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

jetsmooseice

jetsmooseice

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lanky said:
The Ice blew their trade chips this year but I think they can still be the top team AGAIN next season.

There will be a lot of departures but I expect Savoie, Geekie and Benson to be back. Same with Hauser. Maybe they can convince Sward to return for an over-ager season and another crack at the Memorial Cup. It wouldn't be that strange for a defenceman picked in the 5th round.

Maybe take a home-run swing in the import draft or trade for the rights of someone who likely won't report to a lower ranked team.
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If Savoie, Geekie, Benson, Hauser are back then you have something to work with and build around, for sure. Defense will become a crisis situation without Lambos and Zloty, though. And I don't know what the ICE can give up to shore up the D.
 
superdeluxe

superdeluxe

NAFO
Feb 7, 2012
4,674
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Seattle
lanky said:
The Ice blew their trade chips this year but I think they can still be the top team AGAIN next season.

There will be a lot of departures but I expect Savoie, Geekie and Benson to be back. Same with Hauser. Maybe they can convince Sward to return for an over-ager season and another crack at the Memorial Cup. It wouldn't be that strange for a defenceman picked in the 5th round.

Maybe take a home-run swing in the import draft or trade for the rights of someone who likely won't report to a lower ranked team.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you guys return a pretty strong core. It is rare to see a core group of guys succeed for a few years like this.
 
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jetsmooseice

jetsmooseice

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superdeluxe said:
Yeah, you guys return a pretty strong core. It is rare to see a core group of guys succeed for a few years like this.
Click to expand...
The ICE were fortunate to have a spate of top WHL Bantam Draft picks in succession (Krebs, Lambos, Savoie-Geekie 1-2 the same year, Benson was a sleeper pick that paid off huge). All great players but not quite great enough to make the NHL as teenagers. I guess next season is the "last dance"?

Speaking of "last dance", it's been pretty quiet on the relocation rumour front. The ICE are still pushing season tickets for next season, their popular youth hockey camps are mostly sold out, they are involved in community events, etc. They aren't giving off any signals that they have given up and are ready to go. Nor have we heard rumours from any other cities that a new WHL team is coming to town. At this stage I would be extremely surprised if a move was announced for next season.

The season after that, though... well, all bets are off.
 
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nobody imp0rtant

nobody imp0rtant

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jetsmooseice said:
Speaking of "last dance", it's been pretty quiet on the relocation rumour front. The ICE are still pushing season tickets for next season
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I think it's worth pointing out that Thrashers sales reps were still trying to sell season tickets after True North had purchased the team. Perhaps they didn't get the memo. :laugh:
 
jetsmooseice

jetsmooseice

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snowkiddin said:
The core is good but the ICE seem to suffer from the same lack-of-proactiveness that the Jets suffer from :laugh:
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Yeah, those goals surrendered with under a minute to go in a period feel very "Jets-y". There are some parallels to the Jets... good, fast forwards with plenty of depth up front, defensively iffy once you get past the anchor piece (Morrissey/Lambos), with a solid goalie who is prone to the occasional off night.

nobody imp0rtant said:
I think it's worth pointing out that Thrashers sales reps were still trying to sell season tickets after True North had purchased the team. Perhaps they didn't get the memo. :laugh:
Click to expand...

LOL I guess if you get paid by commission, you just keep on chugging.
 
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jetsmooseice

jetsmooseice

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So far, so good after the first period. Some good chances for both teams but man it feels like the ICE are having a hard time getting inside the perimeter to get some rebounds. Savoie used his speed to his advantage a couple of times to get close, but it just wasn't enough.
 
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Channelcat

Channelcat

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Feb 8, 2013
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jetsmooseice said:
So far, so good after the first period. Some good chances for both teams but man it feels like the ICE are having a hard time getting inside the perimeter to get some rebounds. Savoie used his speed to his advantage a couple of times to get close, but it just wasn't enough.
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Tight game, both teams playing well. Oh..... there's a goal
 

blueandgoldguy

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3-1 with a minute to go. After the first 2 periods of game 1 the ICE have been simply outclassed by a better team. ICE ownership/management likely regret not making significant enough changes to improve the club at the deadline as it was obvious Seattle did more to improve their team. 2nd year in a row management has been out-manuveured by the best WHL team.
 
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jungles

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First Ice game I've watched. The lack of shooting on that late PP gave me PTSD.
 
Guardian17

Guardian17

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Aug 29, 2010
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I'm a little disappointed with the ICE' marketing team these past two games.

You're in the WHL final with a lot of new eyes on your product.

Yet their Twitter account did not provide the the highlights and the coach's post game comments.
 
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jetsmooseice

jetsmooseice

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Well, that's all she wrote on the season. I get that everyone is disappointed but man was this ever a great run by the ICE. Yeah it sucks that they couldn't quite finish the job but it was still a season to remember. There were so many great times watching the team at the ICE Cave and on TV, I'll always look back on it fondly.

Hats off to Seattle, they are clearly the number one team in the league and they have some very special players. They did an amazing job absolutely stifling the ICE defensively, and Milic did a spectacular job dealing with the odd time that the T-Birds defense let the ICE get a decent shot off. Good luck to them at the Memorial Cup.

Guardian17 said:
I'm a little disappointed with the ICE' marketing team these past two games.

You're in the WHL final with a lot of new eyes on your product.

Yet their Twitter account did not provide the the highlights and the coach's post game comments.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it felt like ICE marketing never really got out of routine regular season mode. I'm sure ICE fans would have enjoyed a little more playoff sizzle on social media to get everyone excited. Like, at least post the post-game interviews etc. Even at games one and two of the finals the vibe was more pre-season than league final in terms of marketing hype. At least the games stood on their own merits, but still, why wouldn't you want to take advantage of the opportunity to get your fans buzzing?
 
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blueandgoldguy

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jetsmooseice said:
Well, that's all she wrote on the season. I get that everyone is disappointed but man was this ever a great run by the ICE. Yeah it sucks that they couldn't quite finish the job but it was still a season to remember. There were so many great times watching the team at the ICE Cave and on TV, I'll always look back on it fondly.

Hats off to Seattle, they are clearly the number one team in the league and they have some very special players. They did an amazing job absolutely stifling the ICE defensively, and Milic did a spectacular job dealing with the odd time that the T-Birds defense let the ICE get a decent shot off. Good luck to them at the Memorial Cup.



Yeah, it felt like ICE marketing never really got out of routine regular season mode. I'm sure ICE fans would have enjoyed a little more playoff sizzle on social media to get everyone excited. Like, at least post the post-game interviews etc. Even at games one and two of the finals the vibe was more pre-season than league final in terms of marketing hype. At least the games stood on their own merits, but still, why wouldn't you want to take advantage of the opportunity to get your fans buzzing?
Click to expand...
I guess ICE ownership feels they would lose more money if they spent a few hundred thousand more on marketing throughout the season...wouldn't translate into corresponding higher revenue?
 
jetsmooseice

jetsmooseice

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Kind of old news, but Savoie has been recalled by Rochester for the conference finals. He isn't eligible to play there next season, though.



Also, it's been a few days and no sudden team move has been announced. Safe to assume the team is staying for this season? :)
 
jetsmooseice

jetsmooseice

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Nice little look back at the WHL finals by Paul Edmonds...

globalnews.ca

ANALYSIS: WHL always part of Winnipeg’s hockey fabric - Winnipeg | Globalnews.ca

It was great to see the WHL on a grand stage again in Winnipeg, and the hockey that was played under that spotlight was nothing short of exceptional.
globalnews.ca globalnews.ca

If you go by the old axiom of "where there's smoke, there's fire", well, we're not seeing a lot of smoke surrounding the ICE these days. There aren't even any rumours floating around the hockey-verse about potential relocation sites for the team. It certainly looks to me like they're staying put. But to @nobody imp0rtant 's earlier post, I will feel more confident in my assessment once the calendar rolls over into June ;)
 
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