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

[Halfy]

Looks like the Seattle game was the wake up call that the Ice Needed. Hopefully we can meet in the championship (and hopefully the showare center doesn't book the arena for high school graduations, like it did last year :|)

Hopefully the CLC is available and TN plays ball. If those games are on TV it physically can’t be at the Flem

 

[jetsmooseice]

Hopefully the CLC is available and TN plays ball. If those games are on TV it physically can’t be at the Flem

I will say, from a WHL Live standpoint, Wayne Fleming Arena is actually a pretty decent location in terms of TV quality. It's fairly bright in there. They would just have to jam some of the cameras into awkward locations.

 

[RetroWinnipeg]

Hopefully the CLC is available and TN plays ball. If those games are on TV it physically can’t be at the Flem

Commercial broadcast TV has done live hockey broadcasts from Max Bell before...

 

[jetsmooseice]

Commercial broadcast TV has done live hockey broadcasts from Max Bell before...

Man, that is quite the time capsule... intense GPAC hockey action on CKND!

 

[jetsmooseice]

CHL Top Prospects Game goal tally... Bedard 0, Benson 1



Yes, I know they were linemates, don't @ me

 

[Guardian17]

Western Hockey League

Headquartered in Calgary, Albert, the Western Hockey League (WHL) consists of 22 Member Clubs located throughout Western Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

whl.ca

 

[jetsmooseice]

Oof. The Hurricanes did it again.

Reminded me of the Jets game the night before, with a team that sleepwalked through the first two periods only to do too little, too late in the third. Lethbridge is amazing at clogging up the neutral zone and shutting down any effort at sustained pressure by the ICE. Definitely one of the more lacklustre performances of the season. Not much to do but chalk it up to bus legs and move on.

I noticed a couple of emergency callups with Hauser and Cumby out of the lineup last night. My CHL TV feed only had the Lethbridge announcers so no insight as to why those two were out. Anyone know why? Hopefully short term with Hauser.

 

[Guardian17]

Western Hockey League

Headquartered in Calgary, Albert, the Western Hockey League (WHL) consists of 22 Member Clubs located throughout Western Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

whl.ca

 

[jetsmooseice]

Much better showing by the ICE last night. Red Deer's personality is being a team of pesky jerks, led by their ringleader Kalan Lind. They were so annoying that they even goaded the normally amiable Zach Benson into a fight.

I loved Karter Prosofsky's GWG followed up by a tough scrap later on. I did not love Mason Beaupit once again making blind backhand passes behind the net seeing that he gave up the GWG the night before in Lethbridge that way. Cumby was back in the lineup which was good, but Hauser was still out. Not sure if he's back tonight vs. Calgary or if Beaupit is stuck playing 3 games in 3 days.

Great bounceback win by the ICE last night. Let's hope they keep it going with a strong performance against the Hitmen tonight.

 

[Guardian17]

Western Hockey League

Headquartered in Calgary, Albert, the Western Hockey League (WHL) consists of 22 Member Clubs located throughout Western Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

whl.ca

 

[jetsmooseice]

ICE must have been tired playing their third in three days (including three straight starts in net for Mason Beaupit and four games in five days for Zach Benson, who skated in the CHL Top Prospects Game last Wednesday), but they didn't look like it... they played with energy and spark considering all the bus miles they've endured over the weekend.

Tough to see the ICE blow their lead late in the third as Calgary tied it up and forced overtime, but as an ICE fan I always feel good when they go into 3 on 3 as they are damn hard to beat in that setting. And sure enough Owen Pederson got the job done with his second of the night.

 

[jetsmooseice]

On a different note, Connor McClennon has been great in his overage season. 24 G, 28 A, 52 P in 38 GP. He's fast, he makes plays and brings grit... he doesn't back down in spite of being a smaller guy at 5'8".

However, after being drafted by PHI in the 6th round in 2020, he was never signed by the Flyers. I watch this guy play and I don't get how he isn't worth a gamble by the Flyers organization. Is this strictly a size thing or is there something else the Flyers see that they don't like?

 

[snowkiddin]

On a different note, Connor McClennon has been great in his overage season. 24 G, 28 A, 52 P in 38 GP. He's fast, he makes plays and brings grit... he doesn't back down in spite of being a smaller guy at 5'8".

However, after being drafted by PHI in the 6th round in 2020, he was never signed by the Flyers. I watch this guy play and I don't get how he isn't worth a gamble by the Flyers organization. Is this strictly a size thing or is there something else the Flyers see that they don't like?

I remember reading the Flyers board last year when they didn’t sign him and some of their posters were pointing towards him being unsigned as sort of an organizational philosophy and that they wanted size and not small skilled players.

 

[jetsmooseice]

I remember reading the Flyers board last year when they didn’t sign him and some of their posters were pointing towards him being unsigned as sort of an organizational philosophy and that they wanted size and not small skilled players.

Interesting. I find it hard to believe that McClennon won't end up somewhere in the pros. When you look at where he sits on the all time ICE points board, at this point is only behind Dawes, Stoll and Reinhart. So pretty lofty company. Someone has to have room for him.

A couple of other former ICE players who went undrafted are carving out nice roles for themselves... Isaac Johnson who played with the ICE in 19/20 is mostly in the ECHL but has spent some time with the Moose, and prolific scorer Mikey Milne is a regular with the Iowa Wild in the AHL. There are others.

On a similar note, I find it incredible that no one took a flyer on drafting Owen Pederson. Big, tough playmaker with finesse and an impressive stat line. Obviously Benson, Geekie, Savoie and Lambos get a lot of hype and deservedly so, but Pederson and McClennon seem oddly overlooked to me. These guys are flying every night and they get treated like chop liver?! You can throw Daniel Hauser on that list too if you want to talk overlooked ICE players.

 

[snowkiddin]

Interesting. I find it hard to believe that McClennon won't end up somewhere in the pros. When you look at where he sits on the all time ICE points board, at this point is only behind Dawes, Stoll and Reinhart. So pretty lofty company. Someone has to have room for him.

A couple of other former ICE players who went undrafted are carving out nice roles for themselves... Isaac Johnson who played with the ICE in 19/20 is mostly in the ECHL but has spent some time with the Moose, and prolific scorer Mikey Milne is a regular with the Iowa Wild in the AHL. There are others.

On a similar note, I find it incredible that no one took a flyer on drafting Owen Pederson. Big, tough playmaker with finesse and an impressive stat line. Obviously Benson, Geekie, Savoie and Lambos get a lot of hype and deservedly so, but Pederson and McClennon seem oddly overlooked to me. These guys are flying every night and they get treated like chop liver?! You can throw Daniel Hauser on that list too if you want to talk overlooked ICE players.

Surprised Hauser didn’t get any consideration for the junior team considering Gaudreau’s play

 

[snowkiddin]

Benson had a highlight-reel goal today and three points in a 5-3 come-from-behind win. He’s gonna be a great NHLer one day.

 

[Heldig]

Any thoughts on Geekie.?

Numbers seem underwhelming but I don't get to watch the games.

 

[jetsmooseice]

Benson had a highlight-reel goal today and three points in a 5-3 come-from-behind win. He’s gonna be a great NHLer one day.

What an epic goal. One of the plays of the year in my opinion. Reminds me of those crazy McDavid goals where he splits the defense and walks right in.

Any thoughts on Geekie.?

Numbers seem underwhelming but I don't get to watch the games.

Geekie has been very good, there's no denying it. Has this season lived up to the hype and the high expectations of someone who was a top first round NHL pick? I'm not so sure. He has had some amazing moments but I'm starting to wonder if his pro trajectory might look a bit more like Adam Lowry (still not bad imo) as compared to a top power forward like Corey Perry in his prime or Blake Wheeler. If the 2022 draft was held again would he still go 11th overall?

Then again, I'm not sure if part of the issue is that there are just so many stars on the team that it's kind of hard to stand out.

 

[Guardian17]

Wenatchee Wild

winnipegice.ca

 

[jetsmooseice]

Another slow start for the ICE vs Saskatoon, it was a little alarming considering that the Blades should have been tired from an OT game the night before in Brandon and they were missing some big guns like Roulette and De La Gorgendiere (Les Lazaruk should get a small bonus every time he has to say that mouthful of a name). They had a ton of shots early on, but just couldn't get one past Chadwick.

However, they did storm back in the second thanks to some solid special teams play and it was great to see that spectacular highlight reel goal by Zach Benson where he stole the puck in the neutral zone and slid through three Blades players to put it in. On a night where Bedard was getting all the hype in Calgary, Benson managed to deliver the WHL Highlight of the Night.

Hopefully the boys should be rested going into tonight's game in Brandon. The team is healthy again with only one injury that I'm aware of... and on that note, I am starting to wonder when Wyatt Wilson will ever enter the lineup. It's been almost two months since he was traded to the ICE and he still hasn't played. I didn't realize he was injured that significantly.

 

[snowkiddin]

Another slow start for the ICE vs Saskatoon, it was a little alarming considering that the Blades should have been tired from an OT game the night before in Brandon and they were missing some big guns like Roulette and De La Gorgendiere (Les Lazaruk should get a small bonus every time he has to say that mouthful of a name). They had a ton of shots early on, but just couldn't get one past Chadwick.

However, they did storm back in the second thanks to some solid special teams play and it was great to see that spectacular highlight reel goal by Zach Benson where he stole the puck in the neutral zone and slid through three Blades players to put it in. On a night where Bedard was getting all the hype in Calgary, Benson managed to deliver the WHL Highlight of the Night.

Hopefully the boys should be rested going into tonight's game in Brandon. The team is healthy again with only one injury that I'm aware of... and on that note, I am starting to wonder when Wyatt Wilson will ever enter the lineup. It's been almost two months since he was traded to the ICE and he still hasn't played. I didn't realize he was injured that significantly.

I didn’t think they started too badly actually.

They thoroughly outplayed the Blades for the entire first period and I was impressed because the Blades are one of the better teams in our division. They just couldn’t buy a goal whereas the Blades had two chances and scored on both of them. I figured if they kept up their play the dam would burst eventually and they’d score and then keep scoring, and that’s exactly what happened.

 

[jetsmooseice]

I didn’t think they started too badly actually.

They thoroughly outplayed the Blades for the entire first period and I was impressed because the Blades are one of the better teams in our division. They just couldn’t buy a goal whereas the Blades had two chances and scored on both of them. I figured if they kept up their play the dam would burst eventually and they’d score and then keep scoring, and that’s exactly what happened.

That's fair. It was a 'slow start' in the sense that they fell behind, but the ICE were definitely getting their share of shots and time in Saskatoon's end.

I figured the Blades were going to be ripe for the picking though given the game their night before and the key injuries... as it was, they barely got by Brandon the night before with a 2-1 OT win.

 

[Guardian17]

Brandon Wheat Kings

wheatkings.com

 

[jetsmooseice]

I missed last night's game except the last 5 minutes + overtime. The ICE are well in front of the Wheat Kings in the standings and they've beaten Brandon every time out, but the Wheaties have played the ICE tough this season with three games going to OT. The trouble for Brandon is that the ICE are darn near unstoppable at 3 on 3.

Looks like this was another game where the ICE were running behind. They had a lead and then fell back to 5-3 before storming ahead for the win. I saw Evan Friesen's tying goal, that guy has been more noticeable in recent weeks... I'm not sure about his minutes but he looks like he is making more of an impact which is great to see for a depth player. I see Jonas Woo got his first goal of the season earlier in the night too.

I loved all the ICE fans going nuts when McClennon scored the OT winner... there is a minor hockey tournament in Brandon this weekend and judging by the fans, it looks like Winnipeg was well represented

On to Saskatoon for tonight's game!

 

[jetsmooseice]

In other news, I got my ICE season ticket renewal e-mail and to my surprise, my season tickets will actually be slightly cheaper next season at the early bird rates.

As compared to last year's early bird prices...

$499 for an ICE access pass season ticket is tough to beat.