Wenatchee biggest winner in Ice off-ice saga in WHL

The Ice celebrate a goal in Game 1 of the WHL final on May 12.

The Winnipeg Ice are no more and the Wenatchee Wild era has begun.

On Friday, the WHL announced that the Winnipeg Ice franchise was sold to David and Lisa White of the Shoot the Puck Foundation. The Shoot the Puck Foundation is a non-profit organization based in California. The franchise has relocated to Wenatchee, which is located in the state of Washington in the United States.

The Whites through the Shoot the Puck Foundation own the junior A Wenatchee Wild franchise that had played in the British Columbia Hockey League since 2015. The Wild won the Fred Page Cup as BCHL champions in the 2017-18 campaign and the Doyle Cup as the Canadian Junior Hockey League’s Pacific region champion.

The Wild appeared in the Canadian Junior A national championship tournament in 2018 known at the time as the Royal Bank Cup, which was held at Prospera Centre in Chilliwack, B.C. Wenatchee posted a 2-2 record in round robin play and fell in a tournament semifinal 2-1 to the Wellington Dukes from Ontario.

Wenatchee was the only U.S. centre to have a team playing in the BCHL.

With the purchase of the Ice WHL franchise, the Whites own what was once Winnipeg’s membership in the major junior circuit. A relocation of a franchise was executed without the use of any moving trucks.

Zach Benson in action for the Ice in the WHL final on May 13.

The Wild as an entity will be promoted up from junior A to major junior. As part of the WHL, they will play in the U.S. Division that will now have six teams.

The division will provide the Wild instantly with four in-state rivals in the Everett Silvertips, the Seattle Thunderbirds, the Spokane Chiefs and the Tri-City Americans. The Portland Winterhawks, who have been one of the circuit’s elite clubs for the past 14 seasons, round out the U.S. Division.

The Wild hockey operations and business staff that is already in place will now operate the club in the WHL. The hockey operations staff is under the direction of general manager Bliss Littler, and Chris Clark is the club’s head coach and assistant general manager. After the announcement that Wenatchee was in the WHL was made, the Wild on Friday put up job postings for a full-time athletic trainer and a full-time equipment manager.

Wenatchee will play out of the Town Toyota Centre that has a seating capacity of 4,300.

The Ice roster and protected list is transferred to the Wild. The fate of the Wild’s BCHL franchise is still to be determined outside of the fact the BCHL said it won’t operate in 2023-24.

As for the players that were part of the Wild’s junior A roster, BCHL commissioner Steve Cocker told Castanet on Friday there won’t be a dispersal draft and the players are now free agents.

Matthew Savoie in action for the Ice in the WHL final in May 12.

As of June 1, the BCHL began governing its teams outside of Hockey Canada’s system. With the departure of Wenatchee, the BCHL has 17 teams all operating in British Columbia. It hasn’t been addressed if the BCHL’s decision to leave Hockey Canada’s system played a part in the Wild owners electing to leave that circuit for the WHL.

While the community of Wenatchee was the biggest winner in this development, it wasn’t a positive development on a tonne of other fronts. If you check out social media on Friday and Saturday, you can find a boatload of disappointment and hurt feelings over the sale of the Ice franchise.

In the 2010s, the WHL pursued a vision of having a team in each capital city in Western Canada. That vision was realized when the Ice franchise under the ownership of 50 Below Sports + Entertainment Incorporated headed up by Greg Fettes and Matt Cockell began playing at the 1,600 seat Wayne Fleming Arena on the University of Manitoba campus at the start of the 2019-20 campaign.

Fettes served as the Ice’s governor, and Cockell was the club’s president, general manager and alternate governor.

The Ice franchise had been relocated from Cranbrook, B.C., where the club was known as the Kootenay Ice. The Ice franchise was sold to Fettes and Cockell on April 27, 2017 by the Chynoweth family.

Carson Lambos in action for the Ice in the WHL final on May 12.

Fettes and Cockell moved the Ice to Winnipeg with the promise they would be able to build a new arena for the team to play in that was up to WHL standards.

The Ice put out a statement by Fettes on Friday and part of that statement regarding building a new arena said, “Unfortunately, we were just never able to get the project on solid footing due to the changing landscape (during and post-pandemic). Simply put, we ran out of time.”

While there has been criticism Fettes and Cockell took the WHL for a ride, it is possible to say it was true the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that gripped the world causing massive shutdowns in March of 2020 caused any efforts to build a WHL sized arena that would seat 4,500 to 5,000 spectators to go up in flames.

If anyone has seen the news cycle, stories on economic inflation dominate it, so anyone who lives in reality knows the chances of getting the funding together to build a new WHL size rink in Winnipeg were remote. It is safe to say Fettes and Cockell don’t have those types of assets in the bank to build a rink on their own.

Still, how the WHL’s situation played out in Winnipeg will invite heaps of criticism, and the criticism is deserved. The WHL does come out of this saga sporting a look that it got suckered.

Gregg Drinnan, who is still the all-time dean of WHL sportswriters, took a deep dive on his Taking Note blog of the many levels of how ugly the Ice saga is, and that piece can be found by clicking right here. He could probably wrote a longer piece than he did, and that is crazy to think about.

HC James Patrick mans the Ice bench in the WHL final on May 12.

While the Ice were a mess off-ice with their arena situation, the Ice’s on ice product was far from a mess. In fact, the Ice were one of the WHL’s best teams on ice in the four seasons they played in Winnipeg posting a 166-49-6-2 mark in regular season play.

In 2021-22, the Ice topped the WHL’s regular season standings with a 53-10-3-2 mark and advanced to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series falling in five games to the eventual league champion Edmonton Oil Kings. This past season, the Ice again topped the WHL’s regular season standings with a 57-10-1 mark and advanced to the WHL Championship Series falling in five games to the Thunderbirds.

If you were able to travel to Winnipeg, you would have found out the Ice developed a following. On the coverage priority of the local sports media, the Ice were buried well behind the NHL’s Jets, the CFL’s Blue Bombers and the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.

While the majority of the attention was on those three professional teams, it is a disservice to say the Ice had no fans in Winnipeg. They had a fan following, and that fan following got burned.

Ice head coach James Patrick is one of top first class hockey guys you will find in hockey. He is now living in his hometown without a team to coach. If the Jets do decide to go in the direction of a total rebuild, Patrick would be a perfect candidate for a potential future new head coach in a start over scenario.

Fans watch the Ice play in Winnipeg in the WHL final on May 12.

The Ice had good people on their hockey operations and business staff, and now they will all be out of work.

The Ice players will still have a chance to play in the WHL, but now they have to adjust to a new community.

The community of Cranbrook, which was home to the Ice from 1998 to 2019, still feels burned by the WHL. The Ice were successful for most of their years in Cranbrook having won WHL championships in 2000, 2002 and 2011 and the Memorial Cup as CHL champions in 2002.

During the Ice’s final season in Cranbrook in 2018-19, they finished last in average attendance in the WHL averaging 2,214 spectators per game for their 34 regular season home dates, but there were people there who still felt the team could turn around and experience brighter days again in that community.

In October and November of 2015, there was a local based group in Cranbrook that talked to Chynoweth family about possibly purchasing the Ice, but nothing came out of those talks. It is likely failure of that attempt to purchase the team and keep it in Cranbrook hurt some in the community there.

Jeff Chynoweth, who oversaw the Ice’s operations, and his family began trying to sell the Ice in 2011 and the team stayed for sale until the deal was reached with Fettes and Cockell in April of 2017. It should be noted that Cranbrook is a tourist industry town and the Chynoweth family was faced with the constant task of reintroducing the game to new fans during the Ice’s time in that centre.

Daniel Hauser in action for the Ice in the WHL final on May 12.

Life also changed for the Chynoweth family with the passing of patriarch Ed Chynoweth in April of 2008. Ed played an instrumental role as a builder in the history of the WHL. Ed’s passing and the unique challenges to marketing the team in Cranbrook had Jeff and his family looking to get out of the WHL ownership game.

Still, there were a lot of Ice supporters in Cranbrook who hold ill will toward Jeff Chynoweth over when his family sold the Ice.

Along with that, the City of Cranbrook has a lawsuit against the Winnipeg Ice and the WHL that is still before the courts regarding the arena deal the Ice had with the B.C. centre that was to run through to June of 2023.

On a sentimental front, other group that lost out in this saga are the alums of the Ice franchise. The alums especially the ones that played for the Ice during their days in Cranbrook often have great memories of the B.C. centre.

It is common for alums of other WHL clubs to return to their former teams when they are older and have families for visits. Those visits often include alums getting pictures taken with their families in their old dressing room stalls during the summer months. There are Ice alums that lament they can’t partake in doing something like that.

On top of that, the Ice franchise identity will now cease to exist on the WHL landscape. While the Wenatchee owns the Ice WHL franchise, the Wild team identity will continue to be used, and it will go on as continuation from that club’s junior A days in the BCHL.

In the end, the WHL’s experiment with the Ice in Winnipeg failed. Had True North Sports and Entertainment the parent company that owns the Jets and Moose had interest in owning a WHL franchise, the major junior circuit might still be in the Manitoba capital.

The Ice salute their fans after Game 1 of the WHL final on May 12.

Overall, at least the franchise transfer was done at this early juncture of the off-season, so all parties that have a stake in what is going on know where they stand. From an “it is what it is” perspective, the ugly is there.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Riley’s day – Huskies OL goes seventh overall to Roughriders

Mattland Riley will be looking to open up huge holes for the Roughriders.

    Mattland Riley will become the latest to live out the Saskatchewan football dream, and he totally deserves that opportunity.

    On Thursday, the Melfort, Sask., product and left guard with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team was selected in the first round and seventh overall by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the CFL Draft. 
    Riley’s selection helps the Huskies uphold their reputation as “O-line U” as the storied U Sports program has a history of sending numerous offensive linemen to the Canadian professional ranks over the years.

    The 23-year-old becomes the latest player to go on the journey of growing up in a smaller Saskatchewan learning the game of football there, moving on to the university ranks and finding his way to the province’s CFL team.

    Riley, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 300 pounds, played high school football in the nine-man ranks with his hometown Melfort and Unit Comprehensive Collegiate Comets before joining the Huskies in the U Sports ranks.

    Over the past two seasons, Riley piled up the individual accolades with the Huskies.

Mattland Riley has been an elite pass protector.

    In 2018, Riley was a Canada West all-star and a second team U Sports all-Canadian all-star. He helped the Huskies win the Hardy Cup as Canada West Conference champions.

    In 2019, Riley was again named a Canada West all-star and a first team U Sports all-Canadian all-star. The Huskies finished second in the Canada West Conference with a 5-3 record and advanced to the Hardy Cup title game falling 29-4 to the eventual U Sports champions and Vanier Cup winners in the University of Calgary Dinos.

    Riley, who has used four years of U Sports eligibility, has all the physical tools to succeed at the professional level. He is really skilled at using his hands to tie up the hands and arms of on-rushing defensive linemen.

    The engineering major has smarts too.

    On top of all that, Riley is pretty down to earth, easy going and enjoys each day as it comes. He is pretty humble and never likes to have himself put in front of his teammates as individual awards pile up.

    When he arrives with the Roughriders, he is going to find he has a lot in common personality wise with veteran star offensive left guard in Brendon LaBatte, who grew up in Weyburn, Sask. The main difference between the two is LaBatte likes to race fast stock cars and does that as a hobby.

    Riley is one who legitimately puts the team first. He knows that if the team succeeds he will ultimately find success.

Mattland Riley, right, was a first team U Sports all-Canadian all-star.

    He always notes he plays along with some really good guys on the Huskies offensive line.

Riley will also get to renew some old football ties and seen an old friend when he begins working out with the Roughriders.

    In late November, the Roughriders signed offensive lineman and fellow Melfort product Logan Ferland to their main roster. Ferland was on the Roughriders practice roster last season and played his fifth and final CJFL campaign at left tackle with the Regina Thunder.

    Riley and Ferland were former teammates on the Comets and will now get to reunite in the professional ranks.

    While the spectre of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hangs over the world having shutdown most walks of life in Canada, Riley has continued to work out at home turning the spare room at his place into a weight room.
    On Thursday, he got to enjoy a great day as all the hard work he has put in and continues to put in has resulted in the chance to live out the Saskatchewan boyhood dream, because he will have a chance to play for the Roughriders.

Mattland Riley, right, is at locking up a D-lineman’s hands.

    Overall, Riley was one of five Huskies player to be selected in the CFL Draft. Defensive end Nicholas Dheilly, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 230 pounds, was selected in the fifth round and 46^th overall by the defending Grey Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

    Receiver Sam Baker, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 205 pounds, was picked in the sixth round and 48^th overall by the Toronto Argonauts.

    Right tackle, Nick Summach, who stands 6-foot-8 and weighs 330 pounds, was selected in the seventh round and 57^th overall by the Edmonton Eskimos. Summach’s selection helps further cement the Huskies reputation as “O-line U.”

    Utility player Colton Klassen, who stands 5-foot-8 and weighs 200 pounds, went in the eighth round and 69^th overall to the Montreal Alouettes. Klassen made an amazing recovery from a season ending broken right leg.

    Defensive end Tom Schnitzler, who played for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and is an alumnus of the 22-time CJFL champion Saskatoon Hilltops, was selected in the eighth round and 72^nd overall by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Schnitzler, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 245 pounds, is an accomplished long snapper too.

Mattland Riley (#55) has enjoyed being part of the Huskies O-line.

    The University of Regina Rams had two players picked in the CFL Draft.

    Offensive lineman Theren Churchill, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 280 pounds, went in the first round and ninth overall to the Toronto Argonauts.

    Offensive lineman Andrew Becker, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 280 pounds, was selected in the sixth round and 49^th overall.

    The British Columbia Lions traded up to get the first overall selection from the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL Draft. In a trade that was announced at the draft, the Lions sent the third and 12^th overall selections to the Stampeders for the first overall pick and 15^th overall selection.

    With the first overall pick, the Lions selected linebacker Jordan Williams, who stands 6-feet and weighs 230 pounds, from the East Carolina University Pirates football team in the NCAA Division I ranks.

CFL seeks financial aid from federal government, other notes

Will the COVID-19 pandemic crush the CFL?

    On Tuesday evening, The Canadian Press broke a story the CFL was looking to the Canadian federal government for financial assistance due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

    After The Canadian Press broke that story, it blew up on all of Canada’s mainstream media outlets. It was even covered by FOX News in the United States.

    The CFL is looking for $30-million in Canadian funds now to manage the impact COVID-19 has had on league business. The circuit is asking for additional assistance for an abbreviated regular season and up to another $120-million in Canadian funds for a completely lost season.

    In other words, the CFL is looking for $150-million in financial assistance if its nine teams are unable to play the 2020 regular season and playoffs.

    The CFL isn’t the only sports organization looking for financial assistance from a government in Canada due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 22, the British Columbia Hockey League, which is a junior A circuit, asked the provincial government in B.C. for financial aid.

    On Tuesday, the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, which is a junior B circuit that has 19 out of its 20 located in B.C., said in a release it will be seeking financial assistance from both the B.C. provincial government and the Canadian federal government.

Will fun times like this return to Mosaic Stadium in Regina?

    On Wednesday, it came out the Canadian Premier League, which is an eight-team professional soccer league, is asking the Canadian federal government for $15-million in financial aid.

    Also on Wednesday on the profession basketball front, Devin Heroux of CBC Sports reported the Canadian Elite Basketball League is looking for a $5-million loan from the Government of Canada to help with finances.

    I have no problem with the CFL going after financial assistance from the Government of Canada. I believe the CFL is a Canadian institution that needs to be preserved.

    I could see the CFL folding if it doesn’t have a season in 2020 and doesn’t receive financial assistance.

    Actually, I do not have a problem with any sports league, sports entity or non-sports business seeking out financial assistance from the Canadian federal government of any of Canada’s provincial governments.

    In order to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, all these governments have ordered shutdowns and prevented all of these entities from doing business. The ability of any of these outlets to bring in revenue has been extremely hampered due to no fault of their own.
    It is highly unlikely any of these sports leagues, sports entities or businesses would be asking for aid if a pandemic didn’t happen. 

Will Canadians like Evan Johnson (#64) be able to show off their skill.

    If the pandemic didn’t happen, all of these entities would go on with business as usual and be healthy.

    They weren’t mismanaged, and they didn’t ask to be forced to shut down by governments.

    If you shut down the entire whole non-essential work sector in society, there will be massive consequences, and these financial aid requests are part of the consequences.

    On Wednesday, Global News national telecast said Statistics Canada had complied data with the cooperation of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and the numbers aren’t good.

    In that story, Statistics Canada said 53 per cent businesses surveyed reported revenue decreases of 20 per cent or more during the first three months of this year compared to the first three month of last year.

    Statistic Canada said one-third of businesses surveyed reported revenues dropped by 40 per cent or more during the first three months of this year compared to the first three months of last year.

    Out of the businesses surveyed, 41 per cent of businesses have been forced to lay off some employees. In the accommodation and food services sector, 24 per cent of those businesses surveyed said they have laid off all of their workers.

Will Zack Evans, right, be able to keep playing in his home city?

    I suspect if you take out what happened in January and February out of that Global News report the gloom of those numbers would be worse.

    I have no problems with sports leagues, sports entities or non-sports businesses asking for financial assistance from governments in these COVID-19 times. I also realize that there is only so much money to go around.

    Unless the governments of Canada elects to throw open the economy for business as usual, it is hard to optimistic about what could happen to these sports leagues, sports entities or non-sports businesses on the business front.

    One thing is for certain, I can’t see life in Canada returning to what it was on March 10 of this year before all the shutdowns happened until after a lengthy stretch of time passes.

• On Wednesday, Donna Spencer of The Canadian Press wrote a story that quoted a trio of people involved with the now defunct Canadian Women’s Hockey League being upset about men’s professional sports leagues asking for financial assistance. The CWHL folded on May 1, 2019 due to financial difficulties. The article quoted others who worried this will widen the gender gap in sports. Spencer’s piece can be found by clicking right here.
• On Tuesday, the 2020 Hlinka Gretzky Cup hockey tournament, which is an under-18 national team best versus best event, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Hlinka Gretzky Cup was set for Aug. 3 to 8 in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta.
• On Tuesday, the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede summer festival scheduled for July 22 to 25 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• On Tuesday, the Clunie-Cooper Memorial Professional Bull Riding event slated for June 12 to 13 at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• On Tuesday, it was announced the Saskatchewan Summer Games set to run July 26 to Aug. 1 in Lloydminster have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They are now slated to be held in Lloydminster July 18 to 24 2021.
• On Monday, the Saskatoon Blades signed offensive defenceman Tanner Molendyk to a WHL Standard Player Agreement. The Blades selected the McBride, B.C., product in the first round and fifth overall in the WHL Bantam Draft held on April 22.
• On Wednesday, the Prince Albert Raiders signed defensive defenceman Terrell Goldsmith to a WHL Standard Player Agreement. The Raiders selected the Fort St. James, B.C., product in the first round and 15^th overall in the WHL Bantam Draft held on April 22.
• On Thursday, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team announced that 21-year-old forward and Saskatoon product Dawson Holt has committed to the team. Holt played for four and a bit seasons with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants from 2014 to 2019. Last season, he started the campaign in the WHL with the Regina Pats before joining Vernon Vipers of the British Columbia Hockey League in the junior A ranks.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.