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Kootenay Ice

Kootenay Ice

FieldValue
teamKootenay Ice
bg_colourbackground:#FFFFFF; border-top:#5AB3E8 5px solid; border-bottom:#000000 5px solid;
text_colour#000000
logoKootenay_ICE.png
cityCranbrook, British Columbia
leagueWestern Hockey League
arenaWestern Financial Place
coloursLight blue, black, white, brown
championshipsMemorial Cup: 1 2002
President's Cup: 3
2000, 2002, 2011
websitewww.kootenayice.net
name1Edmonton Ice
dates11996–1998
name2Kootenay Ice
dates21998–2019
name3Winnipeg Ice
dates32019–2023
name4Wenatchee Wild
dates42023–present
reg_season_titles1 (2004–05)

President's Cup: 3 2000, 2002, 2011

The Kootenay Ice (officially stylized as ICE) were a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Cranbrook, British Columbia, competing in the Western Hockey League (WHL) and playing its home games at Western Financial Place. The franchise, which began as the Edmonton Ice before moving to Cranbrook in 1998, was owned by Ed Chynoweth from 1995 until it was sold to Winnipeg-based company 50 Below Sports and Entertainment in 2017. The team won three WHL championships and one Memorial Cup title as Canadian junior champions. Despite the club's on-ice success, the Ice moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2019, where they were known as the Winnipeg Ice.

History

The Ice franchise began play in 1996 as the Edmonton Ice. The club was founded by Ed Chynoweth after he left his position as the Western Hockey League's president. Chynoweth moved the Ice to Cranbrook in 1998 after two dismal seasons in Edmonton. The move to Cranbrook resulted in the folding of the successful local Junior A Cranbrook Colts and ultimately the entire Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League as the remaining five RMJHL franchises from the Kootenays dropped to the Junior B Kootenay International Junior Hockey League within years of the Ice coming to the region.

The Kootenay Ice found significant on-ice success in their early years. The team won WHL championships in 2000 and 2002, along with the Memorial Cup in 2002 to become Canadian junior champions. The 2002 Ice team was inducted into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame in 2022. The Ice added a regular season title in 2004–05 and a third playoff championship in 2011. The latter title came under the direction of Jeff Chynoweth after Ed Chynoweth died in 2008.

In 2017, the Chynoweth family sold the team to Winnipeg-based 50 Below Sports + Entertainment Inc. The company's owners, Greg Fettes and Matt Cockell, were installed as the team's governor and president, respectively. A new logo was unveiled on May 1, 2017. The team's on-ice success diminished after their third championship, with the Ice winning only one playoff series after 2011 and missing the playoffs altogether for four straight seasons between 2015 and 2019. Operating in the league's second-smallest market, attendance became an issue and the league raised questions about the team's long-term viability in Cranbrook.

On January 29, 2019, the Ice announced that the team would relocate to Winnipeg after the 2018–19 season. The Winnipeg Ice began play in the 2019–20 season. In June 2023, after ownership failed to build a suitable arena in Winnipeg, the team was again sold and relocated to Wenatchee, Washington, where they became the Wenatchee Wild.

WHL Championship finals

Memorial Cup finals

  • 2002: Won, 6–3 vs. Victoriaville Tigres

Season-by-season record

[[Nathan Lieuwen]] played for the Ice between 2007 and 2012.

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

SeasonGPWLTOTLGFGAPointsFinishPlayoffsSeasonGPWLOTLSOLGFGAPointsFinishPlayoffs
1998–997230357245276674th CentralLost Eastern Conference quarterfinal
1999–007244141132752001022nd CentralWon Championship
2000–01724517462862131002nd CentralLost Eastern Conference semifinal
2001–0272382770276223832nd B.C.Won Championship
Won Memorial Cup
2002–0372362565234202833rd B.C.Lost Western Conference semifinal
2003–0472323073183200744th B.C.Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
2004–05724715732181371041st B.C.Lost Western Conference final
2005–0672452313233177943rd B.C.Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
2006–07724917332671891042nd CentralLost Eastern Conference quarterfinal
2007–0872422253229214924th CentralLost Eastern Conference semifinal
2008–0972352926220224783rd CentralLost Eastern Conference quarterfinal
2009–1072432432252215912nd CentralLost Eastern Conference quarterfinal
2010–1172462114272218973rd CentralWon Championship
2011–1272362664222201824th CentralLost Eastern Conference quarterfinal
2012–1372353520203221725th CentralLost Eastern Conference quarterfinal
2013–1472392823235209834th CentralLost Eastern Conference semifinal
2014–1572373113245248784th CentralLost Eastern Conference quarterfinal
2015–1672125361155319316th CentralDid not qualify
2016–17721446102177335406th CentralDid not qualify
2017–1872273852215275614th CentralDid not qualify
2018–1968134573181324366th CentralDid not qualify

NHL alumni

  • Riley Armstrong
  • Dean Arsene
  • Matt Berlin
  • Dan Blackburn
  • Zdenek Blatny
  • Mike Comrie
  • Adam Cracknell
  • Nigel Dawes
  • Cody Eakin
  • Brennan Evans
  • Cale Fleury
  • Kris Foucault
  • Matt Fraser
  • Jeff Glass
  • Mike Green
  • Stanislav Gron
  • Jason Jaffray
  • Peyton Krebs
  • Carson Lambos
  • Nathan Lieuwen
  • Ben Maxwell
  • Steve McCarthy
  • Ryan McGill
  • Brayden McNabb
  • Michael Milne
  • Duncan Milroy
  • John Negrin
  • Luke Philp
  • Noah Philp
  • Tomas Plihal
  • Roman Polak
  • Max Reinhart
  • Sam Reinhart
  • Aaron Rome
  • Ryan Russell
  • Mackenzie Skapski
  • Jarret Stoll
  • Brett Sutter
  • Marek Svatos
  • Jaroslav Svoboda
  • Rinat Valiev
  • Matt Walker
  • Kyle Wanvig
  • Craig Weller
  • Jeremy Yablonski

References

References

  1. "WHL History".
  2. (April 22, 2008). "CHL mourns passing of Ed Chynoweth". Soo Today.
  3. "Ed Chynoweth Cup". Western Hockey League.
  4. Coulter, Barry. (2022-08-09). "20 years later: Kootenay Ice back in the news". [[Cranbrook Daily Townsman]].
  5. (2011-05-14). "Kootenay down Portland to take WHL final". [[Sportsnet]].
  6. Maki, Allan. (2011-05-17). "Kootenay run a family affair". [[The Globe and Mail]].
  7. Greenslade, Brittany. (2019-01-28). "WHL to announce Kootenay Ice moving to Winnipeg – on the coldest day of the year". Global News.
  8. "Kootenay ICE unveil fresh look – WHL Network".
  9. (2019-01-29). "WHL's Kootenay ICE to relocate to Winnipeg for 2019–20 season". [[The Province]].
  10. (2019-01-29). "WHL’s Kootenay Ice to relocate to Winnipeg for 2019–20 season". [[Toronto Star]].
  11. (January 29, 2019). "Winnipeg Ice Press Release".
  12. (2023-06-16). "Winnipeg Ice sold and will be moved to Washington". [[The Sports Network]].
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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