Winnipeg businesses get into Jets spirit during playoffs

From burgers and cupcakes to white wardrobes and more, Winnipeg eateries and shops are fully getting into the Winnipeg Jets spirit during the NHL playoffs.

Support for the home team is ramping up this weekend, as the Jets take on the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. The playoff action will come home to Winnipeg next week, with games on Monday and Wednesday.

The playoffs, combined with the NHL's return to Winnipeg in 2011, are really bringing people together, says Marc Priestley, co-owner of Nuburger in Osborne Village.

"The thing I think is the best is that everybody in the city has something in common we can all cheer for together," he said Friday.

Nuburger has created the "Smak Shot Burger" as a tribute to the Jets entering the playoffs.

"The reason we called it the smak shot — it's kind of a play on slap shot," Priestley explained.

Over at Pinky's Bakeshop, blue and white cupcakes and Jets-themed macaroons are on special order for Monday — the team's first playoff game on home ice since 1996.

"We just wanted to celebrate them going into the playoff," owner Phingky Fuentes said.

Numerous storefronts are decked out in Jets jerseys, flags and decorations, including Loka Boutique on Corydon Avenue, which is offering 25 per cent off white clothing.

"When something for the city is just kind of creating this huge community feel, we feel we just need to participate," said owner Kayla Wan.