Raucous Winnipeg fans poised to be X-factor for Jets in 2nd round against Dallas Stars
It's blue, covered in stickers and mini-sticks, topped with a replica Stanley Cup, filled with gas and ready for Round 2 of the NHL playoffs.
It's hard to miss Dan Nolin's Jets mobile. And that's the whole point.
The 1971 Chevy Vega wagon is meant to get attention — the wailing rooftop siren demands it — and drive excitement among Winnipeggers for their beloved Jets.
"It's amazing. I get smiles — everywhere you look it's smiles," said Nolin, whose voice started to crack and get emotional. "It's just fun. It's just so much fun.
"Kids come up, they want pictures. And I don't worry about people touching it when I park it downtown. I gotta have faith in people."
Not only does it get attention, it sparks goodwill.
While driving around ahead of Sunday's deciding Game 7 between the Jets and St. Louis Blues, Nolin was approached by a stranger with a spare ticket.
Nolin told his friend, Richard, to take it. It was the first game Richard had ever seen and proved to be one of the greatest games ever played at Canada Life Centre.
"He went in there first time in his life. And for that game? Awesome."
The Vega is festooned with rope lighting, Jets hubcaps, flags held aloft by hockey sticks, a goalie mask, a jet fighter plane, a plush version of Jets mascot Mick E. Moose and mini-sticks on the hood, doors and wiper blades.
"I've had it for 12 years and I just keep having fun with it," said Nolin, who is similarly sheathed in everything Jets, from his pilot helmet through to his whiteout pants and sneakers.
His Jets suit jacket, which hangs open to reveal a Jets jersey, has a miniature Mick E. Moose attached to the breast pocket like a corsage. He even has a secondary helmet for passengers to get into the spirit.
Nolin's obsession