation in Winnipeg. And they’re noisy. Really, really noisy

Bruce Boudreau will bring the Minnesota Wild to Winnipeg on Wednesday for Game 1 one of their first-round playoff series. Since the NHL returned to Winnipeg in 2011, Boudreau is in fact the only opposing coach to experience that atmosphere first-hand.

In 2015, Boudreau coached the Anaheim Ducks to a four-game sweep of the Jets in round one, including a pair of wins in Winnipeg. So, he’s not expecting to be intimidated by conditions inside the arena.

“They have a rabid fan base, but every team in the NHL has a rabid fan base at this stage of the game,” Boudreau said Tuesday, before the Wild boarded a northbound plane. “Noise isn’t going to bother you.”

If the Wild are going to get bothered, it will be on the rink, as they face a Jets team that has shown few weak spots in finishing second in the Central Division and earning home ice for the series.

“You have less room for error because they’re always coming at you. You can’t have a 10-minute break so to speak and play normal. You always have to be on your toes playing the right way because one line’s as good as the next line,” Boudreau said of the Jets. “It’s not a question that they’re overly deep Kerry Wynn Jersey , it’s just you’ve got to play the same way to defend player A as player X on their team.”

What the Jets lack in playoff experience, with one of the youngest and perhaps hungriest rosters in the NHL, they make up for in enthusiasm, as the roster and the city are excited — perhaps overly so — for the start of the playoffs. This franchise, which started as the Atlanta Thrashers in 1999, has never won a playoff game, and the opportunity to do that for the first time is the talk of the town.

“Game day is going to be really exciting for us, but the hockey doesn’t change,” said Jets coach Paul Maurice, who coached the Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2002. “It’s going to get faster and all the details are pushed harder by both teams, but the game that we want to play is what we’ve been working on for 82.”

The Wild lineup might look different, at least on the blue line, then in recent games when the puck drops Wednesday. Defenseman Jared Spurgeon has been out since last month with a groin injury but has been practicing and is hopeful to return. It would be a big boost for Minnesota Lawrence Taylor Jersey , which is reeling from the loss of defenseman Ryan Suter to a season-ending leg injury.

“He’s getting better,” Boudreau said of Spurgeon’s status. “Still a game-time decision (Wednesday).”
Raised in upstate New York, Chad Brown didn't root for the Bills, the Giants or the Jets when it came to football.

The 39-year-old from Mechanicville was a San Francisco 49ers fan. It was simple. He liked future Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana, although football didn't turn out to be Brown's sport.

Brown has become one of thoroughbred racing's top trainers, and his favorite football team now is the New England Patriots. It has nothing to do with Tom Brady.

It's all about Gronkowski, both of them. He likes tight end Rob and the 3-year-old colt named after him who will be a fan favorite Saturday in the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes.

Whether Gronkowski can challenge Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Justify and prevent him from becoming the sport's 13th Triple Crown winner remains to be seen.

The name of the horse adds interest to the final jewel of the Triple Crown, of course.

"It works for him," Brown said of the name. "He is going to pick up a few extra fans and that feels good. I am happy people are rooting for him because of his name."

The Kentucky-bred colt has never raced in North America. He has had six starts in England, winning four races and finishing second once. An illness forced him to skip the Kentucky Derby.

Phoenix Thoroughbred Limited, the owners of Gronkowski, decided after the Derby to move the colt out of the barn of Jeremy Noseda in mid-May. Brown has spent the last three-plus weeks getting the colt ready to run again.

While Gronkowski arrived in good condition and has trained extremely well, Brown would have preferred a little more training time.

"If the horse has enough foundation behind him Kam Chancellor Jersey , he is the kind of a horse that can run a mile and a half on the dirt," Brown said Thursday after Gronkowski galloped. "Is he ready for Saturday? We'll see."

Brown said the owners of Gronkowski gave him the option of skipping the Belmont if he felt the colt was not ready. He elected to run.

Brown has an idea what will happen in the race. Gronkowski will run a little behind the leaders and grind out the first 1录 miles. It's the last quarter that's a concern for a colt that has never run longer than a mile in a race.

"This was a very unique situation," Brown said. "This was a horse that was on the Derby trail and then off, and now here on short notice. It really takes a special horse to be able to catch up to speed and be able to run in a race like Saturday. Based on what I have seen so far, I do feel like he is up to it."

Rob Gronkowski, who is a part owner of the colt, is expected to attend. He's also excited.

"It's pretty wild," Gronkowski said Tuesday after a Patriots practice. "I heard about the horse like a year ago and I saw it, and I was like 'that's cool,' you know? Then all of a sudden it's like the horse is in the Kentucky Derby a year later. So it's pretty wild. It's a pretty cool scenario. Pretty cool situation. It just shows, name the horse my name and it's going to make it, baby."

Besides Gronkowski the horse, Brown also had another runner in his barn partially owned by three former or current Patriots. He has gotten the chance to sit down with Patriots coach Bill Belichick to discuss how their jobs are similar and how they manage elite athletes and people on their staffs.

"I have asked him for advice Demarcus Robinson Jersey , particularly on leadership, winning, and how to get the most out of people," said Brown, who has 165 employees and 230 horses in his barn. "I find him to be and (have) great admiration for him now that I have had a couple of chances to really sit down with coach and pick his brain. I find him to be really brilliant, a deep thinker and very reserved and calculated about what he says or does. He has enormous experience how to get the most out of people."

For Brown, this is a week in which he will discover just how much he got out of Gronkowski. At worst, it will be a learning experience. At best, Gronk scores big and upsets Justify's Triple Crown hopes.

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