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

[Mooche]

Ice win.

And probably, most importantly, Kamloops snags a win over Seattle. Really hoping at worst that series turns into a long, drawn out, dog-fight for the sake of the Winnipeg Ice.

Some rest before a huge final, especially if it is against Seattle, would not be the worst thing.

 

[RetroWinnipeg]

Has TSN announced their league finals broadcasting plans yet?

Hopefully the championship series across the three leagues aren't fully relegated to a paywall. The environment has really been altered after the change in policy over community/public access programming (abolishing such channels in communities over 1 million people) led to the discontinuation of the WHL on Shaw TV.

 

[jetsmooseice]

A master class by the ICE last night. Jump out to a big early lead and then run out the clock. The Blades were in a tough spot to begin with, but you take out some key d-men and Sidorov and it's almost an impossible battle. I respect the Blades, they are a team with heart but I think they're just out of gas. I realize that Red Deer fans probably said the same thing in the last round so I don't want to jinx anyone, but I think the ICE should be able to put the Blades away tonight.

Has TSN announced their league finals broadcasting plans yet?

Hopefully the championship series across the three leagues aren't fully relegated to a paywall. The environment has really been altered after the change in policy over community/public access programming (abolishing such channels in communities over 1 million people) led to the discontinuation of the WHL on Shaw TV.

Thanks for that explanation, I remember seeing the WHL on Shaw when I would channel surf years ago. But back before the Winnipeg ICE I wasn't interested so I might just watch a few minutes at most out of curiosity. I was wondering why it went away.

Not having games on broadcast TV anymore has to hurt the WHL, especially in larger markets like Winnipeg where the junior teams have lower profiles and aren't the biggest game in town. If games were on TV, a lot of casual fans might watch and get into it and eventually become fans. I think a lot of Jets and Bomber fans start out watching on TV, for instance.

I find it kind of hard to believe that there isn't some money to be made by broadcasting WHL games (or AHL games, for that matter). I know Regina has some Pats games on Access TV, but beyond that I can't think of any prairie teams that have televised games. I don't know the situation out west. By contrast, whenever I flip on a OHL game, it's usually a Rogers broadcast, so they don't seem to have any problems getting their games on TV.

Anyway, I sure hope at least some of the WHL Finals are broadcast live on TSN. I'd love to hear the kvetching from the WHL office about a national broadcast from the Wayne Fleming Arena, heh heh heh.

 

[Halfy]

Absolutely dominant game. I know Sask has some injuries but I don’t think that matters, the ice are playing some great hockey rn. The ICE aren’t the fraudulent Red Deer Rebels or the Regina Bedards, so I’m not sure the “never count the blades out” narrative is applicable here. I’m never going to another game if Sask reverse sweeps them . Honestly just get out of this series quick and with no injuries and I’m very happy. I don’t wanna see the Blades back at the Flem this season if I don’t have to. It’s been like watching the ICE play the Selkirk Steelers most of this series. Let’s hope they can get Cumby 10-15 min of ice time next game (if they can get a big lead again) and Wilson to have a miraculous recovery.

As for the Finals/TSN…man I’d love to be a fly on the wall in the WHL head office as they discuss the Flem arena broadcast dilemma. Too bad TNSE and 50 below can’t get along. Bet they could get 5000 fans for finals games with the right advertising at the CLC.

Been watching the other series very close and Kamloops is playing the T-Birds very well. I think the Ice and T-Birds are pretty evenly matched with the way the Ice have been playing. I don’t think the T-Birds have to us huge advantage that some may think, although I would say they’d be slightly favoured probably.

 

[jetsmooseice]

As for the Finals/TSN…man I’d love to be a fly on the wall in the WHL head office as they discuss the Flem arena broadcast dilemma. Too bad TNSE and 50 below can’t get along. Bet they could get 5000 fans for finals games with the right advertising at the CLC.

Been watching the other series very close and Kamloops is playing the T-Birds very well. I think the Ice and T-Birds are pretty evenly matched with the way the Ice have been playing. I don’t think the T-Birds have to us huge advantage that some may think, although I would say they’d be slightly favoured probably.

Regarding TV broadcasts, I don't know that there is a very strong correlation between arena structure and broadcast quality. Case in point, the quality of the feed of the other series from Kamloops is garbage, it's blurry, dark and prone to weird errors. By contrast, the feed from Wayne Fleming is much brighter and easier to watch. Wayne Fleming would probably be far from the worst venue in terms of broadcast quality. Will anyone really care that there aren't seats on one side? Unlikely. The WHL needs to calm down.

I agree that the T-Birds are good and they'd probably enter a series with the ICE as the favourite if that's how it shakes out, but they certainly aren't some kind of unstoppable juggernaut that's going to walk all over Winnipeg. In some ways, I think it's to the ICE's advantage that they've already been tested by a solid playoff battle with MJ. They know how to handle a little adversity.

 

[Gil Fisher]

where is the Mem Cup?

 

[tbcwpg]

where is the Mem Cup?

Kamloops

 

[Gil Fisher]

Kamloops

interesting twist

 

[Jets4Life]

2-1 ICE, with 20 minutes to go. Get those brooms ready.

 

[RetroWinnipeg]

FINALS
Beginning May 12th

 

[snowkiddin]

What a strange ending to the game. The Saskatoon broadcast guys crack me up.

 

[Jets4Life]

 

[RetroWinnipeg]

View attachment 702645

It may be sunny and dry now, but next weekend:

 

[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

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

 

[RetroWinnipeg]

If all comes to fruition, I may go to Kamloops to see the late portions of the Memorial Cup.

Flights and hotels shouldn't be a problem (loyalty points warchest), but any idea if individual game tickets are going to be made available for this year's tournament?

 

[jetsmooseice]

Fairly close game last night, the Blades kept it closer than any other game we've seen this series but in the end they just couldn't overcome the ICE's depth. It was awesome to see the unlikely GWG hero Briley Wood converting off a pass from Carson Latimer.

Now for a bit of a rest, hopefully Kamloops can even up their series with Seattle tonight.

If all comes to fruition, I may go to Kamloops to see the late portions of the Memorial Cup.

Flights and hotels shouldn't be a problem (loyalty points warchest), but any idea if individual game tickets are going to be made available for this year's tournament?

That's awesome! Looking forward to hearing your takes about the Mem Cup experience if you make it out.

It looks like they will be selling at the very least two-game packages, so if you're in town for the finals weekend you can just get tickets for two games. They aren't on sale yet though.

Buy Memorial Cup Tickets | 2024 Events & Schedule | Ticketmaster.ca

Buy Hockey Memorial Cup event tickets at Ticketmaster.ca. Get sport event schedules and promotions.

www.ticketmaster.ca

I'm sure leftover individual game tickets will go on sale (especially for the round robin portion) but that will probably be closer to game day...

 

[RetroWinnipeg]

Fairly close game last night, the Blades kept it closer than any other game we've seen this series but in the end they just couldn't overcome the ICE's depth. It was awesome to see the unlikely GWG hero Briley Wood converting off a pass from Carson Latimer.

Now for a bit of a rest, hopefully Kamloops can even up their series with Seattle tonight.





That's awesome! Looking forward to hearing your takes about the Mem Cup experience if you make it out.

It looks like they will be selling at the very least two-game packages, so if you're in town for the finals weekend you can just get tickets for two games. They aren't on sale yet though.

Buy Memorial Cup Tickets | 2024 Events & Schedule | Ticketmaster.ca

Buy Hockey Memorial Cup event tickets at Ticketmaster.ca. Get sport event schedules and promotions.

www.ticketmaster.ca

I'm sure leftover individual game tickets will go on sale (especially for the round robin portion) but that will probably be closer to game day...

Great. I shall act swiftly in a clinching scenario.

 

[Halfy]

Ice badly outshot them again. Wasn’t much of a series. Saw a tweet that said the first clean sweep since 2016 and 4th since 2011. Pretty awesome. Looks like Max Bell is confirmed. Unfortunate but oh well. Hopefully that other series can go 7 games with quad OT in each game.

 

[cg98]

I'm happy if the ICE stay at Wayne Fleming for the finals, for better or for worse it's home for the ICE and why mess with success?

But that said, given that a WHL final series against the T-Birds would probably attract a fair bit of interest and potentially sell a lot of tickets, I am a little surprised that 50 Below and TNSE didn't work out an arrangement that would be of mutual benefit. I don't think the ICE would come close to selling out the joint, but I could see them moving at least 5,000 tickets a game. Or does TNSE simply refuse rent out CLC to 50 Below at any cost?

TNSE refuses to do business with any competition from 50 Below. From what I heard they lobbied hard and absolutely refused to allow 50 Below to build an arena within city limits (or however close to the CLC). Hard to believe that they’d wilfully host games for the Winnipeg Ice if they don’t even want to associate with them, even though they definitely should, considering they hosted Wheat Kings playoff games there years ago. TNSE is greedy and I say that as a former employee, but hey what professional sports & entertainment organization isn’t lol.

 

[jetsmooseice]

TNSE refuses to do business with any competition from 50 Below. From what I heard they lobbied hard and absolutely refused to allow 50 Below to build an arena within city limits (or however close to the CLC). Hard to believe that they’d wilfully host games for the Winnipeg Ice if they don’t even want to associate with them, even though they definitely should, considering they hosted Wheat Kings playoff games there years ago. TNSE is greedy and I say that as a former employee, but hey what professional sports & entertainment organization isn’t lol.

I kind of thought the ability to profit from it, plus maybe a little pressure from their business partner TSN, might have convinced TNSE to open up the barn to the ICE. But personally I'm glad it didn't happen. Like it or not, Wayne Fleming Arena IS the ICE. Moving the ICE to CLC would be like the Cubs playing in Soldier Field instead of Wrigley... it would just be wrong. Besides, the atmosphere of a jam packed ICE Cave will be way better than 5 or 6 thousand people rattling around the lower bowl of CLC.

Ice badly outshot them again. Wasn’t much of a series. Saw a tweet that said the first clean sweep since 2016 and 4th since 2011. Pretty awesome. Looks like Max Bell is confirmed. Unfortunate but oh well. Hopefully that other series can go 7 games with quad OT in each game.

Not to say it was all injuries, but the Blades were screwed without Gustafson, Saunderson and Sidorov. Their slim chance probably shrank down to virtually nothing at that point.

The ICE were on cruise control for the most part through this series. It didn't make for the most exciting hockey compared to the nailbiter MJ series, but I won't complain! I hope the ICE can keep loose until the West Conference is settled. Hoping for a long series so the eventual winner will be nice and tired for that long bus ride east, ha.

 

[RetroWinnipeg]

Besides, the atmosphere of a jam packed ICE Cave will be way better than 5 or 6 thousand people rattling around the lower bowl of CLC.

Tickets for Game 1 (Friday May 12, 7pm) and Game 2 (Saturday May 13, 6pm) on sale.
Bleacher seats pretty much start at $50. Standing room comes in at $25.

 

[Jets4Life]

TNSE refuses to do business with any competition from 50 Below. From what I heard they lobbied hard and absolutely refused to allow 50 Below to build an arena within city limits (or however close to the CLC). Hard to believe that they’d wilfully host games for the Winnipeg Ice if they don’t even want to associate with them, even though they definitely should, considering they hosted Wheat Kings playoff games there years ago. TNSE is greedy and I say that as a former employee, but hey what professional sports & entertainment organization isn’t lol.

For some strange reason, TNSE has always been dead set against any Winnipeg-based WHL team.

 

[ps241]

Tickets for Game 1 (Friday May 12, 7pm) and Game 2 (Saturday May 13, 6pm) on sale.
Bleacher seats pretty much start at $50. Standing room comes in at $25.

I am going to try to get out to a game. Where do you get tickets?

 

[RetroWinnipeg]

I am going to try to get out to a game. Where do you get tickets?

By camping out.

Heck no, tickets can be bought at Winnipeg Ice – Official site of the Winnipeg Ice

 

[nobody imp0rtant]

I'm hopeful this thread will soon be titled ICE vs Lambert.