A season worth remembering

By Jeff Bromley


A season worth remembering Just before the puck was dropped on game seven of the WHL semifinal series between the Kootenay ICE and the Swift Current Broncos this past week I asked ICE minority owner Jim Stypula if he was nervous as to the outcome of the deciding game. “Win or lose,” he replied. “The sun will still come up tomorrow.” In the aftermath of a heartbreaking seventh game loss by the ICE at the hands of the Broncos, those words of obvious truth were of little consequence to fans, players, coaches, management and even a partial media that never seems to be able to put the ‘im’ in front of it as the curtain came abruptly down on what was a season full of incredibly entertaining highs and lows. A wild ride that didn’t include that dizzying climax that puts the end on the story the way a league championship did only one year earlier.

The end of a season enables everyone to reflect on the year that was or perhaps, wasn’t. Reflection is always a subjective process. All the what ifs and the things that could’ve been done differently come to the forefront as most put on their twenty-twenty hindsight glasses and suddenly become experts at what is becoming an increasingly perfect science of looking back and saying ‘things would be different if only…’

In fact the season could be deemed overwhelmingly successful with the only noted exception being that the club failed to repeat as WHL champions, a feat that most everyone would agree is much harder than actually winning the thing in the first place. From the beginning the pressure was dumped on the shoulders of the ICE. Named the number one-ranked team in the nation right from the get go, the consensus was that the coronation as champions was only a formality. Perhaps pundits and experts alike realize now that is why they play the games. The arrival of Mike Comrie sent shockwaves throughout the league as Comrie promptly turned the WHL on its ear with his torrid scoring pace of 79 points in a scant 37 games. A grueling ten game road trip to begin the season, of which the ICE won eight, as the ICE and the region eagerly awaited the completion and christening of their brand-new home, the Cranbrook Rec/Plex. Talk first began arising that star defenseman Steve McCarthy could be sent back from the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks. The future definitely looked bright for the Kootenay ICE as they attempted to defend their WHL title.

As in any season their were bumps in the road. Face with the prospect of too many overage players, ICE G.M Bob Tory pulls the trigger on a deal that sends Dion Lassu and Brad Tutschek to Seattle for fellow overage player Bret DeCecco and up and coming defensemen Brennan Evans. The deal is looked upon with mixed reactions as it is thought that Lassu is the anchor of the ICE blueline. At the time it didn’t matter as the ICE offense was clipping along at around a five goal per game pace, DeCecco would only augment that offensive firepower. The deal for DeCecco was also an insurance policy against the possibility that Mike Comrie would sign with the Edmonton Oilers by the January 1 deadline. At the end of October, you would be hard pressed to find anyone that thought that Comrie would sign. Even in hindsight the situation is Catch 22. Take the steady defensive play of Lassu or the offensive contributions of Bret DeCecco, especially down the stretch. Which do you choose?

With the eventuality that Mike Comrie did end up signing with the Oilers over the Christmas break stunned the club and it’s fans. In an offense that was almost completely geared around Mike Comrie, the transition was far from smooth and in the sense that a tiger waits in the weeds before overtaking its prey, the Red Deer Rebels were starting to make a move on the first place ICE that would see the Rebels pass them in the standings. The club recovered from Mike Comrie leaving, making the DeCecco trade look almost prophetic in its offensive insurance. During a time- span of about a one month period, staggered over December and January, the club pressed on without the likes of Dan Blackburn (injury), Jarret Stoll and Zdenek Blatny (World Juniors) in the lineup. Add to that the fact that Slovak Marek Svatos, after lighting the league up in his first fifteen games had still not been cleared to play by the CHL due to transfer problems. If the club needed adversity to build character, it got it in spades.

Finishing up the regular season on a tear (15-3-1-2 in their last 21 games) the ICE seem poised for a lengthy playoff run. After dispatching the Moose Jaw Warriors in four straight games, it was a rematch with the Swift Current Broncos in what would be one of the closest, hardest-fought series of the playoffs. Alas, it was not meant to be. Nevertheless, the club has many things to be proud of after this season. Another 100 point season, so many team records broken that the book will have to be rewritten, Jarret Stoll and Zdenek Blatny’s success at the World Junior’s and Dan Blackburn’s coming out party in June at the NHL Draft where he’ll almost surely become the highest ICE player ever to be drafted. Probably the most successful factor in the season would be the fans and the sheer amount of them. Posting a 3650 average per game, clicking the turnstiles to the tune of over 131,000 in total attendance and topping it off with the Regina Leader- Post WHL Management/Player Poll by being voted the Eastern Conference’ best fans. In the league’s second-smallest market that is a feat that everyone can be proud of.

So the season was an overall success. Perhaps not to the extent of last season’s but you can’t win a championship every year. The future looks bright for the franchise both on and off the ice – the chance to be a champion will come again.

Mr. Stypula, you were right that even though they lost the sun did indeed rise again the next morning, perhaps not with the same glow as the day before but it did come up. With that realization came another revelation – that only 120 more sunrises until training camp opens. - I can hardly wait.