Central Division

Daily Dose of the Dub: Winnipeg reportedly about to land the Ice; Swetlikoff’s rights move again; Alberta names U16 roster

Written by Brandon Rivers on

Kootenay Ice headed to Winnipeg?

Something that has been rumored ever since the Ice were purchased by Winnipeg businessman Greg Fettes and his partner in business Matt Cockell is reportedly coming to fruition.

The Winnipeg Free Press is saying that the Ice will announce on Monday that not only are they moving to Winnipeg in 2019-20, they will be building a new arena.

In order to move the team, the Free Press reported that the Ice would need to get at least 14 other WHL owners. We do not know if this vote was already held. It could very well have taken place at the last board of governor’s meeting in Calgary last October when the Kelowna Rockets were announced as a 2020 Memorial Cup hosts.

Attendance has been dismal this season in Cranbrook, the current home of the Ice. They have struggled to reach even 2,200 most nights. Part of the poor attendance could be attributed to the news of an impending move to Winnipeg plaguing the Ice since mid-October.

The Ice also recently had the trade for Kelowna Rockets forward (and Winnipeg native) Jack Cowell fall through as he did not report to the team.

If the move is announced on Monday, we could see the attendance numbers drop even further.

Kelowna adds a prospect from their neck of the woods

Kelowna is the next team to own the rights to 2001-born forward Alex Swetlikoff. The third-round pick by the Seattle Thunderbirds back in 2016 failed to sign with Seattle and his rights were moved to the Lethbridge Hurricanes for d-man Kirby Proctor back on May 3rd.

On Thursday, the Rockets traded a fourth-round pick in 2022 for the rights to Swetlikoff.

The six-foot-two, 179 pound forward has 20 points through 27 games this season with the Vernon Vipers of the BCHL. He has committed to play for the University of Denver starting in 2020-21.

He was recently rated as a “C” prospect by NHL Central Scouting for the 2019 NHL Draft.

Red Deer and Edmonton home to the 2021 U20 WJCs

Hockey insider Bob McKenzie already reported that Red Deer and Edmonton will be hosting the 2021-22 U20 World Junior Championships, but it was confirmed by the Rebels on Thursday.

The 45th edition of the annual tournament that starts on Boxing Day, will be hosted by the two Albertan cities. Both cities shared in hosting the U18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup last summer and received rave reviews, resulting in the granting of the World Junior Championship.

Krebs named captain

Not surprisingly, the Ice have named top prospect for the 2019 NHL Draft Peyton Krebs as the 23rd captain in team history.

He leads the team in scoring with 32 points and is the cornerstone of the team for this season and next. That’s if he does not go straight to the NHL.

Alberta names U16 team

Hockey Alberta was the latest to name the 20 players that will be representing their province at the 2019 Canada Winter Games.

Of note is that defenseman Matt Smith is the only player who has not signed with the WHL team that drafted him in 2018 or committed to the NCAA.

14-year-old phenom Matthew Savoie made the team despite being a year younger. He is widely believed to be the top pick in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft and may end up playing a full season as he has asked for exceptional player status.

Corson Ceulemans was taken in the 5th round by Moose Jaw and has committed to the University of Wisconsin.

These 20 Albertans will be playing in Red Deer February 17-22. The winter camp will go December 15-19 in Red Deer. During this time they will play in two exhibition games.

Player WHL Team Position NCAA committed? WHL signed?
Lochlan Gordon Portland-3rd round Goalie No Yes
Drew Sim Vancouver-3rd round Goalie No Yes
Corson Ceulemans Moose Jaw-5th round Defense Wisconsin No
Marc Lajoie Tri-City-1st round Defense No Yes
Kyle Masters Red Deer-1st round Defense No Yes
Keegan Slaney Edmonton-1st round Defense No Yes
Matt Smith Edmonton-3rd round Defense No No
Olen Zellweger Everett-2nd round Defense No Yes
Craig Armstrong Prince George-1st round Forward No Yes
Colton Dach Saskatoon-1st round Forward No Yes
Jayden Grubbe Red Deer-1st round Forward No Yes
Dylan Guenther Edmonton-1st round Forward No Yes
Brett Hyland Brandon-2nd round Forward No Yes
Tyson Laventure Prince Albert-2nd round Forward No Yes
Owen MacNeil Spokane-2nd round Forward No Yes
Zack Ostapchuk Vancouver-1st round Forward No Yes
Matthew Savoie N/A Forward No N/A
Zack Stringer Lethbridge-1st round Forward No Yes
Sean Tschigerl Calgary-1st round Forward No Yes
Kai Uchacz Seattle-1st round Forward No Yes