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  #181  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2020, 6:54 PM
bomberjet bomberjet is offline
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I only lasted a very short time. It was terrible lol It's similar on hockey Twitter. But not as bad and there are numerous other topics to keep me occupied there.
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  #182  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2020, 7:06 PM
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When I read it, I was wondering if the 'reliable source' wasn't just reposting what he read here, i.e. buzzg's earlier post.
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  #183  
Old Posted Jan 9, 2020, 2:15 PM
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So I went to my first weeknight Ice game last night. The crowd was respectable, announced as a sellout but in reality probably about a thousand people there. Lots of "hockey people" with ties to the various associations in the crowd, even saw Steen there.

That said, who knows how many people paid. I was there because everyone got freebies at the last game vs. Brandon, so you'd think that alone would have filled the place up.

The game itself was entertaining but way less intense than the two games vs. Brandon that I had seen to that point. Ice jumped out to an early one goal lead and then farted away a multitude of PPs to lose 4-1.

But yeah, to vike's earlier point, when you look around the arena and see barely a thousand people, maybe half of whom actually paid for tickets, I'd be swallowing pretty hard before signing the papers on a $50 million+ mortgage. But I sure hope they can find a way to make it work because having this in town is awesome... the bang for the buck is phenomenal.
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  #184  
Old Posted Jan 9, 2020, 6:19 PM
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So I went to my first weeknight Ice game last night. The crowd was respectable, announced as a sellout but in reality probably about a thousand people there. Lots of "hockey people" with ties to the various associations in the crowd, even saw Steen there.

That said, who knows how many people paid. I was there because everyone got freebies at the last game vs. Brandon, so you'd think that alone would have filled the place up.

The game itself was entertaining but way less intense than the two games vs. Brandon that I had seen to that point. Ice jumped out to an early one goal lead and then farted away a multitude of PPs to lose 4-1.

But yeah, to vike's earlier point, when you look around the arena and see barely a thousand people, maybe half of whom actually paid for tickets, I'd be swallowing pretty hard before signing the papers on a $50 million+ mortgage. But I sure hope they can find a way to make it work because having this in town is awesome... the bang for the buck is phenomenal.
Obviously 1K or even 2K for a CHL franchise doesn't cut it but are there really more than 2K that want to watch CHL (WHL) junior hockey in Winnipeg? Think it's going to be a tough sell, cant see the team lasting here for the long haul.
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  #185  
Old Posted Jan 20, 2020, 7:39 AM
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I agree with CoryB's assessment. They can build a fairly modest rink for the Ice that is expandable and meets their needs, while also getting enveloped into their overall business scheme.

I still think the owner's business plan is more or less to cater to and attract the hockey rich area of SW Winnipeg.

In that scenario, the location of their facility is just about perfect, and no one in that area of town is going to get too worked up about the traffic. It will likely mean that people in that area will shift from the Moose to the Ice for that price point of hockey.

And as for congestion - it's basically the same traffic they all deal with at that ridiculous Costco parking lot.
Wait - so is this supposed new arena going up near Costco? Or still in Oak Bluff?
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  #186  
Old Posted Jan 20, 2020, 1:21 PM
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Wait - so is this supposed new arena going up near Costco? Or still in Oak Bluff?
I'm hearing 4500, which personally I think is way too big. it's attached to the Rink training facility (built in pastt year), I guess address is officially Oak Bluff but it's 8km inside the perimeter/Oak Bluff, 4 km southwest from Costco.
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  #187  
Old Posted Jan 20, 2020, 1:56 PM
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Even at 4,500, it would still be the fourth smallest WHL arena ahead of only Swift Current, Prince Albert and Moose Jaw, which are three of the smallest markets in the league. I don't see how a new rink could be any smaller than that size... you need to have enough room to take advantage of the dates when a lot of people are willing to come out. It's a bit like the Manitoba Moose in that regard... sure, the Tuesday night games might only draw a few thousand, but then there's a weekend game and they get more than double that. Tough to make money without those big-drawing games.

Speaking of the Ice, I went to the Saturday night game again and it was awesome. They beat a pretty tough Calgary team... not the greatest defensive display, but the goalie Liam Hughes shut the door on the Hitmen and their special teams lifted them to a big win. They ended up losing the second game last night 3-2 but they're still first in the division and trending up in the standings. There was a good crowd on hand on Saturday and I think people are starting to catch on to what a solid team we have... they look like they could make some real noise in the playoffs.
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  #188  
Old Posted Jan 20, 2020, 10:31 PM
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That would be cool.
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  #189  
Old Posted Jan 21, 2020, 4:48 AM
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Can't wait for the Blueout party to take McGillivray by storm.
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  #190  
Old Posted Jan 21, 2020, 2:32 PM
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Can't wait for the Blueout party to take McGillivray by storm.
I know, right?!!?!? #FeelTheFreeze

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  #191  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2020, 3:50 PM
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Interesting tidbit from Rod Pedersen's blog:

"The buzz in the Dub is that the suits aren’t pleased no shovel is in the ground for a new arena in Winnipeg, despite the fact it was promised when the ICE moved from Cranbrook, BC."

At this point even if they started building today it would mean at least one more full season at Wayne Fleming. But as we have heard here, there is no indication that this is imminent. It could easily be two more years at the U of M, maybe more.

I wonder if the team is looking at any alternate solutions? Maybe ponying up to rent Bell MTS Place and putting off the new rink for a few years? They need more seats... I just don't see how they can make it with a cap of 1,600 at Wayne Fleming. By contrast, there were over 9,000 fans at the ICE's game at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Saturday. But then, are there even 9,000 people in Winnipeg who are prepared to buy tickets to an ICE game? Hard to say.

Also, I finally went to The Rink last week... the main arena where the Blues play can apparently hold 700 plus standing room. It's too bad they didn't jam in another 500 seats or so in there and just have the ICE play in there until a permanent home could be built. Then they wouldn't be paying rent on a rink that is only marginally bigger (and a lot dumpier) than one that they could have played in.

The whole situation is just so weird... it frankly doesn't bode well for the team's long-term prospects here. But at least the team is really good and fun to watch right now.

Last edited by esquire; Feb 3, 2020 at 4:01 PM.
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  #192  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2020, 5:25 PM
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There was talk of Red River Ex building a roughly 5,000 arena/event space on their property so things like horse auctions, etc that don't really have anywhere to go in Winnipeg currently. It would seem there could be a possible deal there to be made with the Ice also being a lead tenant.
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  #193  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2020, 5:30 PM
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The Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL had over 10,000 fans at a game last week.
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  #194  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2020, 5:52 PM
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There was talk of Red River Ex building a roughly 5,000 arena/event space on their property so things like horse auctions, etc that don't really have anywhere to go in Winnipeg currently. It would seem there could be a possible deal there to be made with the Ice also being a lead tenant.
That could be a really good fit. IMO a permanent large capacity indoor space for ag stuff and entertainment (concerts) always felt like something that was conspicuously absent from the RREX's facilities. The economics of it would probably be tenuous if you're relying only on Ex stuff, but throw a WHL team in there and suddenly it makes more sense.
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  #195  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2020, 7:07 PM
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That could be a really good fit. IMO a permanent large capacity indoor space for ag stuff and entertainment (concerts) always felt like something that was conspicuously absent from the RREX's facilities. The economics of it would probably be tenuous if you're relying only on Ex stuff, but throw a WHL team in there and suddenly it makes more sense.
Maybe for the Ex, but it doesn't make much sense for the Ice. Location is definitely worse than the planned one from the Ice's perspective.
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  #196  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2020, 7:17 PM
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Maybe for the Ex, but it doesn't make much sense for the Ice. Location is definitely worse than the planned one from the Ice's perspective.
Yeah, it isn't ideal given the distance from The Rink, but the ICE are getting backed into a corner here. There is also the fact that RREX's site is within city limits... not sure if that leads to problems with respect to TNSE's monopoly on public funding. Also, the MTS Iceplex is practically at the same site which leads to other awkwardness.

It is still so baffling to me how this is all playing out. The WHL and 50 Below waited until probably one of the worst times in the last 30+ years to bring a team to Winnipeg. And now it looks like they don't know what they're going to do next. But personally I think it's a fantastic product... I'm going again this week and unless the Jets make the playoffs, I'll end up going to more ICE games than Jets games this year.
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  #197  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2020, 10:33 PM
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I don’t think it’s time to panic yet.
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  #198  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2020, 10:58 PM
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Remember this time last year Brett Bellamy stated that they are waiting for approval for rezoning at their desired location on McGillvray

https://twitter.com/brent_bellamy/st...22224824213505

Since we have heard no word I would say they are still waiting for approval. I'm not sure if it is normal for approval to take this long?
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  #199  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2020, 1:34 AM
Danny D Oh Danny D Oh is offline
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Originally Posted by esquire View Post
Interesting tidbit from Rod Pedersen's blog:

"The buzz in the Dub is that the suits aren’t pleased no shovel is in the ground for a new arena in Winnipeg, despite the fact it was promised when the ICE moved from Cranbrook, BC."

At this point even if they started building today it would mean at least one more full season at Wayne Fleming. But as we have heard here, there is no indication that this is imminent. It could easily be two more years at the U of M, maybe more.

I wonder if the team is looking at any alternate solutions? Maybe ponying up to rent Bell MTS Place and putting off the new rink for a few years? They need more seats... I just don't see how they can make it with a cap of 1,600 at Wayne Fleming. By contrast, there were over 9,000 fans at the ICE's game at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Saturday. But then, are there even 9,000 people in Winnipeg who are prepared to buy tickets to an ICE game? Hard to say.

Also, I finally went to The Rink last week... the main arena where the Blues play can apparently hold 700 plus standing room. It's too bad they didn't jam in another 500 seats or so in there and just have the ICE play in there until a permanent home could be built. Then they wouldn't be paying rent on a rink that is only marginally bigger (and a lot dumpier) than one that they could have played in.

The whole situation is just so weird... it frankly doesn't bode well for the team's long-term prospects here. But at least the team is really good and fun to watch right now.
The ownership group is loaded and have everything in place but approvals to build.

I'm not sure what "the suits" see as an alternative. The team was hemorrhaging money in Cranbrook for a long time, what do they care if the owners of the Ice decide to take a loss for a few years while they get an arena built? Winnipeg is one of the largest media territories in the leagues footprint so having a team here is worth something.
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  #200  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2020, 1:46 PM
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The ownership group is loaded and have everything in place but approvals to build.

I'm not sure what "the suits" see as an alternative. The team was hemorrhaging money in Cranbrook for a long time, what do they care if the owners of the Ice decide to take a loss for a few years while they get an arena built? Winnipeg is one of the largest media territories in the leagues footprint so having a team here is worth something.
Yeah, fair enough. But I can understand the league's concern given that the ICE have what is probably one of the most exciting and promising young teams in the CHL... I could see this team challenging for the Memorial Cup in a year or two. Yet there is minimal awareness of the team or the WHL in Winnipeg, at least beyond the small hardcore of mostly "hockey people" who pay attention because they are somehow involved in the system. Media coverage is minimal too, at most there are small blurbs in the paper or CJOB will mention the game scores. That's it. I'm sure the WHL expected a bigger splash than this and can't help but be disappointed by the near total anonymity that the team operates in.

I'd be curious to hear what the players think, going from a place like Cranbrook where you're the main attraction to here, where you play in a junior B rink and people haven't heard of your team, let alone you as a player.

Anyway, I realize that hardly anyone cares about this, but I find the way that it is all playing out kind of fascinating...
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