MTS IcePlex Expansion Shows Big Investment in Manitoba Moose

The Winnipeg Jets and the Manitoba Moose will be getting a big upgrade to their practice facility for the 2016-17 season, True North Sports announced Monday morning.

Kevin Cheveldayoff announced that they will be making a 21,000-square-foot (19,500-square-metre), two-story addition to the east end of the MTS IcePlex. The project is set to begin next month, and is reported to cost $7.5 million.

The IcePlex is located on the outskirts of town, near Headingly.

The new expansion will include new dressing rooms, and new training and therapeutic facilities for both the Jets and the Moose.  

This expansion may have not come to fruition without the Manitoba Moose being back in Winnipeg. The Moose are set to return this fall, after leaving Winnipeg in 2011 with the purchase of the Atlanta Thrashers franchise. This addition to the IcePlex is to not only benefit the Jets, but the Moose as well. It gives the IcePlex enough room to fit both teams comfortably, and allows the Moose to remain very close to their NHL father team.

Cheveldayoff understands the importance that the Moose to the region of Manitoba and the Jets, and this expansion to the IcePlex shows that they are here to stay for the long-term.

“The size and scope of this investment is an indication of the commitment of True North Sports and Entertainment Limited to the future of the Manitoba Moose here in Winnipeg, and the strategy of player development for the Winnipeg Jets,” Kevin Cheveldayoff stated in a news release.

“It was important for us to establish a long-term home for the American League affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets and we feel we are doing that with the construction of new offices and an expansive dressing room facility for the Moose, as well as a separate new one for the Jets who will practice at the facility when the MTS Centre is being used for Moose games and other events.”

True North Sports and Entertainment also stated in the news conference that the project will be completely funded by ownership investment, so no public funds will be needed for the project.