The Cold Lake Wings are a recent addition to a brand new hockey league, and will ice a team for the 2018-19 season.
The Wings joined the Western Provinces Hockey Association (WPHA), as one of eight Junior A teams the league is now home to in the Western Provinces division. The WPHA is a division of the Western States Hockey League (WSHL). Between 70 to 80 per cent of WSHL players go on to play collegiate hockey in Canada and the States.
The WSHL were looking to branch out to add Canadian teams, and the WPHA was formed.
Sales and marketing director for the Wings Lauren Barr said one of the founders of the WPHA "tried diligently" for a number of years to get a Cold Lake franchise to join the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), the existing Junior A hockey league currently home to the Bonnyville Pontiacs.
The idea never materialized, and the WPHA saw an opportunity to have a Cold Lake team.
The Wings have yet to find an owner for the team, and the league will retain ownership until one is found. The head coach of the Wings is a former Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks enforcer, Johnathan Aitken.
Barr says the league runs on a "academy style" system and aims for players coming out of midget looking to play high level hockey, around 18 and 19 years old.
The players will pay between $8,000 to $10,000 a season to play for a WPHA team, which Barr compared to paying for "tuition." The money goes towards a full support staff, travel, and booking ice time, Barr said.
"We're excited to have Junior A hockey in our community," Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland said.
Copeland said a representative from the WSHL visited Cold Lake multiple times, and was "taken aback" by the facilities the town offers with regards to hockey.
"It was a long time ago we built the arena, sort of with the AJHL requirements in mind. We had built it for that purpose, to have Junior A hockey."
The Cold Lake Energy Centre seats 1,500, where the Cold Lake Ice, and now Wings, will play. A second rink attached to the Energy Centre that holds 400 seats is also almost complete and will be used for minor hockey, according to Copeland.
The Wings could recruit as many foreign players as they choose, and ice an unlimited amount of players who are 20 years old.
This is because the WPHA is not sanctioned by Hockey Canada. Some people refer to non-sanctioned leagues like the WPHA as an outlaw league.
Barr wanted to expel a rumour that claims players who leave a Hockey Canada sanctioned league cannot return to one after playing at least one game.
"Hockey Canada cannot have a monopoly on hockey. They cannot penalize players for advancing. It is in fact, a lie, that players who play in a (non-sanctioned) league, can't play again for Hockey Canada."
Cold Lake Ice
When it comes to relationship between the Jr. B Cold Lake Ice and the Wings, Barr says the possible feelings of animosity may be displaced.
“We’ve certainly been very kind to the Junior B team. Junior B hockey and Junior A hockey are very different hockey,” she said.
“We’re really not in competition with (the Ice), it appears they may feel (like) that.”
Front office management for the Ice could not be reached for comment.
When it comes to dollars and cents, Barr claimed they've attracted new sponsors who hadn't been affiliated with the Ice.
“Most of our sponsors have never sponsored the Jr. B team . . . Maybe the (Ice) aren’t happy to have a new team in town, but this is an opportunity for Cold Lake to have high level hockey.”
Barr added that having the additional team will allow the community the opportunity to have a “choice” as to which team to support.
"We’re happy to work in association with Jr. B, and I don’t believe we’ve hurt them at all."
Copeland said both hockey clubs have signed off on what he called "user agreements" with the city.
"There are slight differences between the two (agreements), but basically they're carbon copies," said the mayor.
The agreements sort out ice rental costs and other day-to-day items that come about when running a hockey team. Advertisement and sponsorship within the confines of the arena will essentially be split down the middle for the Wings and Ice, Copeland said.
"Both teams are being treated the same," Copeland continued.
"We hope both teams are going to work in collaboration together," he said, adding an ideal situation would have ticket bundles including games to both the Ice and Wings available for purchase.
For the inaugural year, the Wings logo is currently painted on centre ice. Copeland said the logos at centre ice will alternate each year, so the Ice will have its logo on display in the 2019-20 season.
The 52-game Wings season kicks off at home against the Edson Aeros on Sept. 28. Games will be played on the weekends, with an occasional visit from an American club, the first being Nov. 10 against the Bellingham Washington Blazers.
The Ice begin their NEAJBHL season in St. Paul, on Sept. 28 against the Canadiens.
