Perhaps it's me but if a team is going to be in the Western Hockey League, shouldn't a team be placed....oh I don't know....in the West?
Oh, I don't know, that's a bit of a fail...Winnipeg is
in the West. It is part of what Canadians know as "Western Canada," which is not an official geographical jurisdiction, but perhaps a geographic/cultural term comparable to "the South" designation in the US (which wouldn't include AZ I take it). Winnipeg is the gateway city to Western Canada, which includes the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.
Manitoba (of which Winnipeg is the capital city) has a long history in the WHL. Now defunct teams have included the Flin Flon Bombers (Bobby Clarke's and Reggie Leaches' junior team), the Winnipeg Clubs, the Winnipeg Monarchs, the Winnipeg Jets and the Winnipeg Warriors (Theo Fleury's junior team btw). One of the charter member clubs of the WHL is the Brandon Wheat Kings, a team located a couple of hours drive from Winnipeg in Manitoba's second largest city.
The Winnipeg Warriors, btw, shared the Winnipeg Arena with the Winnipeg Jets of the NHL.
.....
Why doesn't Winnipeg have a WHL at present? The only suitable venue would be the MTS Centre. I suspect that while it may make sense for the new NHL team to share the MTS Centre with a WHL team, having a WHL team share the building with the AHL Moose likely did not make sense to TNSE. In terms of fan support, ticket prices, 'buzz factor," expected attendance levels etc., there is not a clear enough distinction between the AHL and WHL brands to make them attractive co-tenants. The AHL has better, older players and is a professional, development league. The WHL, on the other hand, is an exciting brand of junior hockey that is well respected, and the teams do not have issues with players being called up to the NHL like AHL teams do. A WHL and AHL team would, however, essentially compete against each other rather than being complementary in my opinion. That is not the case with a NHL/WHL combination.