Winnipeg Ice

[bomberjet]

It's the scheduling part. Prime time ice goes for over $300 an hour. But you get limited when rinks need to reserve space for the City league play. It pushes tenants to other rinks.

Not sure if anyone on here has tried booking ice for a season of beer leagues. You get shut out of all prime time ice and a lot of rinks actually. A place such as Gaetway will not book your ice time for the year until after the leagues are confirmed. This is too late for a lot of beer leagues. So you end up at West K at 11pm. Not sure if you've played there lately. A garbage dump. This has been my experience over the last few years.

This is the same for the Rink. If they had to reserve ice all year for the Bison, they would lose out on other leagues and revenue potentially. From my point of view anyways. The difference here being they will have the multiplex for normal leagues and such. The main rink will be mostly reserved for the WHL team, I would presume.

[CoryB]

The thing is when the Bisons play a rink is offline for rentals, whether it be Wayne Fleming of the massive spectator capacity one being built for the Ice.

If Bisons get "free" ice time at the Ice rink which is never going to rent for $300/hour anyway and then turn over Wayne Fleming rentals for that same block of time back to the Ice to be rented to say a Manitoba Junior team it could be a win-win across the board. It isn't like the Bisons are hard pressed to find ice time somewhere for their home games.

In moving those home games to The Rink there is potential to grow the fan base and otherwise monetize the games.

As I said previously, MTS Centre will sit completely idol at prime evening slots of a Saturday night before they are renting it out to some beer league team. The home ice sheet for the Ice is going to be the same -- it is generally not available for rental to anyone, at any price, at any time.

[esquire]

^ I can understand why TN doesn't rent out the MTS Centre to rec league teams... the hassle of maintaining pristine, spotless everything, NHL-level conditions isn't justified by the market prices that the ice would command. Especially when you factor in the security costs, lighting and mechanical, etc. that a building that big requires. It's just not worth the trouble to rent it out for $600 or whatever and then have to bring in your guys to clean up every trace of the puck marks, the loogies all over the bench area, the dressing rooms and washrooms, etc. Not to mention all the other additional costs of opening the place up. They do make it available for minor hockey games, but I'm not sure exactly what the terms are and what they charge for use... it's probably more a charitable act than a moneymaking endeavour.

On the other hand, I'd be pretty surprised if The Rink was that selective with its users. Sure the Ice will bring in some money, but I doubt it will be that much that they could afford to pass on bookings. Most WHL rinks are basically community arenas anyway... are there any (besides the ones that double as NHL venues) that are the exclusive preserve of WHL teams? Maybe there are a couple, but I'd wager that most are like the Keystone Centre that are used by minor hockey teams and rec leagues too.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by esquire

They do make it available for minor hockey games, but I'm not sure exactly what the terms are and what they charge for use... it's probably more a charitable act than a moneymaking endeavour.

They call it the "Big Ice Challenge" and it is associated with Moose games. We have done quite a few over the years. They are either 5pm before a 7pm Moose game or 1 hour after a Moose afternoon game. You sell tickets to your hockey team families ($20) for the accompanying Moose game and get to watch your child play prior/after. The kids and coaches get in for free, and the kids all get a drink, slice of pizza and Moose Antlers for taking part. They parents are only allowed in 2 sections of the arena.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Biff

They call it the "Big Ice Challenge" and it is associated with Moose games. We have done quite a few over the years. They are either 5pm before a 7pm Moose game or 1 hour after a Moose afternoon game. You sell tickets to your hockey team families ($20) for the accompanying Moose game and get to watch your child play prior/after. The kids and coaches get in for free, and the kids all get a drink, slice of pizza and Moose Antlers for taking part. They parents are only allowed in 2 sections of the arena.

Cool, thanks for the insight. My son is just starting with hockey so he hasn't done one of those yet, but I have seen this event crop up on Instagram several times from my friends who have older kids.

[CoryB]

People keep overlooking a key point on my Bison hockey home games at The Rink suggestions -- The Rink would do a straight trade - Bison home game for rentable ice time **in the same time block** at Wayne Flemming.

Also the costs, cleaning, etc that limit the ability to rent out MTS Centre are all going apply to the large sheet of ice at The Rink. Perhaps they will use it for the RHA similar to how True North is heavily using the Camp Manitou rink now for their Jets Academy. At least if it is The Rink's in house RHA they have more control over what is happening there.

That said if your beer league wants to pony up the cash and play in a 4,500 seat arena perhaps The Rink folks will be willing to take the cash. Chances are most beer leagues will take a hard pass on that.

Where The Rink's WHL arena might make sense is MJHL games, Bison games, high school play off games, etc. The end effect is pulling in things that are otherwise using up ice time currently elsewhere and freeing that up.

As I mentioned elsewhere for games lower than the WHL level it isn't so much about making bank on the ice time rental itself but all the possible incremental revenue streams like concessions, etc. More people as spectators = more revenue. It's fairly simple and sorry, beer league games just aren't going to bring the needed cash to the table.

[esquire]

^ It's not a bad idea but I have never seen any indication that the U of M is willing to lift a finger to entice people to come out to hockey games. For better or for worse they seem satisfied with their current arrangement where they play in their own rink, in front of a smattering of parents and girlfriends. If anything like what you describe happens, it'll only be because 40 Below (what a dumb name) takes the initiative and sells the Bisons on it.

[bomberjet]

They used to rent out BellMTS. We would get ice there once a year in the spring. This was only a few years back, after NHL return. After hockey season, before they took the ice out. But now since the Jets and Moose are there, and of course PLAYOFFS. They don't rent out ice anymore to the public.

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by esquire

Cool, thanks for the insight. My son is just starting with hockey so he hasn't done one of those yet, but I have seen this event crop up on Instagram several times from my friends who have older kids.

my kids are 12 & 14 and playing AA/AAA, love my hockey family & watching them play! (despite it costing me lots $, time & gas)

[esquire]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

my kids are 12 & 14 and playing AA/AAA, love my hockey family & watching them play! (despite it costing me lots $, time & gas)

Nice!

My son is 5 and just finished a year of 'learn to play hockey'... he loves it and he's obsessed with the game. I can't wait until he joins his community club team this fall

[esquire]

Winnipeg Ice doing its damndest to put some lipstick on a pig for the next couple of years with its unveiling of planned upgrades for Wayne Fleming Arena which will hold 1,600 people:











I suppose that at the very least there won't be any bad seats seeing that it's such a small venue, but I suspect it's going to be a tough road for the team spending the next couple of years in a venue better suited to the MJHL than to the dub.

[buzzg]

There’s so many ads I can’t even tell what I’m looking at.

[esquire]

^ Yeah, it's a little on the busy side

[Ando]

I think they are doing a great job given the short window they are dealing with. I’ll reserve judgement on the outcome of the renos until it’s done.

[blueandgoldguy]

It would be nice if they could install little butt cushions on the benches - one for each designated spot.

[Winnipeg Grump]

Gawd, I hope they fix the ice. Max Bell has the WORST ice I've ever skated on.

[esquire]

I love their seating chart... the entire rink is premium seating except for the first row or two of a couple sections



Do we know how much game tickets actually are? The website just refers to a "monthly membership fee"

[bomberjet]

It says they will release single game tickets later due to the demand for seasons. Based on that, I'd expect minimal tix to be available.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

It says they will release single game tickets later due to the demand for seasons. Based on that, I'd expect minimal tix to be available.

I would imagine there will be a good number of tix floating around on the resale market. You would have to be a pretty hardcore fan to go to every game.

[bomberjet]

I would imagine so.