No Longer A Secret

I need to be honest about something: I've been keeping a secret. For a number of weeks, I've known about the worst-kept secret in Winnipeg and how it was going to go down. I kept my word when it came to this secret because there was still work to be done, but it appears that Jeff Hamilton and Mike Sawatzky of the Winnipeg Free Press have let the cat out of the bag, so to speak. The WHL's Kootenay Ice are going to move to Winnipeg - that's not the secret - and will call Wayne Fleming Arena, pictured above to the left, home for two seasons. With that move to the aging rink will come a number of upgrades.

While I can't speak about all of the required upgrades at this point, I can expand on the paragraphs found in Hamilton and Sawatzky's article from Friday. Those paragraphs about Wayne Fleming Arena read,

It's unclear how long it will take to complete, but projections suggest it would take two years. While the event centre is being built, the Ice are expected to play the first two seasons at the University of Manitoba's aging Wayne Fleming Arena.

The team would only play games at the U of M, spending most of its time at its 14,000-square-foot high-performance training facility scheduled to open in March that includes team offices, coaches offices, therapy rooms, sauna and pool.

For its assistance, the U of M is set to receive up to $400,000 in free upgrades, including a new state-of-the-art scoreboard. In order to adhere to WHL standards, work will also be done on the boards and surrounding glass, as well as improvements to accommodate media and visiting teams. The main arena scoreclock is not currently operational, replaced by rudimentary scoreboards at the north and south ends of the building.

Wayne Fleming Arena has a current seating capacity of approximately 1,400 but plans are in the works to add room for as many as 600 more. The cramped quarters have the potential to create an atmosphere unlike any other in the WHL.

While none of what Hamilton or Sawatzky wrote is wrong from what I've heard, I do need to qualify a few things since it seems like Wayne Fleming Arena is some sort of run-down barn that hasn't seen any maintenance or love in years based on their writing. It's not as bad as it seems, but certainly isn't WHL-ready nor would anyone mistake it for a state-of-the-art building.

First, the scoreboard is not operational as it needed new lights in a number of areas last season to make the time clock and the scores readable. Due to the age of the scoreboard, the specific lights required for the scoreboard are no longer being made, rendering the scoreboard above center ice rather useless. While some have suggested that the school should simply buy a new one, the University of Manitoba has deemed that funds for a scoreboard are a low priority, investing instead in infrastructure and programming. I understand this approach by the school, and I can't fault them for this decision when it comes to using monies paid by students for a scoreboard 95% of them may never use.

When this opportunity presented itself to the school, I can't fault them for taking advantage of it, but let's be clear: this scoreboard is going to be used far more often by the WHL team than the Bisons will. WHL teams play 72 games per season, and half of those - 36 games - are played at home plus any applicable pre-season and post-season games. The Bisons men's and women's teams play 56 games combined each season - 14 home games each - plus a handful of pre-season and post-season games.

In short, the Ice need a scoreboard, and they'll buy the one they like because they'll use it the most over the two seasons they'll call Wayne Fleming Arena home. The Bisons get the benefit of having a new roommate who needs a cool, new TV and has the money to buy it. More importantly, they're willing to spend said money.

Second, the seating capacity of Wayne Fleming Arena has never been a problem for the Bisons before as most home games average about 100 people despite my best efforts to convince people to come and watch. During last season's national championship run, the Bisons women's team topped out at 980 fans in the rink for Game Two against the Saskatchewan Huskies in the Canada West Final. While the rink was electric, seating was still available for another 400 people if needed.

The WHL does require that more seating be available for their games, so there will be some considerable changes that will have to happen in order for the Ice to put in another 600 seats. Creativity and some imagination will be needed because I can't figure how one squeezes 600 more seats into the facility as it stands, but I'm also not an architect or engineer so I'll leave that "imagineering" up to the experts.

Third, the press box and media areas do need a major face lift, and I have personally tried to improve these facilities in my time there. It sounds crazy, but we finally have an area for coffee in the press box after enduring many seasons in frigid working conditions and opposite the concession stand. Of all the areas that will get a makeover, I'm quite excited to see what the WHL team plans to do with the press box and media areas because it's virtually non-existent right now.

However, the press box does have a very simplistic feel to it currently. There are no areas off-limits as it's one big room, and the members of the Bisons stats team can share information freely with the reporters and radio/Canada West TV team that are in the press box without having to even stand up. That gives us all a sense of camaraderie as we work to present the best broadcasts we can, and I believe we pull that magic off every week extremely well. Upgrades will never be turned away, but I am hoping we don't lose that sense of teamwork that we forge every week.

Lastly, the boards likely will be a little work, and the three-foot glass on the length of the rink won't cut it in the WHL. There will definitely be proper boards and glass with appropriate stanchions installed to give Wayne Fleming Arena seamless glass and boards with some give to them. I imagine this to be one of the first changes made when the Ice finally are given access to the arena to make the upgrades.

There are more things that will happen once the Ice formally announce their move to Winnipeg, but there's already palpable excitement for the Manitoba Bisons in that there may be some new toys to play with and some new opportunities to explore next season with the Ice joining the Bisons at Wayne Fleming Arena.

If there's one concern, the Winnipeg market may be heavily saturated with hockey once the Ice formally announce their move. As pointed out in Gregory Strong's article for The Canadian Press,

"All three of these clubs are going to be competing for the same market share," [Sports marketing specialist Richard] Powers said. "People already have their allegiance obviously to the Jets and the Manitoba Moose, to bring another team in there is going to be a very hard climb. They have a new arena to be built and they'll be limited to the capacity that they have there.

"I just don't see how it can be financially viable."

That's a major hurdle for the Ice to overcome in Winnipeg, but I do know one thing is certain: game nights for the Bisons will look significantly different next season regardless of how the Ice perform in the WHL or in the Winnipeg market.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!