The Cranbrook Colts were a Junior "B" and a Junior "A" team in Cranbrook, British Columbia . They were formed in 1970 as a Junior "B" team in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League . They were immediately successful, winning the league title in their first four years. The Colts jumped to the Junior "A" Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League in 1991, winning three league titles in their seven years in the league.
13-682: The Colts folded in 1998 and with that, the whole league (RMJHL) the year after folded, because of the forming of the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook, British Columbia , a major junior team in the Western Hockey League . The Ice relocated to Winnipeg, Manitoba after the 2018-19 WHL season , going back once again to junior "A" in the BCHL for the 2020-21 BCHL season , as the Cranbrook Bucks . In 1971,
26-473: A Junior "A" team, winning league championships in 1995, 1997, and 1998. In 1998, the Western Hockey League 's Edmonton Ice was failing and was sold and moved to Cranbrook. The Colts folded to make way for the Major Junior team. Kootenay Ice The Kootenay Ice (officially stylized as ICE ) were a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Cranbrook, British Columbia , competing in
39-662: The Memorial Cup in 2002 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 . 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
52-456: The Western Hockey League (WHL) and playing its home games at Western Financial Place . The franchise, which began as the Edmonton Ice before moving to Cranbrook in 1998, was owned by Ed Chynoweth 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
65-612: The Cranbrook Colts joined the KIJHL with a partial schedule. After going undefeated in nineteen games, Colts went on to win the league playoff title. For much of the 1970s, the Colts were the elite of the KIJHL and amongst the best British Columbia Junior B hockey had to offer. The Colts went on to win KIJHL playoff titles in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, and 1976, topping this off with Cyclone Taylor Cups as Provincial Champions in 1974 and 1975. In
78-676: The club's on-ice success, the Ice moved to Winnipeg , Manitoba in 2019, where they were known as the Winnipeg Ice . 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
91-616: The early 1980s, the Colts came back to their winning ways, taking league titles in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1987. They completed this dynastic run by winning the Cyclone Taylor Cup a total of five times, first in 1982, then consecutively in 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1987. In 1991, the Colts joined the Peace-Cariboo Junior Hockey League with a group of other KIJHL teams to form the Kootenay Division of what
104-604: The folding of the successful local Junior A Cranbrook Colts and ultimately the entire Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League as 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. The Kootenay Ice found significant on-ice success in their early years. The team won WHL championships in 2000 and 2002 , along with
117-414: 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
130-740: 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 Winnipeg Ice 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 . Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against 2004%E2%80%9305 WHL season The 2004–05 WHL season
143-657: Was played at MTS Centre in Winnipeg . On December 1, Team WHL defeated the Russian Selects 6–0 in Red Deer, Alberta before a crowd of 6,443. On December 2, Team WHL defeated the Russian Selects 5–2 in Lethbridge, Alberta before a crowd of 5,152. The 2005 WHL Bantam Draft was the 16th annual draft into the WHL. It
SECTION 10
#1732845131315156-783: Was the 39th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Twenty teams completed a 72-game schedule. The Kootenay Ice won their first Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for posting the league's best regular season record. The Kelowna Rockets defeated the Brandon Wheat Kings in the championship series of the playoffs to win their second President's Cup in three seasons and advance to the 2005 Memorial Cup tournament. Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties ; GA = Goals against; SO = Total shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average * Note: Game 2
169-595: Was to now be known as the Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League . The PCJHL had been a tiny Junior "A" league bridging the British Columbia - Alberta North-Central border since 1980. The Southern expansion into the Kootenays was an effort to increase the talent pool and to venture into an area that British Columbia Junior Hockey League had yet to claim. The Colts would continue to dominate, even as
#314685