The Ice franchise began play in 1996 as the Edmonton Ice. The club was founded by Ed Chynoweth after he left his position as the Western Hockey League's president. Chynoweth moved the Ice to Cranbrook in 1998 after two dismal seasons in Edmonton. The move to Cranbrook resulted in the folding of the successful local Junior A
Cranbrook Colts and ultimately the entire
Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League as the remaining five RMJHL franchises from the
Kootenays dropped to the Junior B
Kootenay International Junior Hockey League within years of the Ice coming to the region. The Kootenay Ice found significant on-ice success in their early years. The team won WHL championships in
2000 and
2002, along with the
Memorial Cup in
2002 to become Canadian junior champions. The 2002 Ice team was inducted into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame in 2022. The latter title came under the direction of Jeff Chynoweth after Ed Chynoweth died in 2008. In 2017, the Chynoweth family sold the team to Winnipeg-based 50 Below Sports + Entertainment Inc. The company's owners, Greg Fettes and Matt Cockell, were installed as the team's governor and president, respectively. A new logo was unveiled on May 1, 2017. The team's on-ice success diminished after their third championship, with the Ice winning only one playoff series after 2011 and missing the playoffs altogether for four straight seasons between 2015 and 2019. Operating in the league's second-smallest market, attendance became an issue and the league raised questions about the team's long-term viability in Cranbrook. On January 29, 2019, the Ice announced that the team would relocate to Winnipeg after the
2018–19 season. The
Winnipeg Ice began play in the
2019–20 season. In June 2023, after ownership failed to build a suitable arena in Winnipeg, the team was again sold and relocated to
Wenatchee, Washington, where they became the
Wenatchee Wild.
WHL Championship finals •
1999–2000:
Won, 4–2 vs.
Spokane Chiefs •
2001–02:
Won, 4–2 vs.
Red Deer Rebels •
2010–11:
Won, 4–1 vs.
Portland Winterhawks Memorial Cup finals •
2002: Won, 6–3 vs.
Victoriaville Tigres ==Season-by-season record==