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They're not reservations for season tickets - they're deposits for season tickets. Effectively to have a place in line. This isn't people putting down hundreds or thousands of dollars for seats yet, technically. It's nitpicky on my behalf. |
^ The Ice are clearly trying to give the impression that demand is red hot... I guess the media outlets are just reprinting press releases instead of probing any further.
That said, with only 1,400 seats available in their temporary venue, I suspect that they should have no trouble coming close to selling out the building with season tickets. Selling 1,300 STs is very realistic, although I don't expect it to happen on day one of ticket sales. The U of M's arena flat out sucks as a venue for high level hockey, but having it full every night should help to generate some good atmosphere. |
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Could put in some Honda Civics or maybe a van. Those are more in line with the regular crowd. I guess luxury German vehicles fit in with the RHA demographic. kids whos parents have money.
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I guess it’s it a lose-lose situation then.
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^ It's actually a good thing in my view. Even the modest upgrades for the Ice will be more than the U of M would ever do, so the Bison hockey teams will at least get to play in a somewhat upgraded venue as a legacy of the Ice's two year tenancy.
Even the sad state of the Wayne Fleming Arena is offset to some extent by its intimate size. Those fortunate enough to have tickets will be up close to the action, so it should be enough to make you forget that there is a blank brick wall on the other side of the ice. |
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Either way, I was more joking about the vehicles. It's just a render. Don't we usually get Jessica Biel in our favourite architect's renders?! :) |
The renderings for the Forks Common had celebrities inserted and it turned out well. Injecting Jessica Biel into anything seems like a good idea.
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Well not a washed up 80's band, that's for sure! They are a recent Juno award and CCMA award winning Canadian band. They played in Calgary at a Stamps game at half time in that series of promotions that the CFL did last year. The James Barker Band is a Canadian country group formed in Ontario. The band consists of James Barker, Taylor Abram, Connor Stephen, and Bobby Martin. In 2015, they won the Emerging Artist Showcase at the Boots and Hearts music festival and the following year, they were signed to Universal Music Canada. The group is best known for their top 10 singles "Lawn Chair Lazy" and "Just Sayin". Their debut extended play, Game On, was released April 21, 2017. The band received two Juno Award nominations for Breakthrough Group of the Year and Country Album of the Year at the 2018 Juno Awards, winning the second. In 2018, the band's song "Chills", cowritten by Barker, Gavin Slate, Travis Wood and Donovan Woods, received a SOCAN Songwriting Prize nomination and won the award for Single of the Year at the Canadian Country Music Awards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Barker_Band |
The Ice managed to win the first pick in the upcoming WHL bantam draft... off to a roaring start.
I'll be curious to see how the uptake is for this product over the next couple years. I honestly wonder if the ownership group shouldn't have kept them in Cranbrook for another year or two, until the rink is built. You'd have to be a big, big WHL fan to want to pay good money for season tickets to sit on the planks at the U of M's arena for at least two years... |
IMO, it'll be a tough go for them before getting in the new rink. Part of the draw will be to see the new building and all. But they do have enough reservations to sell out U of M. So that's something.
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having local talent on the team will aid them in drawing, last year #2 overall was Lambos a Winnipeg boy. and also when the visiting team has local talent. there's lots Manitobans in the WHL or getting ready to enter the WHL.
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I think they know what they are doing and I think they will do well, UofM arena or not, and they are making improvements to it.
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FP article alludes to a “major overhaul” of the UofM arena with “very significant” changes.
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sp...507550092.html |
In terms of the Ice - growing up there were people I knew who were routinely being scouted by WHL and invited to camps. These would never been NHL level players and likely not even AHL level. That said not every player at the WHL level is that level of player. Knowing where their skill level is it was fairly common for these players to ultimately not go to the WHL. Having a WHL team in Winnipeg could pull in a class of players that are good enough to play in that league that are currently deciding to not play there as they don't want to move away from Winnipeg. That is something the Ice could change. Yes, WHL players have a draft but like the other leagues there are always undrafted players.
-- In terms of The Rink, I wonder if the Bison hockey program might move their games there as well and Wayne Fleming basically becoming the Ice Plex to The Rink, aka the practice rink, especially for the Bison. The other aspect The Rink brought to mind this weekend is the location is going to need a traffic light on McGillvary but where the light is needed the road is a provincial highway. Going to be interesting to see how that plays out. |
^ Unless The Rink offered the Bisons a sweetheart deal, I would be greatly surprised if they moved their games there. Wayne Fleming Arena isn't much, but it's home to the Bisons and they presumably have a pretty good arrangement with first dibs on the place. Plus, the U of M has demonstrated on numerous occasions that it has no interest in building up any sort of fanbase for its sports teams, so I doubt they would have any interest in The Rink in that regard.
And also, for The Rink, having the Bisons would mean giving up some pretty prime ice time. Seeing that the Bisons can't/won't pay market rate for that ice, it's a burden The Rink would have to bear. Bottom line, I see the U of M Bisons just carrying along business as usual at their home rink which will be spiffed up courtesy of the Ice with a new scoreboard, some new concessions and a coat of paint, so it won't look quite like the community club arena circa 1981 that it currently looks like. Maybe that will entice a few fans to come out. |
^^ Keep in mind one thing that reportedly contributed significantly to the end of Jets 1.0 is they didn't share in the arena concessions or parking. Take a look at the SHED and how the Chipman companies have really cornered the market on parking and pre and post game venues. Even if they aren't directly the operator they are making money by leasing the space.
The same could apply for The Rink and the Bisons hockey program, make the money off other aspects. It also gives The Rink/Ice folks a chance to sell a bundle with the tickets for both teams and work on bigger sponsorship deals. Covering both the men's and women's teams we are talking about approximately 40 games. That would be similar to the number of home games the Moose have and there are still lots of dark nights at MTS Centre. Yes demand for overall ice team in the city is high but the question is can you generate more than the $200 or so an hour for ice time rental from concessions, parking, ticketing service fees, etc from a Bison game. Further, if they do a straight trade in time with the Bisons - The Rink for Wayne Fleming you aren't losing out on rentable ice time slots and 99.9% of the ice rentals are going to need an arena that size of either venue. It isn't like your kids u10 hockey team is getting ice time at MTS Centre even if it is otherwise completely idle that day. |
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