MJHL’s Winnipeg Freeze re-brand to Monarchs
Advertisement
Manitoba Junior Hockey League fans in Steinbach will see a new team to play on next year’s schedule, as the Winnipeg Freeze have re-branded to the Winnipeg Monarchs.
The MJHL franchise began play in 2020, owned by 50 Below Sports, who also owned the Winnipeg Ice Western Hockey League team.
The Monarchs name is rich in history. A junior team bearing that name was founded in 1930, competing up until 1978, when they were re-named to the Winnipeg South Blues.
The Blues still play as the other Winnipeg-based team in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
“We wanted to pay homage to the long hockey history that we have in Winnipeg and the MJHL,” Monarchs Governor Chet Pickard said in a MJHL news release.
The Freeze have had little success on the ice since 2020, finishing at the bottom of the league standings every year. Since the 2021/2022 season, the first full season after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Freeze have never finished with more than 10 wins in a season. This year they only managed to win six games.
“On behalf of the MJHL Board of Governors, we are excited at the new direction that the organization will be taking as they embark on this new era of Monarchs hockey in Winnipeg and the MJHL,” MJHL Commissioner Kevin Saurette said.
“With this change, the expectation is that the standards will be raised both on and off the ice, to help ensure positive progress and success for the organization moving forward for the benefit of all involved.”
The newly minted Monarchs wasted no time to make changes, naming Zach Franco as the team’s new head coach and general manager.
Franco played with the Blues before four seasons in the Western Hockey League and four years in USports split between Acadia and the University of Manitoba. He coached the St Boniface Riels of the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League before joining the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL as an assistant in 2024.
“The Monarchs have a strong tradition of player development and resources to make this a great place to play,” Franco said.
“I am looking forward to working with the organization, our fans, sponsors, and most of all, the players to build a positive hardworking culture within the league and our community! It’s great to be back in Winnipeg and to get started in our world-class training facility at the hockey for all centre.”
The team will still play their games at the Hockey for All Centre. Earlier this year, the Blues announced they would be moving from the centre to a RINK Hockey Academy arena in southwest Winnipeg.