Winnipeg Ice

The Winnipeg Ice are a major junior ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba and competing in the Western Hockey League. The team will play its home games at the Wayne Fleming Arena on the campus of the University of Manitoba which will be expanded to 2,000 seats. The franchise, previously owned by the Chynoweth family since 1995, transferred ownership on April 27, 2017 to Winnipeg entrepreneur Greg Fettes and hockey executive Matt Cockell. The duo participated in their first WHL Draft on Thursday, May 4, 2017, where they acquired 10 new draft picks for the team. The new Kootenay Ice logo was released on Monday, May 1, 2017. This fresh look signifies a fresh start for the Ice. Posted articles indicate that the team may possibly be relocated to Winnipeg, Manitoba over the next few years. The relocation to Winnipeg for the 2019-20 season was confirmed on January 29, 2019 at a press conference in Cranbrook. As part of the same press conference it was announced that the owner of the team has also purchased the Winnipeg Blues of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. The move of the team will be part of a larger economic investment, a 4,500 seat arena, a hockey academy, and several partially cover outdoor rinks which can be used for outdoor minor hockey tournaments, will be the hockey related portion of a 20 acre sports, recreation, and commercial expansion located on the  southwest side of the city of Winnipeg. It was announced that the current logo and nickname will be retained.

History
The franchise was founded in 1996 as the Edmonton Ice, and moved to Cranbrook in 1998. The Ice won the Memorial Cup in 2002, and also participated in 2000, after having won the league championship.

The move of the Ice to Cranbrook resulted in the folding of the local Junior A powerhouse Cranbrook Colts and possibly the entire troubled Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League that the Colts were the top team in. All of 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.



NHL alumni
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 * Riley Armstong
 * Dean Arsene
 * Dan Blackburn
 * Zdenek Blatny
 * Mike Comrie
 * Nigel Dawes
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 * Brennan Evans
 * Mike Green
 * Stanislav Gron
 * Jason Jaffray
 * Steve McCarthy
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 * Ryan McGill
 * John Negrin
 * Tomas Plihal
 * Jarret Stoll
 * Brett Sutter
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 * Marek Svatos
 * Jaroslav Svoboda
 * Matt Walker
 * Kyle Wanvig
 * Jeremy Yablonski
 * Jeremy Yablonski