Hockey season heating up for Winnipeg Freeze

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This article was published 17/08/2021 (1499 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Freeze, which plays in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, will call Dakota Community Centre home for the upcoming season.

According to a news release, the league’s newest team has formed a partnership with the St. Vital-based centre to practise, train and play all its home games at the Jonathan Toews Sportsplex at DCC starting in the fall.

The Freeze — whose players range in age from 16 to 20 and who come from across the city — is a junior hockey team with a focus on training and developing some of the province’s future stars in the sport.

The team is owned by 50 Below Sports + Entertainment, the same group that owns the Winnipeg Ice, which plays in the Western Hockey League, and the Winnipeg Blues, another of the MJHL’s 12 member clubs.

Jake Heisinger, Winnipeg Freeze’s governor, told The Lance that Dakota’s role in the southeast Winnipeg community for the last three-and-a-half decades, as well as its programming growth and continued expansion, played an important part in cementing the partnership.

“It’s very exciting,” said Heisinger, who is also vice-president of hockey operations and assistant general manager of the Winnipeg Ice.

“When we started talking with Michele (Augert, Dakota Community Centre’s chief operating officer) and the team at Dakota to see if we were a potential fit, lots of things aligned. As well, there are lots of minor hockey teams in the Dakota area, and we’re really excited to move into the community. We think it’s going to be a good fit for everybody.”

Noting the significance of the appointment of Harry Mahesh as the team’s head and general manager earlier this year, Heisinger said the Freeze program is based on high performance and training and providing the players with the opportunity of reaching the level they want to attain on the ice.

“A big part of our program is player development, and Harry is a leader in this respect — both on and off the ice,” he said.

“It’s also about the players having a good time and enjoying what they do. At the end of the day, if a player coming into the program wants to develop, our coaches will do whatever they can to assist with that and help become a springboard. I’m looking forward to getting things underway and think it’s going to be a really exciting season both for us and Dakota.”

In a news release, Dakota’s Augert said the centre is proud of its hockey heritage and is excited about the new partnership.

“It’s no secret that our city and community love watching and playing hockey,” Augert said.

“We have the ideal setup at our centre with superior ice and training facilities and we are very excited to welcome the Winnipeg Freeze to Dakota CC this fall.”

Formed last year, the Freeze managed to play a number of games before the season was stopped prematurely owing to the COVID-19 pandemic

At press time, the Freeze was scheduled to meet the Blues in its first pre-season home game of the 2021-22 season on Sept. 9.

Go online at www.dakotacc.com and www.wpgfreeze.ca for more information.