The Kootenay ICE are excited and pleased to announce they have 100 more tickets to the

Rockstar Outdoor Hockey Classic in Spokane.  This outdoor hockey game will be played at Avista Stadium in Spokane, WA on Saturday, January 15^th 2011 at 1:00 pm.

Avista Stadium has a seating capacity of 6,800 and as a valued Kootenay ICE fan you will have an opportunity to purchase tickets well before the general public. You will have the opportunity to purchase tickets starting Tuesday, August 31^st at 1:00 pm by calling the Kootenay ICE Office at 250-417-0322 or by filling out the enclosed order form and emailing it to info@kootenayice.net or faxing it to 250-417-0323. Tickets will be available until Tuesday, September 7^th with a limit of four tickets per household.  You MUST be a Kootenay ICE Season Ticket holder to take advantage of this offer.  Tickets are limited to 50 and are first come, first served.  A valid credit card is required when ordering.

This is sure to be a great, exciting event and a once in lifetime opportunity. We look forward to seeing you in Spokane!  For more information on the game log onto www.kootenayice.net or  www.spokanechiefs.com

Cranbrook, BC – Jeff Chynoweth, General Manager of the Kootenay ICE Hockey Club, today announced eight players will be attending National Hockey League Training Camps.

Defenseman Brayden McNabb will be attending the Buffalo Sabres Camp and Drew Czerwonka will be participating in the Edmonton Oilers Camp while Max Reinhart and Joey Leach will be attending the Calgary Flames Camp.  In addition, Matt Fraser (Vancouver), Kevin King (Dallas), Steele Boomer (Chicago) and Hayden Rintoul (Florida) have all been invited to attend NHL Training Camps in September.

“It is very rewarding for any player to attend an NHL Training Camp.  All eight of these players have a strong work ethic both on and off the ice and it will be a great learning experience which will hopefully carry into the upcoming season”,  added Chynoweth.

Kootenay ICE Training Camp starts on Thursday at 10:00 am with the returning veterans practicing at the Rec Plex.

Cranbrook, BC – The Kootenay ICE Hockey Club will open their 2010 Western Hockey League Training Camp Thursday, September 2 at 10:00 am.  This year’s Training Camp will once again combine rookie-aged players (players born in 1995), with veteran players (players born in 1990 to 1994).  All ice sessions will take place at the Cranbrook Rec Plex.

“Training Camp is an exciting start to the season.  The camp provides the opportunity for our coaches and scouting staff to see and evaluate our recently drafted players, while monitoring the progress of our veteran and list players.  With a smaller number of athletes attending camp, we expect the competition level to be very high,” commented Director of Scouting Garnet Kazuik.

A total of 63 players have been invited to Training Camp, including 19 returning players from last years team.  All Training Camp sessions will be open to the public.

2010-2011 Kootenay ICE Training Camp Schedule

Thursday, September 2      Veterans Practice                10:00 am – 11:15 am

                                                 Prospect Session                2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

                                                 Goalies Session                  4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

Friday, September 3            Team White vs. Team Black       11:00 am – 1:00 pm

                                                Team Blue vs. Team Black          6:45 pm – 8:45 pm

Saturday, September 4       Team Blue vs. Team White        10:45 am – 12:45 pm

                                                Team Black vs. Team Blue             6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Sunday, September 5         Team White vs. Team Black         9:00 am – 11:00 am

                                                Team Blue vs. Team White            2:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Monday, September 6         United Way Intrasquad Game       11:00 am – 1:30 pm

Last Thursday (April 29) wasn’t what you would call an ordinary school day for 14-year-old Luke Philp.

A Grade 9 Canmore Collegiate High School student, Philp was impatiently sitting in computer class when his father Peter broke news via text message that he had just been selected in the third round (59th overall) of the Western Hockey League (WHL) Bantam Draft by the Kootenay Ice.

“It was definitely hard to concentrate after that,” admitted an ecstatic Philp. “I had no idea where I was going, and had been thinking about it for a long time, but I’m definitely happy to be going to Kootenay. I’ve heard nothing but great things about the organization.”

Proud father Peter, who was following the draft live online from home, says it will be convenient to have his son playing major junior hockey only two hours down the road.

“I told Luke before the draft that it’s not when you get selected, it’s where you get selected to,” said Peter. “The Chynoweth’s are a great family, the Kootenay Ice are a great organization with a beautiful facility, and most importantly, it’s close to home. It couldn’t have worked out any better for him.”

A 5-9, 145-pound centre for the Airdrie Xtreme of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League (AMBHL) this past season, Philp finished second in team scoring with 59 points (30 goals, 29 assists) in 27 games, behind only linemate Torrin White (69 points) who was plucked in the first round (21st overall) by the Moose Jaw Warriors.

In all, the Xtreme had six players selected, with defencemen Spencer Jensen (14th overall), Sean Davies (143rd overall), Lenny Hackman (179th overall) and goaltender James Fisk (185th overall) being the others.

“We had a great team this year,” said Philp, who played with the Canmore Icecats up until Atom before suiting up for the Cochrane peewee AA team for two seasons and a Cochrane bantam AA squad last year. “Personally, I couldn’t have asked for a better season, but as a team it was disappointing to be knocked out of the playoffs (by Lethbridge in the divisional finals).”

Kootenay Ice director of scouting Garnet Kazuik says Philp, who was the 18th centreman taken overall, and second by the Ice, has an element not most players selected this year hone – a

combination of both speed and skill.

“We have a pretty good idea of what we have,” said Kazuik, who took in approximately 30 to 35 of Philp’s games this season. “We try and label players as Ice guys, and Luke is definitely an Ice guy. He has the two most important aspects and that is skill and skating, which should serve him well in our league.

“He still has some work to do, and he’s on the smaller side, but he definitely has the ability to make the transition to our level. Only Luke Philp will determine if he’s going to be successful, but from our standpoint, we are confident he will be.”

Philp, the lone local to be selected at this year’s draft, plans on trying out for the UFA Bisons midget AAA team this fall, before attempting to make the jump to the Dub for the 2011-12 season.