Winnipeg Ice sold to David White, will relocate to Wenatchee, Washington
- Thread starter MMC
- Start date
Chilliwack used to house the Victoria Royals when they got an expansion team, the Chilliwack Bruins. There is a BCHL team called the Chiefs as well in the area. 65 km is the distance between the Langley Events Centre (home of the Giants to the Chilliwack Colesium).
Factor in that the Abbotsford Canucks of the AHL is between the 2 arenas as well.
Is the market large enough to accommodate 18K fans for all 3 arenas?
MeHateHe
Registered User
- Dec 24, 2006
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Chilliwack Chiefs of the BCHL are averaging 2,316, and you can kind of assume the WHL would supplant the BCHL.
Chilliwack strikes me as a good hockey market. Chilliwack, even moreso than Abbotsford, sees itself as distinct/separate from metro Vancouver, and so playing on the hometown pride angle , I could see Chilliwack embracing this - despite being screwed over by the league in the past go-round.
Is there enough fans to attend all of the games in the Fraser valley? Don’t follow JR hockey enough to know. I don’t recall what happened to first time around for chilliwack and the WHL.
MeHateHe
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Chilliwack was doing okay with the Bruins - not great by any stretch, but not terrible either. There were rumours that the Canucks were going to put their farm team in Victoria, and so the WHL engineered the move (not officially, of course, but, you know), and had a hope that Nanaimo would build a new arena so there would be two teams on Vancouver Island. Nanaimo has since gone to referendum on a new rink, and strongly rejected spending the money, so here we are.
I don't get the sense that a lot of folks are traveling from Chilliwack to Langley, for example, to watch the Giants. Again, given how well the BCHL does in the Wack, you kind of get the sense that given their druthers, they'd rather support their hometown team as opposed to a team that's 'just' based in the Fraser Valley.
The open question is whether Chilliwack and Langley are losing hockey fans to Abbotsford, and how much the having the Canucks farm team will take away from the overall hockey market. You'd have to think that if Junior A brings in X, that major junior will bring X+, and if there are a chunk of folks heading from Chilliwack to Abbotsford to watch the Canuckts, at least some of those would be more interested in major junior than in Junior A. I'd be interested in seeing what the market research shows on all that. But on the question of just support of junior, I think there is some room there.
roccerfeller
jets bromantic
Unfortunately ICE owners aren’t able to get an arena as originally envisioned and intended, and U of M isn’t going to cut it as is. They could have worked on an expansion of some sort or a build a new rink there but it does not seem to be possible or in play
The Ice owners are smart businessmen and have deep pockets (as far as WHL goes), so who knows what their future is, But it looks like a relocation likely will be in order
The Ice owners are smart businessmen and have deep pockets (as far as WHL goes), so who knows what their future is, But it looks like a relocation likely will be in order
End on a Hinote
Registered Abuser
Are the Ice having attendance issues in Winnipeg? If that's the reason it's a shame, but not too surprising. Having 3 teams is pretty over saturating for a market that size.
oldunclehue
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- Jun 16, 2010
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Rink they play in is an older university barn with bench seats and houses about 1600 fans at capacity. They sell out each game on paper but I've never been so not sure if they are real sell outs.
Rink isn't in a great area, its on the university campus on the southern side of the city, not commute friendly to most of the city but not really an excuse as they should be drawing students etc.
Too bad really but without a rink in a good location, this team can't stay in the city.
Yukon Joe
Registered User
U of M isn't that bad to get to from anywhere in the city, so I'd hardly blame that. Besides this is Winnipeg, not New York or Chicago.
But yeah - it's very small and not up to WHL standards. When the team was moved in 2019 part of the deal were the owners were going to build a brand new arena. I always chalked it up to the pandemic hitting in 2020 why that hasn't happened yet, but since it's 2023 and no word of a new arena has surfaced questions are being raised.
What's really curious is that the Ice have been spending draft picks like crazy to load up for the Memorial Cup. The team is going to be devastated for years to come after this. It's almost as if the owners know this is their last year with the team.
oldunclehue
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It's not easy to get anywhere in the city based around time of day. If you want to go to an ICE game and you are from say Maples, Transcona or the NW side of the city you aren't going to drive that 20-30 mins in supper traffic to get there. It's not a great location for WHL hockey.
MMC
Global Moderator
Yukon Joe
Registered User
Oh no - a 20-30 minute drive?!?
I lived in Winnipeg for years, and studied at U of M for 8 friggin years. It's not that hard to get to from anywhere.
Almost certainly not - building already hosts the Jets and Moose. TNSE has been friendly with the Ice owners, but in the end they're still competition.
If my memory serves me correctly TNSE has some type of an agreement with the City of Winnipeg that no competing venue be built within city limits. I can’t recall what the seating capacity would have to be to be considered competing. When the ICE were looking to build an arena I believe it was in the rural municipality of McDonald. It’s been awhile and I can’t recall if the competing venue could never be built within city limits or if it was 25 years after the opening of TNSEs venue.
Needless to say the ICE do not have an ideal arena to play in and it would not be surprising to see them relocate. My group was recently promod 50 tickets to a Saturday night game. A Saturday night that the Jets were also playing at home. That can’t be good for revenues in a gate driven league.
Needless to say the ICE do not have an ideal arena to play in and it would not be surprising to see them relocate. My group was recently promod 50 tickets to a Saturday night game. A Saturday night that the Jets were also playing at home. That can’t be good for revenues in a gate driven league.
oldunclehue
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8 years? Aren't most people who go to school for 8 years called Doctors? (Movie reference)
20-30 minute drive to go watch WHL when there are many many other entertainment options at home or much closer to home make the decision very easy. Plus the rink isn't a great venue to watch hockey in. Again...if the venue is small, the location isn't great and the organization doesn't have plans to build....why would this team stay?
jetsmooseice
Let Chevy Cook
- Feb 20, 2020
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Location might be a factor but I doubt it's really a big one. All but the most northerly parts of the city (West Kildonan, North Kildonan, Maples) are less than a half hour drive to Wayne Fleming Arena. Probably less than 10% of the city's population.
But that said, the arena is not viable on a permanent basis for reasons other than location. If a deal to get something built is going to happen, it will probably be in partnership with some other organization or entity. This is not Moose Jaw where the entire community is going to rally together to get it done. Either the owners find a way to get it done themselves or it doesn't happen and the team eventually leaves. But I'm optimistic that it can happen, unless the WHL decides it wants to give up and yanks the team away from 50 Below.
To answer your question, the team will stay because the owners want it to. The only reason it would leave in the near future is if the WHL forces it to.
jetsmooseice
Let Chevy Cook
- Feb 20, 2020
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Also, I should add that the arena GM in Chilliwack has already debunked the "ICE to Chilliwack" rumours
greggdrinnan.com
It seems extremely unlikely to me that the ICE are leaving town for 2023-24. It's the middle of March and even if they announced a move today that would leave barely six months to set up in a new locale, sell tickets and sponsorships, find billets, the whole deal. Not really a recipe for success. If a move is imminent I would see it happening for 2024-25 at the earliest. And the issue of where the team would even go hasn't been settled yet.
I mean, the ICE are selling season tickets for 2023-24... I've already paid for mine. They're marketing their summer hockey programs. That doesn't seem to me like a team that's getting set to leave town.
Chilliwack GM: ‘We’re not going anywhere,’ but he expects Ice to move . . . Remembering Mickey Mouse Night in Moose Jaw
If you haven’t already done so, you can stroke Chilliwack, B.C., off the list of potential landing spots for the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice. Brian Maloney, the general manager and head coach of the BCHL’s …
greggdrinnan.com
It seems extremely unlikely to me that the ICE are leaving town for 2023-24. It's the middle of March and even if they announced a move today that would leave barely six months to set up in a new locale, sell tickets and sponsorships, find billets, the whole deal. Not really a recipe for success. If a move is imminent I would see it happening for 2024-25 at the earliest. And the issue of where the team would even go hasn't been settled yet.
I mean, the ICE are selling season tickets for 2023-24... I've already paid for mine. They're marketing their summer hockey programs. That doesn't seem to me like a team that's getting set to leave town.
Jets4Life
Registered User
You are correct, sir. The Ice will not move to Chilliwack. They will be content to lose money in Winnipeg for the immediate future.
Channelcat
Unhinged user
There's no indication they've even attempted to move forward on getting a building done in Winnipeg. So who knows.
I don't know what they're gonna do when they're gone, what they're gonna do...
MeHateHe
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- Dec 24, 2006
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Because the story won't die, and because what this situation needs is a deeply unpopular NHL owner injecting himself into it, this resurfaces.
www.vancouverisawesome.com
In fairness, there is a lot of rumour in here. And conjecture, namely that the City of Chilliwack is suddenly going to want to sell their arena. It's June 5, and I would assume the WHL schedule for 23-24 is fully in development, so the idea this is all going to come to pass in time for the next season is way out there, and having this in the works to come into effect for the 24-25 season, leaving the Ice playing another lame-duck season in Winnipeg after playing a lame-duck season in Cranbrook. I mean, phew.
So, take this all with a shaker full of salt. But it's June, so what else is there to talk to if you're not a fan of the Golden Knights?
Could Canucks owners bring the WHL back to Chilliwack?
A report from Rick Dhaliwal suggests the Aquilinis could be involved in moving the WHL's Winnipeg Ice to Chilliwack.
www.vancouverisawesome.com
In fairness, there is a lot of rumour in here. And conjecture, namely that the City of Chilliwack is suddenly going to want to sell their arena. It's June 5, and I would assume the WHL schedule for 23-24 is fully in development, so the idea this is all going to come to pass in time for the next season is way out there, and having this in the works to come into effect for the 24-25 season, leaving the Ice playing another lame-duck season in Winnipeg after playing a lame-duck season in Cranbrook. I mean, phew.
So, take this all with a shaker full of salt. But it's June, so what else is there to talk to if you're not a fan of the Golden Knights?
