The Wichita Wind were a minor league ice hockey team based in Wichita , Kansas from 1980 to 1983. They were the feeder team of the Edmonton Oilers (1980–81 and 1981–82 seasons) and the New Jersey Devils (1982–83). The Wind played in the Central Hockey League (CHL) at the Britt Brown Arena in the Kansas Coliseum . The team's general manager (GM) was Larry Gordon for all three seasons of existence.
21-537: In June 1980, Gordon was replaced as Oilers' GM and took over as president, owner, and GM of the Wind. The team name was picked from 6,600 entries in a name-the-team contest, and the team's mascot was an orange tornado. Roy Sommer , who went on to become coach of the San Jose Barracuda , was the captain all three seasons of the Wind's existence. The Wind was decimated by injuries in their inaugural season. In
42-485: A game against the Dallas Black Hawks on December 27, 1980, they dressed coach Garnet Bailey as a defenseman and a public relations employee as the backup goaltender ; they lost the game 6–3. Bailey was described by Tom Roulston as "just like a big kid", who also said that many practices consisted of half-ice scrimmages and shootouts . The team played to sixth place at 32 wins, 45 losses, and 3 ties in
63-407: A game in which the team received 19 fighting penalties , Muckler and eight other members of the organization spent a night in jail for a nightclub altercation. The owner of a disco club asked police to remove the players from his property; Muckler said police "panicked" and "didn't handle the situation very professionally". After winning twice and tying once in their last three games, the Wind finished
84-625: A new arena failing to materialize, the Ice were put up for sale in 2023, after a season that saw the team reach the league final. David and Lisa White, who owned and operated the British Columbia Hockey League 's Wenatchee Wild —a successful junior A club that in 2018 became the first American team to win the BCHL title in four decades —purchased the Ice with the intention of moving the team to Wenatchee. The Whites announced that
105-649: A two-year commitment while GM Gordon wanted a one-year lease. Additionally, the team lacked a practice facility; Gordon said the team "bent over backward to keep hockey in Wichita". A preliminary agreement was reached to move the team to Yellowstone METRA (now Rimrock Auto Arena ) in Billings , Montana , where they later became the Montana Magic during the 1983-84 season. List of Wichita Wind alumni who played more than 100 games in Wichita and 100 or more games in
126-776: The National Hockey League or the World Hockey Association . Roy Sommer Roy A. Sommer (born April 5, 1957) is an American ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey player, who currently serves as the head coach for the Wenatchee Wild of the Western Hockey League . Sommer played three games for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League during the 1980–81 season , before spending
147-703: The San Jose Barracuda , Sommer became the winningest head coach in AHL history when he reached 637 wins. He surpassed Bun Cook , who spent 19 seasons as a head coach in the AHL. He won the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL's coach of the year in 2017 after leading the Barracuda to the best regular season finish in the AHL's Pacific Division. On December 11, 2019, after the NHL San Jose Sharks fired head coach Peter DeBoer and his staff, Sommer left
168-798: The Western Hockey League . Founded in 1996 as the Edmonton Ice , the franchise was known as the Winnipeg Ice from 2019 until 2023, when it was purchased and relocated to Wenatchee ahead of the 2023–24 season . The Wild play in the U.S. Division of the WHL's Western Conference, hosting games at the Town Toyota Center . The Wild franchise originated as the Edmonton Ice, a WHL expansion team added in 1996. After two years in Edmonton,
189-618: The Adams Cup championship series. Don Murdoch was named playoff MVP after accumulating 17 goals and 7 assists over 18 games, a CHL playoff record for points. After the season, center Don Ashby , the Wind's second-leading scorer, died in a car crash. The Wind, now coached by John Muckler , concluded the 1981–82 pre-season with a 5–4 loss to the Golden Eagles. A good checking team but lacking in offensive power, only four Wichita players averaged over one point per game. Following
210-812: The BCHL team would cease operations, with the Wild name and branding being adopted by the WHL team. The new team was added to the U.S. Division of the Western Conference of the WHL, alongside new in-state rivals, the Seattle Thunderbirds , Everett Silvertips , Spokane Chiefs , and Tri-City Americans , as well as the Portland Winterhawks . On July 13, 2023, the team announced that Kevin Constantine —a former Silvertips and National Hockey League head coach—had been hired as
231-587: The New Jersey Devils replaced the Oilers as the Wind's parent team. The Wind missed the playoffs for the first time, finishing in sixth place with a 29–48–3. They were eliminated from playoff contention early in the season. It was announced after the season that the team would not play in Wichita a fourth year because of conflicts over the lease on the Kansas Coliseum. The Coliseum's owners wanted
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#1732798208896252-598: The San Jose Barracuda to serve as the Sharks associate coach under interim head coach Bob Boughner . After working the final 37 games of the 2019–20 NHL season with the Sharks, Sommer returned to the Barracuda on September 22, 2020. Sommer won his 800th game as a head coach on January 8, 2022, against the Henderson Silver Knights . On May 18, he transitioned to a senior advisory role within
273-646: The day of the Gulls' final game of the season against the Colorado Eagles . Sommer and his wife, Melissa, have three children together: son Marley, who has Down syndrome , son Castan, who coaches men’s ice hockey at College of the Holy Cross , and daughter Kira. Wenatchee Wild The Wenatchee Wild are an American major junior ice hockey team based in Wenatchee, Washington and playing in
294-639: The most coaching wins in the American Hockey League , as its new coach. The Wild's first regular season game took place on September 22, 2023, when they hosted the Portland Winterhawks. The Wild trailed 4–1 in the first period, but came back to win the game by a score of 6–5. The Wild went on to win 34 games and secured a playoff spot, facing off against the Kelowna Rockets in the first round. The Rockets prevailed in
315-585: The original Ice moved to Cranbrook, British Columbia —which would be one of the smallest cities in the league—and became the Kootenay Ice . After two decades in Cranbrook, which included three league championships and a Memorial Cup title, the team relocated to Winnipeg in 2019. However, with the Ice playing in the league's smallest venue on the University of Manitoba campus, and with promises for
336-588: The regular season 44–33–3, first in the league's South division. In the first round of the playoffs, the Wind swept three games from the Nashville South Stars ; 1981–82 was their only season in the CHL. In the following round, Wichita was dismissed by the Checkers after losing four consecutive games. In August 1982, Muckler was named assistant coach of the Oilers and replaced by Andy Laing. Additionally,
357-573: The regular season, also gaining the most penalty minutes . Bailey's club won its first playoff series against the Indianapolis Checkers in the decisive fifth game 6–5 on a goal by Tom Roulston, the league's leading scorer. The Wind won the following series 4–2 against the Dallas Black Hawks , who led the regular-season standings. The Wind lost in seven games to the reigning champions, the Salt Lake Golden Eagles , in
378-560: The rest of his playing career, which lasted from 1977 to 1987, in the minor leagues. He was the head coach of the American Hockey League 's San Jose Barracuda from 1998 to 2019 and from 2020 to 2022. The Barracuda, the AHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks , has also been known as the Kentucky Thoroughblades , Cleveland Barons , Worcester Sharks throughout his tenure. He was the longest-tenured head coach with
399-623: The same organization in the AHL and has the most AHL wins as head coach. Sommer grew up in the San Francisco area where he played youth hockey for Skyline High School before moving to Calgary at age 17. He was the first product of California hockey to reach the NHL. On November 1, 2009, while with the Worcester Sharks , Sommer became just the fourth head coach in AHL history to reach 400 wins. On February 10, 2016, while with
420-529: The team as assistant John McCarthy was named his successor. In 24 seasons with the Sharks organization, he recorded 808 wins against 721 losses, 48 ties, and 159 overtime defeats. On July 12, 2022, shortly after Mike Grier was hired to replace Doug Wilson as the Sharks GM, Sommer was named head coach of the San Diego Gulls . On April 15, 2023, Roy Sommer announced his intention to retire on
441-412: The team's first coach. However, Constantine was suspended indefinitely by the WHL on September 25, only days into the team's inaugural season, pending an independent investigation into alleged violations of the league's regulations and policies. Constantine's contract was terminated by the club on October 5 and on October 12, 2023, the team announced that it had hired Roy Sommer , who holds the record for
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