NHL ice hockey team the Winnipeg Jets utilised Covermaster’s seat covers to improve the look of their televised 2020-21 season games, which were played out behind closed doors due to COVID-19.
The Jets were among the seven Canadian franchises playing in the newly aligned, travel-restricted North Division that saw the teams face off in the regular season and the first two rounds of playoffs.
The Jets played without fans all season at Bell MTS Place, with the exception of the province of Manitoba permitting 500 fully-vaccinated health-care workers to attend games one and two of the second round of the playoffs against the Montreal Canadiens on June 3 and 5.
With fans prevented from attending games in person, arenas like the Bell MTS Place, now Canada Life Centre, in downtown Winnipeg are using arena seat covers to improve visuals for the televised games.
The Jets’ staff began working with the Covermaster and The Look Company’s teams over the Christmas holidays to design, supply, and install custom seat covers halfway up and around the rink’s lower bowl.
Bleacher seat covers made of polystretch fabric were printed with team branding in the Jets’ aviator blue and fitted onto frame structures for the first game in mid-January. These branded seat covers are designed to limit any glare from the overhead lighting to provide the best possible look on television.
After a successful season that landed them a spot in the playoffs, the Jets continued a long playoff tradition at Bell MTS Place, replacing their blue regular season seat covers with a vibrant set of white seat covers for their 2021 playoff run.
Collaborating with Covermaster and The Look Company on both occasions, the playoff version of the ‘Winnipeg White Out’ dated back to 1987, during the first iteration of the franchise.
