Practising for the fans: Open workouts give Jets faithful a chance to see players up close and personal

He has the familiar look ofa hockey dad who hashauled achild dreaming ofstardom many times tochilly rinks, while downing stale coffee as locker-room sweat hangsin the air.

Except today, Brad Bernus, hunched forwardas a symphony of skates carve the icy canvasin front of him, isn't looking atany child of his.

He is keeping watch over thelikes of Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laineand Blake Wheeler in a setting that conjures up images of young boys and girls learning the game, more than one of role models at the height of their profession.

Cup of joe in hand,Bernus, 37,is among those watching an open practice of the Winnipeg Jets the city's favourite hockey sons.

Around 30Jets fans, mostly men,are here on a recent morning at the Bell MTS Iceplex, like hockey parents even though none of them have a son of their own on the team. Their credentials as fans are demonstrated by the fact they've bothered to be here at all.

There isn't a set schedule for the beloved NHLteam's open Iceplex practices, which can make catching one tricky.

"I'm on vacation so I'm just here," Bernus said, chuckling. "Hanging out, watching the Jets practise."

He does have his own kidsa 12-year-old daughter who doesn't play the game, and a two-year-old daughter who may want to.

He says he's saving up money just in case his youngest chooses to play hockey. It's an expensive sport to love.

But he doesn't have to worry about his wallet when it comes to a Jets practice.

"It's a lot cheaper than a game," Bernusquips.

Never enough hockey

Standing along the back wall, Kelly Gordon knows rinks like this well, as the father of a 14-year-old who plays AAA hockey and is seemingly on the ice year-round.

Gordon isn't starving for hockey when he takes in an up-tempo practice for an NHL teammired in a funk that's unbecoming of the names on the roster.

"It either means I'm crazy or I'm just a big hockey fan," he said.

Yet there's an appeal to watching the stars ply their trade in amore intimate setting: you see drillsto refine a power-play unit that's gonestagnant; players hollering when sniper Lainefindsthe twine that's eluded him at many recent games.

And then there's the speed.

Keith Mikkelson, a Jets season-ticket holder,ran many a practiceforhis sons when they were little.

A Jets practice, on the other hand, is "not even close to what I used to do," he said, laughing quietly at the comparison. "Minewas justlittle guys' coaching, so you're kind of just getting them to skate."

Mikkelsonkeepsabreast of open practice times by scanning theJets website or Twitter account, but the team's tune-upscan be cancelled just hours before they're supposed to happen.

The recent retireeexpected a practiceon Louis Riel Day, but he and his grandson, 7, watched Dustin Byfuglienand one of the Jetsdefenceman's own tykes take to the ice instead.

Practices can be community events

Many teams in the NHL openpracticesto fans for free. Some, like the Chicago Blackhawks, hold a few sessions a month, while other clubs like the Toronto Maple Leafs make an eventof the occasionby riding a subway in full hockey gear to their outdoor practice in front of city hall.

In Winnipeg, the Jets bar entry to theirpractices at the downtown Bell MTS Place, but welcome the public to the team's training facility on Portage Avenue,just west of the Perimeter Highway.

KatelinBaronhas thought about showing up to a practice for a few years. TheEstevan, Sask., residentwas in Steinbachto visit family, and thoughtthe practice would be a teachingopportunity for her son,Skylar Booker, 5, who dreams of snagging wristers with his glove.

"When they're this small, they lay down on the ice and do snow angels," she said. "We're kind of showing him, 'Hey, if you watch the goalie, he never lays down in the net.'"

The fans seem to appreciate the intimate nature of the practices and they also seemoptimistic the team is better than a recent slump suggests.

Events like this makethe players seem more like one of us, the fans say.

After practice, CatlinLangsitson acement ledge outside the door where players will file out of the building and head to their vehicles.

He's carrying a navybluejerseybearing Scheifele's name. It's not for him, but his upcoming wedding social.The groom-to-becan make the sweater a top prize with Scheifele's signature on it, he hopes.

Sent by a security guardto wait in his truck, the 25-year-old police officer watches as nearly every Jet, shunning winter coats, shufflesoutside ina suit and tie.

So close, yet so far away

Before long, the first-ever Jets 2.0 draft pickslips out of the building and heads left.

Lang decides to try to flag Scheifele down as he drives off, but it doesn't work. Scheifelespeeds off as if a lonelypuck neededto be smacked into an opennet.

The security guard triesto make excuses for what happened:there's plenty ofdemands already on one of the city's most popular Jets, the team's in a slump andScheifele has a flight to catch.

Lang shrugs it off. He isn't bothered. He tried his best to get an autograph.

"Maybe I should have got a Laine jersey," he jokes.

TheJets' nextopen practice is on March2.