Kootenay Ice

The Kootenay Ice initially started play in 1996 as the Edmonton Ice. The team relocated to Cranbrook, British Columbia, for the 1998-99 season. The team only won 31 games in two seasons in Edmonton, but were much more successful in Kootenay. Under coach Ryan McGill, who is now an NHL assistant, the team greatly improved and won 44 then 45 games in consecutive seasons. 

The Ice were downright dominant through the early 2000s, winning league titles in 2000 and 2002. In 2002, they went all the way and won the Memorial Cup. That 2002 team was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame, and featured multiple future NHLers including Marek Svatos and Jarret Stoll. The team would have a very long streak of making the playoffs, which would last all the way to 2015.

In 2011, the team won another league title under Kris Knoblauch, the current Oilers coach. That team also featured future big leaguers, including Cody Eakin and Bryaden McNabb. After Knoblauch left for the OHL, the team looked again to McGill to lead them, and had three more successful years under McGill. 

Unfortunately, McGill left after the 2014-15 season and things were never quite the same in Cranbrook. They won only 26 games combined in the two seasons after McGill left. In 2019, the team was sold and relocated to Winnipeg.