Sale of Ice will mark end of an era . . . Source: Robison wants it done by month's end

The Kootenay Ice dropped a 4-1 decision to the host Calgary Hitmen on Saturday night in a game that may have marked the end of an era.

If, as is being speculated, the Ice franchise is about to be sold that game may have been the last one played by a team that could boast of having the Chynoweth name on its masthead.

Should the sale occur, that game also will have signalled the end of the Chynoweth era in the WHL,

Jeff Chynoweth (left) and his father, Ed.
(Photo: chl.ca)

something that stretches back to 1970.

That is something that shouldn’t be ignored, because there hasn’t been a bigger name in WHL history and, indeed, in the history of junior hockey.

It all began with Ed Chynoweth, a native of Dodsland, Sask., who left a Saskatoon hotel and joined the Blades as assistant general manager in 1970.

By the 1972-73 season, Chynoweth was in the WHL office — it was the WCHL then — as assistant to the executive secretary, which is the title that Thomas K. Fisher carried.

Chynoweth was named the league’s president at its annual meeting in June 1973, an position in which he would continue through 1978-79. He spent 1979-80 as a part-owner and the general manager of the Calgary Wranglers. However, he returned to the WHL office after that season and ruled the roost through 1995-96.

At that point, he was granted an expansion franchise, the Edmonton Ice, that played two seasons in the Alberta capital before moving to Cranbrook, B.C., and morphing into the Kootenay Ice.

He was the Ice’s president and governor, and also served as the chairman of the WHL’s board of governors (1996-98, 2004-08). He was the chairman of the board when he died, at 66, on April 22, 2008.

Under Chynoweth, the Ice won the 2002 Memorial Cup, a trophy he had presented to his son, Dean, in

Ed Chynoweth got to present his son, Dean,
with the Memorial Cup.(Photo: Hockey Hall of Fame)

1988, when Dean, a rugged defenceman, was the captain of the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Dean played three seasons (1985-88) with the Tigers and later would return to the WHL for four seasons (2000-04) has head coach of the Seattle Thunderbirds. He would on from there and work for five seasons (2004-09) as general manager and head coach of the Swift Current Broncos.

Jeff is the Ice’s governor, president and general manager. He has been part of the WHL since 1986 and also has worked with the Spokane Chiefs (1986-87), Medicine Hat Tigers (1987-88), Brandon Wheat Kings (1988-89), Lethbridge Hurricanes (1989-91) and Red Deer Rebels (1991-95), before moving into the Ice’s front office in October 1995.

And, of course, there is Linda, the matriarch, who was married to Ed for 45 years. She has been there for all of it, from the day Ed joined the Blades’ organization through what will have been the family’s final days with the Ice. You can bet she has been a sounding board for more WHL-related decisions than any person in junior hockey history.

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Thank you to our corporate partners, billets, parents and FANS for your support of Kootenay ICE hockey this season!

— Kootenay ICE (@WHLKootenayICE) March 19, 2017

A source familiar with the Kootenay Ice situation has told Taking Note that Ron Robison, the WHL

commissioner, “is hoping to get things done with the Cranbrook group before the end of (March).”

That group, which includes former Ice F Colin Sinclair, made an offer to purchase the Ice in February. However, the group was informed that its offer wouldn’t be considered pending a March 11 referendum in Nanaimo, a Vancouver Island city in which the WHL badly wants to have a franchise. However, that referendum was soundly defeated, meaning the City isn’t able to borrow $80 million to build an events centre that was to include an arena.

Our source indicated that the Cranbrook group “pulled its previous offer earlier in the week after Nanaimo voters rejected building a new arena complex. That offer price-matched the Nanaimo offer, with the only difference being there would be no offer of a (general manager’s) job to the current owner/GM.”

That, of course, is in reference to Jeff Chynoweth, the Ice’s governor, president and general manager.

The source added that, with the referendum in the rearview mirror, the Cranbrook group now is “prepared to continue but at a different price point.”

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The OHL’s Erie Otters are the first team in Canadian Hockey League history to win at least 50 games in four consecutive seasons. On Saturday, the Otters beat the visiting Guelph Storm, 5-2, improving their record to 50-15-3. Starting in 2013-14, the Otters won 52, 50 52 and 50 regular-season games. . . . The Otters’ head coach in each of those seasons has been Kris Knoblauch, a native of Imperial, Sask., who played in the WHL with the Red Deer Rebels, Edmonton Ice, Kootenay Ice and Lethbridge Hurricanes (1995-99). . . . He also has coached with the Prince Albert Raiders (2006-07) and Kootenay (2007-12). He was the Ice’s head coach for two seasons (2010-12). . . . The WHL’s Kelowna Rockets (2012-15), Edmonton Oil Kings (2011-14) and Kamloops Blazers (1989-92), and the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs (2009-12) all had three-season runs. . . . The Otters have captured their third straight Midwest Division title with the victory and have clinched the Hamilton Spectator Trophy as the OHL’s regular-season champions for a second consecutive season.

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Go West, young men, go West!

It was in the early 1980s when the late Ed Chynoweth, then the WHL’s leader, admitted that his greatest fear had to do with NHL teams moving affiliate teams into Western Canada and setting up a new league.

At the time, he said he could see the day when pro teams were in Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Regina and Saskatoon, just for starters.
The Saskatoon Blades are near the end of lease negotiations with the SaskTel Centre. When the papers are signed, the Blades will again have hockey exclusivity in the building. That is something that Chynoweth, all those years ago, felt was of the utmost importance and something that most, if not all, WHL teams insist upon in their leases.
Now here we are more than 30 years later and NHL teams are moving affiliates west, just not into Canada.
The AHL made it official on Thursday — it will have a five-team Pacific Division next season, with all teams located in California.
The Anaheim Ducks will move the Norfolk, Va., Admirals to San Diego; the Calgary Flames will move the Adirondack Flames from Glens Falls, N.Y., to Stockton; the Edmonton Oilers will move the Oklahoma City Barons to Bakersfield; the Los Angeles Kings are moving the Manchester, N.H., Monarchs to Ontario; and the San Jose Sharks are taking the Worcester, Mass., Sharks and relocating them to, yes, San Jose.
The Adirondack Flames are in their first season in Glens Falls, after relocating from Abbotsford, B.C. Adirondack head coach Ryan Huska left the Kelowna Rockets after last season to sign with the Flames.
Mike Stothers, who left the Moose Jaw Warriors after last season, is the first-year head coach of the Monarchs.
San Jose will play its AHL affiliate out of its home building — the SAP Center. Interestingly, San Jose is planning on scheduling Saturday doubleheaders, with the AHL team playing matinees and the NHL team playing at night.
The primary reason for the moves is to get affiliate players closer to the parent clubs to make it that much easier for recalls. Scheduling details are scarce but the five Pacific Division teams will play fewer games than other AHL teams. That and less travel should result in more practice time, all of which should make for happy coaches and better development.
There also is speculation that more NHL teams will get involved in moving their AHL teams in the near future.
The Vancouver Canucks are in their second season with the AHL’s Utica, N.Y., Comets. Pat Conacher, a former head coach of the Regina Pats, is the Comets’ director of hockey operations, with Travis Green, the former assistant GM and assistant coach with the Portland Winterhawks, the head coach.
There is speculation that the Canucks will move the franchise to Abbotsford or Langley, B.C. The Abbotsford Centre seats 7,046 and no longer is home to a hockey team. The 5,276-seat Langley Events Centre is home to, among other things, the BCHL’s Langley Rivermen and the National Lacrosse League’s Vancouver Stealth.
Jim Benning, the Canucks’ general manager, told TSN Radio Vancouver on Thursday that his organization will continue to monitor the situation.
“We're really happy in Utica — players love it there,” Benning said. “We'll continue to monitor it.”
The Winnipeg Jets’ AHL affiliate is in St. John’s, Nfld. There have been rumours since the Atlanta Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg that the Jets would like to have that franchise in Thunder Bay, Ont. That’s hardly close to the Pacific Northwest or California, but it’s closer than Newfoundland.
The Arizona Coyotes, who are hooked up with the AHL’s Portland, Me., Pirates, also are said to be interested in having a team closer to Phoenix.
Some of the communities being vacated by AHL teams are expected to end up being home to ECHL franchises. There also is speculation that the QMJHL would like to expand by two teams and is looking at the vacant arenas.
What impact, if any, will this have as far as the WHL is concerned?
I doubt that there will be any immediate impact, but it certainly could have repercussions down the road.
When these AHL teams get relocated and organized, you can bet that they will be pouring resources into minor hockey programs as they attempt to attract fans. Eventually, that will mean more and better hockey players coming out of those areas.
It all could lead to a WHL team with a completely American roster. Don't scoff. The Portland Winterhawks have 12 players on their 23-man roster right now.


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The WHL and Portland, Day 3 . . .

T-shirts bearing this graphic were available at the Portland
Winterhawks' home game on Friday night.

Someone contacted me on Friday, asking if I could “ever recall a WHL team getting into a PR battle with the league like this before?”
My immediate reaction was, uhh, NO!
But then I got to thinking . . . and there was this time in January 1975.
Ed Chynoweth was the president of the WHL at the time. Pat Ginnell was the owner and head coach of the Victoria Cougars.
The Cougars had been involved in back-to-back road games with the Winnipeg Clubs and Brandon Wheat Kings and – get this! – there had been a bench-clearing brawl in each game. Yes. They dumped the benches in each game. Imagine that! (Were that to happen today, there might be year-long suspensions and it would take the on-ice officials two days to figure it all out.)
When the dust had settled, Chynoweth hit Ginnell with a three-game suspension and a $1,000 fine.
Ginnell said he wouldn’t pay the fine.
Chynoweth set a deadline and said if the fine wasn’t paid a scheduled game that was to have the Kamloops Chiefs play in Victoria the next night would be cancelled.
Just hours before the deadline, Ginnell was still saying he wouldn’t pay the fine “but I suspect there will be a game Tuesday.”
And then Ginnell told Dale Eisler of the Regina Leader-Post:
“Chynoweth has no business threatening me that way. Nobody closes down a business because one employee has done something wrong. That, in effect, is what Chynoweth wants to do. It becomes a matter of principle. I’m not going to pay the fine until I can appeal to the board of governors.”
The Cougars also were hit with a six-game suspension for defenceman Kim Clackson, while forward Eric Sanderson was suspended indefinitely and defenceman Larry Gloeckner got a one-game suspension.
“What did Winnipeg and Brandon get? Nothing,” Ginnell continued. “I gues sour team must have been fighting with itself.
“This is not a National League and a $1,000 fine is utterly ridiculous. If this is the way it’s going to continue, I might as well hire a coach. I’ve got enough to do as owner and manager of the club.”
Ginnell had been fined and suspended for what Chynoweth said was a lack of control over his team.
“I’ve coached teams for nine years and I’ve got about 50 guys playing in the National League,” Ginnell said. “I must be able to control something.”
Ginnell then added that he was thinking of hitting Chynoweth with “the quickest injunction in legal history if he tries to cancel the game.”
And so what was the outcome?
Well, for one thing, Chynoweth was mostly silent through all of this.
Not long after talking with Eisler, Ginnell informed Del Wilson of Regina, who was then the chairman of the board of governors, that he intended to pay the fine but that he would appeal it.
The game between the Cougars and Chiefs went ahead as scheduled.
The outcome of the appeal has been lost in the annals of history. But how do you think it turned out?
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Kerry Eggers, who has been writing in the Portland area for a long, long time, wasn’t able to get anyone from the WHL office to return his phone calls. (Did he really end up speaking with an intern? Seriously?)
So the Portland Tribune columnist scorched the WHL’s earth with an open letter to the commissioner and it’s right here.
Read this and it makes one wish the WHL would re-start that Ask The Commissioner feature on Facebook. Wouldn’t that be fun?
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If you haven’t heard it, Ron Robison, the WHL commissioner, came out of the cone of silence Friday and went on the Damage Control Tour. He started with Darren Millard, Doug McLean and Scott Morrison on Sportsnet’s Hockey Central at Noon.
That piece of audio is right here.
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On my way home last night, I was listening to WHL commissioner Ron Robison on Vancouver-CKNW’s Sportstalk with Dan Russell.
And the whole time I was thinking, “If Mr. Commissioner had only done this on Wednesday a lot of what has happened over the latter half of the week could have been avoided.”
Because after listening to a couple of Robison’s interviews, you don’t have to agree with the discipline handed the Winterhawks, but at least there now is an explanation.
That interview is on a podcast (Hour 3) right here.
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Jordan Shifman of CBC Sports takes a look at the whole situation right here.
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Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province talked to some “sources” and filed a column in which Bob Strumm’s name surfaces. That piece is right here.
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The Oregonian’s Paul Buker went to Friday’s game in which the host Winterhawks dumped the Seattle Thunderbirds, 5-2. Buker’s report is right here.
www.oregonlive.com/hawks/index.ssf/2012/11/winterhawks_beat_seattle_5-2_i.html
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And a Free Mike Johnston page is up and running on Facebook. It is right here.
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If you have read most of what has been posted here over the last few days, you should have be able to put together the pieces and figure out why the Winterhawks’ paid such a steep price for what might seem like minor transgressions. (You may also be surprised at the number of anonymous sources in a lot of this, but that's what happens when the WHL commissioner places a gag order on everyone but himself.)
All that’s missing, it seems, is for us to hear from Winterhawks owner Bill Gallacher, who has been silent, at least publicly, through all of this.
If you are wondering why that is, it may be because he never really has played an active role in the day-to-day operation of this franchise. He rarely, if ever, attends WHL meetings, so apparently hardly even knows the other owners and governors.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Kiel McLeod (Kelowna, 1997-2003) signed a one-year contract with Frisk Asker (Norway, GET-Ligaen). He had 18 goals and 13 assists in 26 games for the Ravensburg Towerstars (Germany, 2. Bundesliga) last season.
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D Cody Carlson (Medicine Hat, Regina, Prince George, 2007-12) revealed via his Twitter account on Sunday that he has decided to attend the U of Calgary and play for the Dinos. Carlson, from Victoria, played out his major junior eligibility last season with the Prince George Cougars. He had 39 points in 72 games. . . . In 305 regular-season games, Carlson had 135 points, including 25 goals.
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The Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame inducted its inaugural class on Saturday in Swift Current. That first class included 10 players (Sid Abel, Doug Bentley, Max Bentley, Johnny Bower, Glenn Hall, Gordie Howe, Elmer Lach, Metro Prystai, Fred Sasakamoose and Bryan Trottier), one official (Dennis Pottage), five builders (Ed Chynoweth, Bill Hunter, Gordon Juckes, Athol Murray and Darryl Seaman), one grassroots contributor (Bill Ford) and five teams (1955-64 Semans Wheat Kings, 1974 Regina Pats, 1982-83 U of Saskatchewan Huskies, 1984-85 Prince Albert Raiders and 1988-89 Swift Current Broncos). . . . The Hall of Fame is to be located in the Credit Union iplex, with displays expected to be open to the public in late August or early September. . . . Some folks were given a sneak peek on the weekend. Here’s what Trottier told the Southwest Booster: “One word, spectacular. I think they totally overwhelmed me and I think they are overwhelming a lot of people that are going in there. Everyone is saying it is a great, great job. I think it is unique in style, too, with all the hockey sticks hanging around. They did a great job with the displays. The lighting in there is really special. A lot of people will hopefully come through and really enjoy it for a lot of years."

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The elephant is unleashed

It is the elephant in the WHL’s room, and Jeff Chynoweth, the president, governor and general manager of the Kootenay Ice, has let it loose.
In a revealing but not surprising interview with Regan Bartel, the veteran play-by-play voice of the Kelowna Rockets, Chynoweth, when asked about revenue sharing, said: “I would like it to happen but I’m probably in the minority. I don’t think it will, but I would love to have it happen.”
In the last conversation I had with former WHL commissioner Ed Chynoweth, a couple of months before his death on April 22, 2008, he talked about revenue sharing. The WHL was Chynoweth’s league, make no mistake about it, and he was a visionary. And in the last days of his life he saw revenue sharing, in one form or another, as the one thing that could keep the WHL together.
More than anyone else, Chynoweth always could see the value of franchises in places like Swift Current and Moose Jaw and Prince Albert and Lethbridge and, yes, Cranbrook, the home of his Ice.
Three years ago, he didn’t see the WHL as a one-for-all, all-for-one  entity; it was, he felt, losing its feeling of being a brotherhood.
"The founding fathers, the Hunters and Munros, had a vision and as much as they tested you at the end of the day they would come clean and it was what was best for the league. I don't think we have that now," Chynoweth said at the time. "We need to sit down and say, 'Hey, where are we going with this?' "
He also pointed out that team budgets that were about $150,000 some 30 years ago now are well over $1 million, perhaps even into the $1.3-million range or even higher.
"Our costs continue to go up," he said, "and we don't have any added revenue."
That hasn’t changed over the last three years. And now, with no sign of falling expenses and new revenue streams becoming harder and harder to locate, you have to wonder what’s ahead for some of these franchises.
Especially if what the Ice is experiencing can be used as a barometer.
On Jan. 9, Jeff Chynoweth made one of the biggest trades in WHL history, sending a package of eight players and draft picks to Swift Current for star forward Cody Eakin.
Chynoweth was hoping that the deal would ignite the fan base.
Has it happened?
When Bartel asked if the fans now are excited, Chynoweth responded:
“No. They’re not. They’re actually awful. . . .I’m not very happy about it.”
That, of course, won’t go over very large in the Cranbrook area.
“It’s a little frustrating,” Chynoweth continued. “To make that trade . . . people say, you make a trade like that, you’re going to get more people. For the most part, we haven’t.”
He went on to say that the Ice has had two good home crowds since Eakin stepped into the lineup.
“Our attendance is down probably 14.5 per cent the last two years,” Chynoweth said. “It’s a concern. It’s not like we’re putting a product on (the ice) that isn’t competitive. Year in and year out, we’re one of the top teams. We’ve moved four coaches on to pro hockey in eight years. We’ve made the playoffs for 13 years in a row now, the longest active streak in the Western Hockey League.”
The Ice has put together eight 40-win seasons in 13 years, something that is awfully hard to do in the major junior hockey business.
“That’s what concerns me long term,” Chynoweth told Bartel. “What happens when we have an off year? We haven’t had one and hopefully we don’t for a number of years. But it is going to happen. That’s the nature of our business.”
The Ice averaged a franchise-high 3,635 fans in 2000-01. In 2003-03, that figure was 3440. It dropped off to 2,926 the following season and then was at least more than 3,000 for five straight seasons. From 3,071 in 2008-09, it slipped to 2,807 last season. This season, after 32 of 36 home dates, the paid average is 2,490.
“We live in a community of 20,000 people,” Chynoweth continued. “There’s not a lot of options . . . entertainment-wise or whatever. This is live entertainment and it’s affordably priced. Where else can you get 3,000 people together in a small town like this.
“Unfortunately, we’re missing a demographic and I don’t know what it is. We’ve tried different things. Right now we have to continue to work hard to try to get those people back.”
Chynoweth also made no bones about the fact that he is a private businessman and, as such, is in the game to make a profit. That, he said, is the difference between his operation and that of the Swift Current Broncos, who are community owned. But if you listen closely to this part of the interview you hear a man at a loss for answers.
“They’re in business to break even; I’m in business to make money . . .,” he stated. “Profit isn’t a four-letter word; you get into business to make money. Your costs keep going up and up and up . . . that’s a good question . . . I love Cranbrook. It’s been a great 12 years here. We signed that 15-year lease two years ago when everyone thought we were going to move. I said at the time I wanted to stay. Nothing has changed. It’s a great place to raise a family. But eventually we’re going to have to get more people here.
“If it doesn’t happen we’re going to have to look at other options. That isn’t a threat . . . that’s just a fact of life. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but . . . when your numbers keep going down and down and down . . . we’re down 14.5 per cent in attendance, 23.5 per cent in advertising.”
On top of that, Chynoweth said, “We’re doing the same thing we were doing 12 years. ago. It’s frustrating.”
You can bet that the same song is being sung in Prince George, Lethbridge, Prince Albert and Swift Current, just to name four. The difference is that no one in those communities will sing in public.
In Swift Current, for example, the Broncos announced in October that they had lost $58,927 on the 2009-10 season.
The Southwest Booster reported:
“Overall the Broncos reported an $820,688 loss in hockey operations before other income such as corporate sponsorship, suite rentals, the Hockey Hounds contributions, NHL developmental and draft money, and World Junior Hockey Championship incomes were factored in.”
Chew on that for a few moments. An $800,000 loss on hockey operations!
Jordan Wall, the Broncos’ director of business operations, told the newspaper: “Really we are in a market where revenues are always tough to come by. We are trying to increase the revenue streams whenever possible. The reality is our hockey expense will always go up. It is a matter of ‘yeah we need playoffs and we need some runs’ but we can’t depend on playoffs every year. We know that we need to have a game plan on the hockey side that we know we need to make some of that cash back. On the other side we explore all the other opportunities and make sure that we can exceed what we need to exceed.”
The Broncos, who dropped 4-3 decision to the visiting Regina Pats before 2,207 fans last night, aren’t likely to make the playoffs this season. So one can only wonder what the financials will show next fall.
In Prince Albert, the Raiders haven’t made the playoffs since the spring of 2007 and have only been in three times in 10 seasons. They are tied with the Lethbridge Hurricanes for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot. You have to wonder what might happen in Prince Albert if the Raiders end up on the outside looking in once again.
In Lethbridge, a large amount of money is being spent on renovating and refurbishing the ENMAX Centre, the home of the Hurricanes. The team has said it will bid on the 2013 Memorial Cup. But it, too, struggles to draw more than 3,000 fans per home date.
The Prince George Cougars also want to bid on th3 2013 Memorial Cup. They, however, are having trouble drawing more than 2,000 fans to home games.
At the same time, there are 14 or 15 teams who average more than 4,000 fans per game, including at least six who draw more than 5,000.
You have to wonder how many of those teams would be willing to share some of the gravy with their brethren?

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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