UPDATE: The Winkler Flyers will be relocating to Morden for five home games scheduled for November.

"Even though there is a certain rivalry between Winkler and Morden, in times like this we are all on the same team," Matt Friesen, Director of Marketing and Business Operations, says.

"I would like to believe that if the shoe were on the other foot we would do the same," he says. "The amount of people that have contacted us to see how they can help has been very nice to see."

The Access Event Centre in Morden will be home to the Winkler Flyers for the following games:

Friday, November 9th vs Waywayseecappo – 7:30pm

Friday, November 16th vs Dauphin – 8:00pm

Saturday, November 17th vs Dauphin – 2:30pm

Tuesday, November 20th vs Neepawa – 8:00pm

Tuesday, November 27th vs Portage – 8:00pm

-

Four weeks without an ice surface is creating a ripple effect for a number of hockey teams and organizations in Winkler.

The sudden mechanical failure of the city's ice plant has especially put the pressure on Winkler Minor Hockey, which already books ice time in rinks around the region.

"We have an ice shortage in Winkler as it is, fortunately, we've developed good relationships with neighbouring communities... and we're going to be even more heavily reliant on them," Winkler Minor Hockey President Colin Hiebert says. "It will certainly have an impact on the amount of ice time our players will get."

The Winkler Minor Hockey season began last week, and Hiebert says they're working to reschedule games as needed to mitigate the disruption.

While work is expected to begin on the Meridian Exhibition Centre this year, which would add a second ice sheet, Hiebert says the growth of the hockey program would still outstrip the ice availability.

High school hockey teams are also scrambling to rearrange games and practices. Garden Valley Collegiate Vice Principal and Athletic Director Brendan Neufeld says the impact will be felt in their physical education classes and hockey program.

"We'll figure out things on our end, but we're feeling for the other user groups as they figure out plan B or C," he says.

However, he praised the city's recreation department for their strong communication and rapid response, "I'm very hopeful and encouraged everything will work out, it will just be some extra planning."

Hiebert also thanked the city for offering space for dry-land training during the repair. "They're trying to find ways to make the best use of our time," he says.

The cost of repairing the arena's ice plant will be around $125,000 to $135,000.

The Winkler Minor Hockey season began last week. File photo