Kootenay Ice

Last updated

Kootenay Ice
Kootenay ICE.png
City Cranbrook, British Columbia
League Western Hockey League
Founded1996
Home arena Western Financial Place
ColoursLight blue, black, white, brown
    
Website www.kootenayice.net
Franchise history
1996–1998 Edmonton Ice
1998–2019Kootenay Ice
2019–2023 Winnipeg Ice
2023–present Wenatchee Wild
Championships
Regular season titles1 (2004–05)
Playoff championships Memorial Cup:1 2002
President's Cup:3
2000, 2002, 2011

The Kootenay Ice (officially stylized as ICE) were a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Cranbrook, British Columbia, competing in the Western Hockey League (WHL) and playing its home games at Western Financial Place. The franchise, which began as the Edmonton Ice before moving to Cranbrook in 1998, was owned by Ed Chynoweth from 1995 until it was sold to Winnipeg-based company 50 Below Sports and Entertainment in 2017. The team won three WHL championships and one Memorial Cup title as Canadian junior champions. Despite the club's on-ice success, the Ice moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2019, where they were known as the Winnipeg Ice.

Contents

History

The Ice franchise began play in 1996 as the Edmonton Ice. [1] The club was founded by Ed Chynoweth after he left his position as the Western Hockey League's president. [2] [3] Chynoweth moved the Ice to Cranbrook in 1998 after two dismal seasons in Edmonton. The move to Cranbrook resulted in the folding of the successful local Junior A Cranbrook Colts and ultimately the entire Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League as the remaining five RMJHL franchises from the Kootenays dropped to the Junior B Kootenay International Junior Hockey League within years of the Ice coming to the region. [4]

The Kootenay Ice found significant on-ice success in their early years. The team won WHL championships in 2000 and 2002, along with the Memorial Cup in 2002 to become Canadian junior champions. The 2002 Ice team was inducted into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame in 2022. [4] The Ice added a regular season title in 2004–05 and a third playoff championship in 2011. [5] The latter title came under the direction of Jeff Chynoweth after Ed Chynoweth died in 2008. [6]

In 2017, the Chynoweth family sold the team to Winnipeg-based 50 Below Sports + Entertainment Inc. [7] The company's owners, Greg Fettes and Matt Cockell, were installed as the team's governor and president, respectively. A new logo was unveiled on May 1, 2017. [8] The team's on-ice success diminished after their third championship, with the Ice winning only one playoff series after 2011 and missing the playoffs altogether for four straight seasons between 2015 and 2019. Operating in the league's second-smallest market, attendance became an issue and the league raised questions about the team's long-term viability in Cranbrook. [9]

On January 29, 2019, the Ice announced that the team would relocate to Winnipeg after the 2018–19 season. [10] The Winnipeg Ice began play in the 2019–20 season. [11] In June 2023, after ownership failed to build a suitable arena in Winnipeg, the team was again sold and relocated to Wenatchee, Washington, where they became the Wenatchee Wild. [12]

WHL Championship finals

Memorial Cup finals

Season-by-season record

Nathan Lieuwen played for the Ice between 2007 and 2012. Nathan Lieuwen Kootenay Ice.jpg
Nathan Lieuwen played for the Ice between 2007 and 2012.

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

SeasonGPWLTOTLGFGAPointsFinishPlayoffs
1998–99 7230357—245276674th CentralLost Eastern Conference quarterfinal
1999–00 7244141132752001022nd CentralWon Championship
2000–01 724517462862131002nd CentralLost Eastern Conference semifinal
2001–02 72382770276223832nd B.C.Won Championship
Won Memorial Cup
2002–03 72362565234202833rd B.C.Lost Western Conference semifinal
2003–04 72323073183200744th B.C.Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
2004–05 724715732181371041st B.C.Lost Western Conference final
SeasonGPWLOTLSOLGFGAPointsFinishPlayoffs
2005–06 72452313233177943rd B.C.Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
2006–07 724917332671891042nd CentralLost Eastern Conference quarterfinal
2007–08 72422253229214924th CentralLost Eastern Conference semifinal
2008–09 72352926220224783rd CentralLost Eastern Conference quarterfinal
2009–10 72432432252215912nd CentralLost Eastern Conference quarterfinal
2010–11 72462114272218973rd CentralWon Championship
2011–12 72362664222201824th CentralLost Eastern Conference quarterfinal
2012–13 72353520203221725th CentralLost Eastern Conference quarterfinal
2013–14 72392823235209834th CentralLost Eastern Conference semifinal
2014–15 72373113245248784th CentralLost Eastern Conference quarterfinal
2015–16 72125361155319316th CentralDid not qualify
2016–17 721446102177335406th CentralDid not qualify
2017–18 72273852215275614th CentralDid not qualify
2018–19 68134573181324366th CentralDid not qualify

NHL alumni

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "WHL History". Western Hockey League. Archived from the original on July 31, 2023. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  2. ↑ "CHL mourns passing of Ed Chynoweth". Soo Today. April 22, 2008. Retrieved April 24, 2008.
  3. ↑ "Ed Chynoweth Cup". Western Hockey League. Archived from the original on April 18, 2008. Retrieved April 24, 2008.
  4. 1 2 Coulter, Barry (August 9, 2022). "20 years later: Kootenay Ice back in the news". Cranbrook Daily Townsman . Archived from the original on June 3, 2024. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Kootenay down Portland to take WHL final". Sportsnet . The Canadian Press. May 14, 2011. Archived from the original on June 3, 2024. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  6. ↑ Maki, Allan (May 17, 2011). "Kootenay run a family affair". The Globe and Mail . Archived from the original on June 3, 2024. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  7. ↑ Greenslade, Brittany; Dacey, Elisha (January 28, 2019). "WHL to announce Kootenay Ice moving to Winnipeg – on the coldest day of the year". Global News. Archived from the original on April 3, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Kootenay ICE unveil fresh look – WHL Network". whl.ca. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  9. ↑ "WHL's Kootenay ICE to relocate to Winnipeg for 2019–20 season". The Province . The Canadian Press. January 29, 2019. Archived from the original on May 22, 2022.
  10. ↑ "WHL's Kootenay Ice to relocate to Winnipeg for 2019–20 season". Toronto Star . The Canadian Press. January 29, 2019. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Winnipeg Ice Press Release". January 29, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Winnipeg Ice sold and will be moved to Washington". The Sports Network . June 16, 2023. Archived from the original on June 16, 2023.
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