The Winnipeg ICE have come to terms on an arena deal for the upcoming Western Hockey League championship series.
On Monday evening, the ICE announced that the club had gained the support of True North Sports + Entertainment in advance of the WHL final.
Currently awaiting its opponent, the Canadian Hockey League's best team over the past two seasons will be playing out of an NHL-sized venue for the Western League's final round.
With both the Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose having been eliminated from their respective postseason rounds early enough, True North has granted the ICE permission to use its downtown facility as Winnipeg's home rink going forward.
The ICE are guaranteed to play two games at Canada Life Centre - Games 1 and 2, which are set for this Friday and Saturday.
"We would like to thank True North Sports + Entertainment for making Canada Life Centre available to host the WHL Championship," ICE president and general manager Matt Cockell said.
With Winnipeg's typical home venue - the Wayne Fleming Arena - on the University of Manitoba campus having already been nearly sold out for both games, the move makes a lot of sense for the ICE, as well as for the league's broadcast agreement with TSN.
The 57-10-1 ICE will be hosting either the Seattle Thunderbirds (54-11-1-2) or the Kamloops Blazers (48-13-4-3) in the league final, as the two clubs are currently duking it out in a back-and-forth third round battle.
Should the Blazers prevail, Winnipeg would be automatically granted a spot in the Memorial Cup, as Kamloops is the 2023 host and already provided a place in the tournament.
If Seattle comes out on top, the championship-winning club would move on to represent the WHL at the annual best-on-best-on-best showcase slated to begin on May 26.
Those interested in purchasing tickets can do so on Tuesday at 12:00 PM central time.
Fans that have already purchased tickets to either Game 1 or 2 will be contacted by a Winnipeg ICE representative on Tuesday with regards to an equivalent value seat at Canada Life Centre.
Game 1 will be played at 7:00 PM central time on Friday, while Game 2 will go at 6:00 PM on Saturday.