Scout
06-17-2008, 08:44 AM
Courtesy Alan Caldwell:
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Warriors staying put & scheduling begins
The Moose Jaw Warriors are likely staying put in Moose Jaw. Their city council voted last night to build a new $61.3 million, 4,500 seat arena in downtown Moose Jaw. The facility will also include eight ice sheets for curling, and a separate indoor soccer facility will be built nearby as part of the same funding package. The cost of the project will be funded by a property tax increase which will see the average Moose Jaw homeowner paying $90 more per year in taxes.
The city would like to see construction underway by December 1. The WHL's original facility deadline of the start of the 2009-10 season is probably not attainable with that date - no one can build a facility like that in ten months - but I would imagine the WHL board of governors will vote in their meetings today and tomorrow to give the Warriors a one year extension of that deadline, meaning the team will need to have the facility ready for 2010-11.
A note here - the proposal passed city council by a vote of 4-2. If support for this project was as strong in the city as we are lead to believe, then those two councilors who voted against the project should be voted out in the next municipal election.....shouldn't they? We'll see.
Moving on here, the WHL's Eastern conference teams held their major scheduling meetings yesterday, which means there's probably tentative copies of the 08-09 schedule out there for those teams. We might start seeing them being posted on team website or around the web somewhere soon....about the only significant piece of information I have about the schedules is that apparently all five U.S. division teams will make their six-game Eastern division swings before the end of November. No word on when the Central teams will make their U.S. trips.
One last note here....Tri-City has inked goaltender Drew Owsley to a WHL education contract. Now, after signing Brett Martyniuk last week, the Americans now have FIVE goaltenders under WHL education deals. They can only play two of them, and both of last year's goalies will be back. Sure, the team can make a trade or two, but you can bet all five of those kids will not be in the WHL next year......is this the right thing to be doing? Jahraus, Martyniuk, and Owsley have given up their NCAA chances by signing these contracts and they are far from guaranteed spots in the WHL. Maybe I'm wrong and maybe all three of these kids are locks as future WHLers - or maybe none of them had any interest in the NCAA anyway - but I just don't think teams should be signing these kids unless the team is 100% sure the kid will play in the WHL eventually.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Warriors staying put & scheduling begins
The Moose Jaw Warriors are likely staying put in Moose Jaw. Their city council voted last night to build a new $61.3 million, 4,500 seat arena in downtown Moose Jaw. The facility will also include eight ice sheets for curling, and a separate indoor soccer facility will be built nearby as part of the same funding package. The cost of the project will be funded by a property tax increase which will see the average Moose Jaw homeowner paying $90 more per year in taxes.
The city would like to see construction underway by December 1. The WHL's original facility deadline of the start of the 2009-10 season is probably not attainable with that date - no one can build a facility like that in ten months - but I would imagine the WHL board of governors will vote in their meetings today and tomorrow to give the Warriors a one year extension of that deadline, meaning the team will need to have the facility ready for 2010-11.
A note here - the proposal passed city council by a vote of 4-2. If support for this project was as strong in the city as we are lead to believe, then those two councilors who voted against the project should be voted out in the next municipal election.....shouldn't they? We'll see.
Moving on here, the WHL's Eastern conference teams held their major scheduling meetings yesterday, which means there's probably tentative copies of the 08-09 schedule out there for those teams. We might start seeing them being posted on team website or around the web somewhere soon....about the only significant piece of information I have about the schedules is that apparently all five U.S. division teams will make their six-game Eastern division swings before the end of November. No word on when the Central teams will make their U.S. trips.
One last note here....Tri-City has inked goaltender Drew Owsley to a WHL education contract. Now, after signing Brett Martyniuk last week, the Americans now have FIVE goaltenders under WHL education deals. They can only play two of them, and both of last year's goalies will be back. Sure, the team can make a trade or two, but you can bet all five of those kids will not be in the WHL next year......is this the right thing to be doing? Jahraus, Martyniuk, and Owsley have given up their NCAA chances by signing these contracts and they are far from guaranteed spots in the WHL. Maybe I'm wrong and maybe all three of these kids are locks as future WHLers - or maybe none of them had any interest in the NCAA anyway - but I just don't think teams should be signing these kids unless the team is 100% sure the kid will play in the WHL eventually.