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OT: Winnipeg ICE sold - Moving to Wenatchee, Washington renamed Wenatchee Wild

Jets4Life

Jets4Life

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RetroWinnipeg said:
Ask that to Calgary, adding the Wranglers to their Saddledome schedule.
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Three things:

1) Calgary has nearly twice the population Winnipeg does, with 1.5 million people in the metro area
2) Calgary is a wealthier city, and the average Calgarian has more disposable income than the average Winnipegger.
3) Even in Calgary, having a NHL, AHL, and WHL team in the same place is unsustainable in the long term.

At first, I honestly thought you were joking by comparing the two cities.

Speaking of which, this thread on Calgary's most popular hockey forum gives you a sense of how "well" the AHL Wranglers are performing at the gate in Calgary. The AHL Wranglers are in their first year of operation in Calgary, and are averaging only 3,226 fans per game, which is 5th worst in the AHL.

I just did some digging, and was surprised to see that Moose attendance had fallen so drastically from roughly 5,000 in 2019-20, to under 3,000 last season and 3,169 so far this season. COVID definitely was a factor, but I honestly think more competition from another Winnipeg hockey team may also account for the 40% drop in attendance.
 
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Jets4Life

Jets4Life

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Dec 25, 2003
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Westward Ho, Alberta
jetsmooseice said:
That is true, but metro Calgary has nearly double the population of metro Winnipeg.

I always kind of thought the timing of bringing the ICE to Winnipeg was a bit weird, virtually any time from 1996-2015 would have been better except for the year that the NHL returned to Winnipeg. I'm sure a WHL team in Winnipeg in, let's say, 1999 would have been a huge deal in comparison. But that said, the ICE are doing a decent job carving out a niche for themselves. They are developing a solid little fanbase. I guess the question is whether it will be enough to sustain them.

Anyway, big rematch against Regina tonight, let's see if the ICE can make it 15 in a row!!! 😲
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I honestly believe that if the WHL had been brought into Winnipeg during the years 1996-2011, they would have become more popular than the AHL Moose. The more affordable tickets, the natural rivalries with Western Canadian cities, etc. would have been more appealing to Winnipeg hockey fans, I still believe. In fact, I believe Mark Chipman and True North deliberately blocked any potential WHL team from using the Canada Life Centre, to protect their investment in the Moose.

In the fall of 2004, my gf at the time and I were thinking of buying a 10-game ticket package, and were given a tour of the new arena by a True North rep, along with 20 others. When the rep fielded questions, I asked if there was a possibility of a WHL team using the arena with the Moose, if the opportunity ever arose to place a franchise in Manitoba. The rep visibly seemed to become annoyed, and stated that he was "tired of answering questions ever tour he gave about 'something that never was about to happen."

It was very telling, and my guess is that True North may have instructed their ticket reps not to discuss the WHL. Incidentally, they were often asked if the arena was up to NHL standards, which they were far more likely to answer (considering Chipman & company had probably contacted the NHL about this issue, when they built the arena, and were probably in contention by then to be on the short list of relocation destinations, if that ever were to occur).
 
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snowkiddin

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jetsmooseice said:
Anyone else starting to wonder what this team's long-term prospects in Winnipeg are looking like? On the ice, the team is 100% firing on all cylinders, they've won 13 in a row, they are basically as close as you get to perfect.

But off the ice, it seems pretty dire. There is still no prospect of an arena deal, and the team owner has lost out on a bid for a CEBL basketball team that might have strengthened the business case for a new building.

Attendance is still pitiful for the most part. It was announced on Saturday as 1,526, but I'm not sure there were even half that many people actually in the seats. And every game there is some kind of half price or BOGO ticket offer to juice the numbers. Even for the marquee matchup involving the Pats this Thursday and Saturday there was a BOGO offer for both games. The attendance numbers would be awful even if this was a last place team, but they're the exact opposite of that... they are pretty well the most exciting team in North America that isn't in the NHL.

I get that 50 Below's timing wasn't perfect when they moved the team from Cranbrook to Winnipeg. It coincided with the Jets doing well, and now of course the Bombers use a lot of the oxygen in the room. Throw the pandemic in the mix which killed two years of playoffs, and that didn't help. But I'm sure they were expecting things to start taking off this year on the business side, and by all appearances they really aren't. I have no idea about the finances of the WHL, but even if the owners aren't losing money, you would have to think they are leaving money on the table, because there are other places where a team like this would be packing them in.

I'm starting to wonder what the owners have planned... I would assume the team will be here for at least one more season beyond this one (simply because we haven't heard any rumours coming from prospective new locations), but after that?
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I’d love to go to the ICE more often, but the arena location just isn’t feasible for me. I know that’s obviously not the case for everyone, but I can’t get out there that often. Plus the arena being kinda dumpy probably doesn’t help them. I’m not sure how much moving to a more central location in the city would help them, but I’d attend more.
 
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jetsmooseice

jetsmooseice

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I missed last night's game due to sickness... only caught the first period on the radio before falling asleep. Anyone with any insight as to what happened?

Worth nothing that both losses this season have been with the backup in net, Cowan vs MJ and now Beaupit vs Lethbridge. Apparently Hauser is still down with some nasty flu. Which is probably the same horrible bug that I have :(
 
jetsmooseice

jetsmooseice

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Hurricanes played a stifling defensive game last night and it almost paid off for them as they lost by a narrow one-goal margin. They are a big, physical team and they did a good job of stacking the blue line and slowing down the ICE rushes. I hate to say it, but the last couple of games against Lethbridge are a good template for WHL teams to use when taking on the ICE. I suspect the Saskatoon Blades will be following that model this weekend.

Those Spongebob jerseys, though, man :laugh:
 
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jetsmooseice

jetsmooseice

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The score was close for long stretches but despite a strong Saskatoon performance this one never looked to me to be in real doubt... which is funny because given the Blades' record I was wondering if the ICE might be in trouble last night. The Blades did not play the tight checking, defensive style that Lethbridge used to great success, they have a more free-wheeling style which the ICE are pretty comfortable with. Great performance in goal by Daniel Hauser to top it off.

I expect a close fought rematch tonight.
 
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jetsmooseice

jetsmooseice

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ICE played a pretty good game I thought, they did a great job making plays all game long but for whatever reason (bagged after playing 4 in 5?) just could not seal the deal with all kinds of fanning on shots, sending them wide, not finding an open man, not finding the net. Geekie alone had several solid scoring chances through the game. There was one point in the third where McClennon hit the crossbar and it looked like it entered the net but it ended up being denied.... the WHL Live feed never showed the replay (for good reason, I suspect). After that the ICE were pretty well out of it.

Anyway, time for a much deserved rest for the hard working ICE before returning home.
 
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RefsIdeas

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Sabres fan here:

Looks like Savoie has been having a rough go the last 5 or so games. Can anybody provide any insight into how he's playing? Is he struggling individually, linemates not playing well etc?
 
jetsmooseice

jetsmooseice

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RefsIdeas said:
Sabres fan here:

Looks like Savoie has been having a rough go the last 5 or so games. Can anybody provide any insight into how he's playing? Is he struggling individually, linemates not playing well etc?
Click to expand...

I haven't noticed anything worrisome myself, the team has basically gone through its first slump of the season losing two of their last four games. Lethbridge plays a very stifling defensive style which kept scoring down across the board for the ICE. The coach mixed up the lines last game so things were a bit different for Savoie on Saturday vs. Saskatoon.

I woudn't sweat it, I'd suggest waiting to see what impact a week of rest has for the team and I'd expect better results across the board against Swift Current and Prince Albert.
 
jetsmooseice

jetsmooseice

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RefsIdeas said:
Sabres fan here:

Looks like Savoie has been having a rough go the last 5 or so games. Can anybody provide any insight into how he's playing? Is he struggling individually, linemates not playing well etc?
Click to expand...

Thinking it over some more, I know there have been reports of illness from the team (there has been a huge flu/RSV outbreak around Winnipeg), I know Hauser missed a couple of games in net, Benson sat, there may have been others. I had a bug myself last week and I still feel totally exhausted, days later. It's possible that this thing may have made its way through the ICE room and affected some worse than others.
 
jetsmooseice

jetsmooseice

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ICE lose two in a row! Daniel Hauser's winning streak comes to an end! Say it ain't so!

I missed last night's game due to a personal commitment but I'll be there tonight to see how they bounce back vs PA.
 
jetsmooseice

jetsmooseice

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Unlike many of their games lately, the ICE actually started out fairly strong and let the lead slip away. They managed to pull ahead again late in the game on the strength of a dramatic Connor Geekie GWG.

On the whole not a bad game, but it is notable that the ICE have slipped from dominating other teams with big margins of victory, to a lot of these one or two goal games. Things are still under control, but the trend line is not great. In one of his interviews, Geekie alluded to battling adversity... I'm not sure what he meant given that the ICE haven't been beset by injuries, but there have been some guys reportedly away sick so I wonder if there may be a bug working its way through the room, sapping players of their energy?
 
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jetsmooseice

jetsmooseice

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ICE acquire a big, experienced defenseman. Great news, and exactly what the doctor ordered for a team with good defense but which arguably lacks size and depth... they are in trouble whenever one of the top four d-men is missing from the lineup. This move will alleviate that.

It reminds me of when they picked up Dawson Barteaux in 2019-20... hopefully it makes a similar impact.
 
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