Manitoba Junior Hockey League Superthread

[hockeykid87]

I haven't seen the Freeze play yet this season but I will keep my eye out for him next time I do. Speaking of the Americans, that was a hell of a game they had last night against PG, they almost had that one in regulation before Ziemmer sent it to OT and the Cougs got the shootout win. Possible conference final preview?

On another note, here's a #TBT clip of the MJHL as I remember it from my childhood. The Kildonan North Stars at home in the Keewatin (now Billy Mosienko) Arena against the St. James Canadians.

The North Stars were a great team that season, and this kind of rough stuff was very common. The main fighter in the video, Frank Bialowas, went on to become an AHL enforcer legend with the Philadelphia Phantoms, he even played some games in the NHL.

I was probably at this game

Was a hell of a game but very frustrating for Tri. Missed call on the breakaway trip in the second period and then not blowing play down when Goldsmith took a puck in the head just before the tying goal!

 

[jetsmooseice]

Looks like the earliest the Pistons will be moving into their new barn is sometime around the playoffs, give or take.

This seemed fairly predictable tbh, even back in the summer the new arena looked nowhere near being ready for this season. I guess blind optimism reigns supreme with these types of projects, I remember when Princess Auto Stadium was under construction the Bombers were insisting right up to the end that it would be ready for mid-2012 season when it didn't end up opening until 2013.

New date announced for opening of Southeast Event Centre

A new date has been announced for the opening of the Southeast Event Centre in Steinbach. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in January of 2023 with hopes that the project might be completed before the end of 2024. There had been a goal of having the Centre open on December 31st with a Steinbach...

steinbachonline.com

Otherwise, the MJ is operating more or less as usual. Steinbach, Winkler, Portage and Dauphin are dominating the standings, the Winnipeg teams are at the bottom, and the others are somewhere in the middle.

 

[jetsmooseice]

Well, it's safe to say that the playoff teams are more or less known at this point. The only real playoff battles left are for the fourth place spot in each division (Niverville and Selkirk in the East, and Virden and Wayway in the West). Beyond that it's just jockeying for position.

Also, I thought this would be the year that at least one of the Winnipeg teams would make a breakthrough but that hasn't happened. The roster churn is as strong as ever and both clubs are hopelessly spinning their wheels.

 

[jetsmooseice]

Winnipeg's junior hockey stars aligned last night!

In Neepawa, the Blues upset the Titans 4-3. And at hfac, the Freeze beat Wayway 6-5 for their second win in a row (!!!).

The Freeze are going to try and make it three in a row against Portage on Sunday night.

I mean, it doesn't really matter as both teams are pretty well out of the playoffs, but it's still nice to see some life left in them.

 

[jetsmooseice]

The MJ and the SJ will be on pause as the MJHL-SJHL Showcase series gets going today in Winnipeg.

 

[jetsmooseice]

OK, so this is trivial but as a Winnipeg fan I have to note that the Blues updated their website for the first time in forever... they even posted a game story!!!

Blues beat out the Freeze in final Battle of Winnipeg

www.winnipegblues.ca

The story is about the Blues' 4-3 win over the Freeze on Thursday night. No mention of their 3-1 loss to Wayway last night.

In other news, Winkler is starting to run away with the league with a 33-6-3-0 record. They beat the Freeze 7-0 last night.

 

[Lakeheadfan95]

It's a shame Selkirk won't make the playoffs they started off so well this season

 

[jetsmooseice]

It's a shame Selkirk won't make the playoffs they started off so well this season

Yeah, winning 10 in a row to start and then missing the playoffs has to be a bitter pill to swallow for sure.

At this point the only interesting things really left in the regular season are Winkler and Steinbach jockeying for first overall, and Virden and Wayway battling for the last playoff spot in the West.

In other news, I read about the ND Hounds in the SJ being sold by the Athol Murray Academy to interests in Warman who will be moving the team there. Got me wondering why the 50 Below guys don't sell the Freeze to Rink Hockey Academy so they can operate the team in a similar vein, i.e. a Rink Hockey Academy team in the MJ. Maybe the Freeze are just too lucrative to let go of? Haha.

 

[Lakeheadfan95]

50 below ruined the blues they used to be great

 

[jetsmooseice]

50 below ruined the blues they used to be great

When the ICE were unceremoniously shipped out of Winnipeg by the dub I wondered if the 50 Below guys might turn their attention to the Blues and Freeze and get them back on track. Maybe even build on some of the relationships and excitement they created with the ICE. I realize they were unlikely to maintain the same level of crowds/sponsorships etc. but I thought with a bit of effort and some success on the ice, they could pull in at least a few hundred fans a night. In some ways a place like Wayne Fleming Arena which was not really ideal for the WHL, is perfect for the MJ. It could have been really good.

However, nothing has changed. It's still the same revolving door of players and personnel, and anemic results on the ice. Almost no fans, sponsorship or any real effort. It looks like the parents pay for everything and they're satisfied with that. Which is fine, they know how to run their own business. It just feels like the fans, the community and even the players are missing out as a result.

 

[MiamiHockeyII]

When the ICE were unceremoniously shipped out of Winnipeg by the dub I wondered if the 50 Below guys might turn their attention to the Blues and Freeze and get them back on track. Maybe even build on some of the relationships and excitement they created with the ICE. I realize they were unlikely to maintain the same level of crowds/sponsorships etc. but I thought with a bit of effort and some success on the ice, they could pull in at least a few hundred fans a night. In some ways a place like Wayne Fleming Arena which was not really ideal for the WHL, is perfect for the MJ. It could have been really good.

However, nothing has changed. It's still the same revolving door of players and personnel, and anemic results on the ice. Almost no fans, sponsorship or any real effort. It looks like the parents pay for everything and they're satisfied with that. Which is fine, they know how to run their own business. It just feels like the fans, the community and even the players are missing out as a result.

The guys who own Fifty Below are scam artists. The Freeze were always a cash grab where you could pay $XXXX to say that your son plays Jr. A, designed as a feeder to the Blues. The RINK Hockey Academy is an even bigger ripoff. Their reputation has now destroyed the Blues as well.

 

[jetsmooseice]

The guys who own Fifty Below are scam artists. The Freeze were always a cash grab where you could pay $XXXX to say that your son plays Jr. A, designed as a feeder to the Blues. The RINK Hockey Academy is an even bigger ripoff. Their reputation has now destroyed the Blues as well.

It should be pointed out that 50 Below (ICE/Blues/Freeze) had a bit of a falling out with the Rink Hockey Academy folks some years back, when the ICE were still around. It was around the time that the Blues stopped playing at The Rink partway through the season a couple years ago.

RHA is your standard issue CSSHL-type hockey academy AFAIK. Blues and Freeze were supposed to be part of that system and I do think RHA still feeds players into the Blues and Freeze, but the formal relationship is gone.

 

[MiamiHockeyII]

It should be pointed out that 50 Below (ICE/Blues/Freeze) had a bit of a falling out with the Rink Hockey Academy folks some years back, when the ICE were still around. It was around the time that the Blues stopped playing at The Rink partway through the season a couple years ago.

RHA is your standard issue CSSHL-type hockey academy AFAIK. Blues and Freeze were supposed to be part of that system and I do think RHA still feeds players into the Blues and Freeze, but the formal relationship is gone.

Their plan was to own ice hockey development in Winnipeg from birth to WHL. They wanted a monopoly. They bought the ICE, Blues, created the Freeze, built the new RINK, bought all the Spring Hockey Programs in the city.

The problem is how they treated people. They very quickly became pariahs in the WHL with how they treated staff, and WHL franchises did not want to draft anyone from the RHA because of the conflict of interest of having stakes in a WHL franchise and all deveopment up to that point. The pandemic certainly did not help them financially, but there was a real lack of community support for their entire operation.

 

[jetsmooseice]

Just as we are discussing the Blues, the latest installment of "AS THE BLUES TURN" dropped. The Blues are moving back to The Rink!

Winnipeg Blues Announce Relocation to State-of-the-Art RINK Training Centre

www.winnipegblues.ca

The news release was dated February 13, but I have not heard a thing about it until I saw it posted on the Blues website this morning. (It wasn't there when I looked at the Blues website yesterday.)

Long story short, the Blues are decamping hockey for all centre to go back to to The Rink, which is where they were based for a couple years before the infamous 50 Below/Rink falling out.

Just reading between the lines of the press release, it looks like the Blues will be taking over the former ICE clubhouse facilities which I assume the RHA CSSHL team has been using since the ICE left, although I'm not certain about that. The ICE clubhouse is a very nice facility, I toured it when the ICE were still around and I can't imagine any MJHL team has any facilities better than that. The dressing room in particular is pro-calibre. (For those who don't know, The Rink is a facility that opened up in 2019... it's not brand new anymore but it's still one of the most modern and nicest hockey facilities in Manitoba)

In addition to the clubhouse, The Rink is also home to a fairly large gym/training facility that it looks like the Blues will have access to, so from a player standpoint it's a huge win. The facility has everything a junior team could need, and they'll have the run of the place as opposed to hfac which was not "theirs".

From a fan standpoint I am a fan of this move, hfac is at the far western end of Winnipeg which is very inconvenient for most Winnipeggers. Many people in the eastern half of Winnipeg are basically just as close to Niverville as they are to hfac. The Rink is on the fringe of town but it's much easier to get to for most people in the city, I can tell you this move means I will be going to a lot more Blues games now.

That said, The Rink offers very little in the way of fan amenities beyond the super basic (adequate parking, nice washrooms, benches with backs). There is no permanent concession stand in there, sound is crappy and there is no screen/display board of any kind for replays, messages, etc. Quality of ice was an issue in the past too, I remember going to a Blues game in the short lived fall 2020 season and the game was called in the first period due to unsafe conditions. Also, weirdly, there are no media facilities of any kind, the play by play crews in the past have just set up on a folding table on the concourse. So there is room for improvement, and frankly, it wouldn't take a whole lot.

The press release indicates that the Freeze will remain at hfac. The Blues at least have a clear vision for what they are and what they want to be, but it really feels like the Freeze are adrift, just twisting in the wind. Now that they've done it for the Blues, it would cool if their owners articulated at least some kind of plan for the Freeze beyond a sentence in the Blues press release.