The Kootenay Ice (officially stylized as ICE) were a Canadian major

junior ice hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

team based in

Cranbrook, British Columbia Cranbrook ( ) is a city in southeast British Columbia, Canada, located on the west side of the Kootenay River at its confluence with the St. Mary River (British Columbia), St. Mary's River. It is the largest urban centre in the region known as the ...

, competing in the Western Hockey League (WHL) and playing its home games at

Western Financial Place The Western Financial Place (formerly known as the Cranbrook Recreational Complex) is a 4,268-seat (plus 352 standing room) arena and an aquatics centre which is located in East Kootenay Cranbrook, British Columbia, Cranbrook, British Columbia. W ...

. The franchise, which began as the

Edmonton Ice The Edmonton Ice were a junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that played two seasons in the Western Hockey League from 1996 to 1998. History The WHL expanded to Edmonton in 1996, and the Ice began play at the Northlands Agri ...

before moving to Cranbrook in 1998, was owned by

Ed Chynoweth Edward Chynoweth (December 14, 1941 – April 22, 2008) was a Canadian ice hockey executive. He served as president of the Western Hockey League and the Canadian Hockey League for over 20 years each. He was also a league director, team own ...

from 1995 until it was sold to Winnipeg-based company 50 Below Sports and Entertainment in 2017. The team won three WHL championships and one Memorial Cup title as Canadian junior champions. Despite the club's on-ice success, the Ice moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2019, where they were known as the

Winnipeg Ice The Winnipeg Ice (officially stylized as ICE) are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The team began competing in the Western Hockey League (WHL) in the 2019–20 WHL season, and plays home games at the Wayne ...

History

The Ice franchise began play in 1996 as the Edmonton Ice. The club was founded by Ed Chynoweth after he left his position as the Western Hockey League's president. Chynoweth moved the Ice to Cranbrook in 1998 after two dismal seasons in Edmonton. The move to Cranbrook resulted in the folding of the successful local Junior A Cranbrook Colts and ultimately the entire

Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League The Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League was a Canadian Junior "A" ice hockey league in British Columbia. :Peace Junior B Hockey League 19xx–1975 :Peace-Cariboo Junior Hockey League 1975–1991 :Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League 1991–1999 ...

as the remaining five RMJHL franchises from the

Kootenays The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people. Boundaries The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootenay ...

dropped to the Junior B Kootenay International Junior Hockey League within years of the Ice coming to the region. The Kootenay Ice found significant on-ice success in their early years. The team won WHL championships in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, along with the Memorial Cup in

to become Canadian junior champions. The 2002 Ice team was inducted into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame in 2022. The Ice added a regular season title in 2004–05 and a third playoff championship in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. The latter title came under the direction of Jeff Chynoweth after Ed Chynoweth died in 2008. In 2017, the Chynoweth family sold the team to Winnipeg-based 50 Below Sports + Entertainment Inc. The company's owners, Greg Fettes and Matt Cockell, were installed as the team's governor and president, respectively. A new logo was unveiled on May 1, 2017. The team's on-ice success diminished after their third championship, with the Ice winning only one playoff series after 2011 and missing the playoffs altogether for four straight seasons between 2015 and 2019. Operating in the league's second-smallest market, attendance became an issue and the league raised questions about the team's long-term viability in Cranbrook. On January 29, 2019, the Ice announced that the team would relocate to Winnipeg after the 2018–19 season. The

began play in the 2019–20 season. In June 2023, after ownership failed to build a suitable arena in Winnipeg, the team was again sold and relocated to Wenatchee, Washington, where they became the Wenatchee Wild.

WHL Championship finals

* 1999–00: Won, 4–2 vs.

Spokane Chiefs The Spokane Chiefs are a major junior ice hockey team that plays in the Western Hockey League based out of Spokane, Washington. The team plays its home games at the Spokane Arena. Their uniforms are similar to those of the NHL's Montreal Canadi ...

* 2001–02: Won, 4–2 vs. Red Deer Rebels *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

: Won, 4–1 vs. Portland Winterhawks

Memorial Cup finals

: Won, 6–3 vs. Victoriaville Tigres

Season-by-season record

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against''

NHL alumni

* Riley Armstrong *

Dean Arsene Dean Arsene (born July 20, 1980) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey defenceman. While he played the majority of his AHL career with the Hershey Bears, he last played with the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League (AHL). He play ...

Matt Berlin Matthew Berlin (born January 20, 1998) is a Canadian amateur ice hockey player. He appeared in one game for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the 2022–23 season as an emergency goaltender who was put in a game against t ...

* Dan Blackburn * Zdenek Blatny * Mike Comrie *

Adam Cracknell Adam Cracknell (born July 15, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who is currently playing with the Tucson Roadrunners in the American Hockey League (AHL) Playing career Junior Cracknell played junior hockey for the Kootenay ...

* Nigel Dawes * Cody Eakin *

Brennan Evans Brennan Evans (born January 6, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played 13 years in the American Hockey League and with the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Evans spent four season ...

Cale Fleury Cale Fleury (born November 19, 1998) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). Fleury was selected 87th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Playing ca ...

Kris Foucault Kristopher Foucault (born December 12, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He is currently an unrestricted free agent who most recently played under contract with the Iserlohn Roosters of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Fou ...

Matt Fraser Matthew John Fraser (born May 20, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey left wing. He is currently under contract with EC KAC of the ICE Hockey League (ICEHL). He has previously played in the National Hockey League for the Dallas Stars ...

Jeff Glass Jeff Glass (born November 19, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently playing for the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League (AHL). Glass was selected by the Ottawa Senators in the 3rd round (89th ...

* Mike Green *

Stanislav Gron Stanislav Gron (born October 28, 1978) is a Slovak professional ice hockey left winger. He is currently playing a free agent having last played for HC Bratislava in the Slovak 1. Liga. He was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the second round ...

Jason Jaffray Jason Jaffray (born June 30, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and the Winnipeg Jets before finishing his career with EHC Münch ...

Peyton Krebs Peyton Krebs (born January 26, 2001) is a Canadians, Canadian professional ice hockey Centre (ice hockey), center currently playing for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 17th overall by the Vegas Golden Knig ...

Nathan Lieuwen Nathan Lieuwen (born August 8, 1991) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey Goaltender (ice hockey), goaltender. On June 25, 2011 he was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. He was selected in the 6th round, ...

Ben Maxwell Benjamin Jeffrey Maxwell (born March 30, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who is currently playing with Linköping HC of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Playing career As a youth, Maxwell played in the 2001 and 2002 Quebec I ...

Steve McCarthy Stephen or Steven McCarthy may refer to: * Stephen A. McCarthy (1908–1990), American librarian *Stephen McCarthy (Australian footballer) (born 1962), Australian footballer * Steve McCarthy (boxer) (1962–2017), British boxer *Steve McCarthy (ice ...

Ryan McGill Ryan Clifford McGill (born February 28, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, and current assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played in the 151 games in the NHL with the Chicag ...

Brayden McNabb Brayden Luke McNabb (born January 21, 1991) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was originally selected 66th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2009 NHL Entry Dr ...

* Duncan Milroy *

John Negrin John Negrin (born March 26, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. Negrin was a third round pick of the Calgary Flames, 70th overall, at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft; he played only three games with them and has spent the majority of hi ...

Luke Philp Luke Philp (born November 6, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who currently plays with the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Philp played as a youth within the AMBHL, AMHL and AJHL befo ...

* Tomas Plihal *

Roman Polak Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Max Reinhart Maxwell Reinhart (born February 4, 1992) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in the NHL for the Calgary Flames. Reinhart played four seasons of junior hockey with the Kootenay Ice and was a member of their 2011 Western ...

Sam Reinhart Samson Reinhart (born November 6, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Reinhart was selected second overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Reinhar ...

* Aaron Rome * Ryan Russell * Mackenzie Skapski *

Jarret Stoll Jarret Lee Stoll (born June 24, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Stoll has played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild. He is a two-time St ...

Brett Sutter Brett Darryl Sutter (born June 2, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He is currently playing with the Calgary Wranglers of the American Hockey League (AHL). Sutter was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the sixth round (179th ove ...

Marek Svatos Marek is the West Slavic (Czech, Polish and Slovak) masculine equivalent of Marcus, Marc or Mark. The name may refer to: * Marek (given name) * Marek (surname) * Marek, the pseudonym of Bulgarian communist Stanke Dimitrov (1889–1944) * The titl ...

Jaroslav Svoboda Jaroslav Svoboda (born June 1, 1980) is a Czech former professional ice hockey right winger. He played in the National Hockey League with the Carolina Hurricanes and Dallas Stars between 2001 and 2006. The rest of his career, which lasted from 19 ...

Rinat Valiev Rinat Valiev (born May 11, 1995) is a Russian professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently playing under contract with Admiral Vladivostok of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Valiev was selected in the third round (68th overall) of the ...

* Matt Walker *

Kyle Wanvig Kyle Wanvig (born January 29, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey Right winger who played in the National Hockey League with the Minnesota Wild and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Playing career Wanvig was originally drafted 89th overall ...

Craig Weller Craig Weller (born March 17, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman and right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). Drafted 167th overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, Weller played for the Phoenix Coyotes, ...

Jeremy Yablonski Jeremy Yablonski (born March 21, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger. Primarily a hockey enforcer, Yablonski is a six time, novice Golden Gloves boxing champion. After his professional hockey career, Yablonski went on ...

References

External links

Kootenay Ice website
{{Defunct WHL Defunct ice hockey teams in British Columbia Regional District of East Kootenay Ice hockey clubs established in 1998 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2019 Western Hockey League teams Cranbrook, British Columbia 1998 establishments in British Columbia 2019 disestablishments in British Columbia