The WHL is making some big moves these days; their Champion is from Seattle*, the consensus 1st overall pick of this year’s draft plays in their league, and 7 of their alumni just got their names added to the Stanley Cup.
And now, they’re in Central Washington State, taking up the name the Wenatchee Wild.
From Winnipeg to Washington
The team coming to Chelan County previously called themselves the Winnipeg ICE (yes, with “Ice” capitalized. No, I don’t know why), who came into the league in 1996. They’ve moved around quite a bit; spending time in Edmonton and Cranbrook, British Columbia. Their time in Cranbrook was their most fruitful years; winning the WHL Championship three times, and the Memorial Cup once in 2011. While they led the WHL Eastern Conference all season and effectively slept-walked their way to a Chynoweth Cup appearance…they couldn’t overcome the Thunderbirds, and lost in 5.
Their time in Winnipeg is over, and now, they inherit their name of Wenatchee Wild, playing at the Town Toyota Center.
Wait…Inherit?
Wenatchee’s Junior Hockey History
Yes indeed inherit, as the new owner of the Wenatchee Wild didn’t just buy them and relocate them, he’s rolling them in with a previously existing team in the Junior A BCHL league. The team came into existence in 2008, and have been members of the NAHL and BCHL, being generally mediocre in their first few years of existence, being moved, and then being revived as the Fresno Monsters needed a place to be; getting the go-ahead from Hockey Canada and USA Hockey to jump ship and join the BCHL, where their fortunes changed dramatically; having been in the playoffs every year, and winning their Conference in 2017.
The BCHL is going independent this year, and it seems the ownership group felt better having their investment playing in a league that had stable support, and opted to buy the ICE to bring them to the Columbia River’s side!
Might have to give another pass at that logo, on the other hand.
It’s a good idea, just maybe find a way to integrate the wolf into the Roundel a little better…maybe choose a different font…
I’m just saying, you don’t have to do it now, but it’ll work to help you later on.
Of course, the question that remains is what’s happening to the BCHL franchise now that they’ve moved. Little official word has been made about the future of the BCHL in Wenatchee, but concerns of those who made their way there for try-out camps may be caught in the breeze or brought along for the ride are out there, and have yet to be answered.
Washington Hockey League
Washington and the WHL go back a good long way, starting of course with the Seattle Thunderbirds, who were established in the earliest of early 70’s and have proudly represented Seattle (well, Kent, but you know what I mean) for 52 years. On the other side of the state, we have the Chiefs, who’ve been kicking around for just over 40. In Southern Washington we have the Tri-City Americans, who’ve lived as the old guard of the Washington teams as a WHL original.
Beyond their commonality of location, they’re also generally pretty good as well. The WHL’s Western Conference featured 8 teams going to the playoffs this year, and all but Spokane ended up making their way to fight for glory. One of them even won the Ed Chynoweth Cup outright!
So we wish them good luck in their upcoming season…and get ready.
They might’ve been able to roll their way through the East, but the WHL West runs through Washington these days.
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