If the Abbotsford Heat are looking for a blueprint for franchise success, they need look no further than the Manitoba Moose.

That's the opinion of Heat head coach Jim Playfair, who holds the Vancouver Canucks' AHL affiliate in high esteem.

"We recognize their development of prospects, we recognize the respect they've gained in the league, and it's just a real good franchise," Playfair said of the Moose on Wednesday morning, between road games in the Manitoba capital.

"(Moose chairman) Mark Chipman is an unbelievable owner. I think his style of how he expects the organization to run, how they've developed a following in the community, and how they hold players accountable is, to me, really special."

Indeed, the Manitoba franchise has built itself an enviable foundation in Winnipeg. Last season, the Moose drew an average of 7,769 fans per game to the MTS Centre, their sparkling five-year-old downtown rink. That attendance figure was second only to the Hershey Bears (8,987 fans per game) in the AHL last season.

The Moose have been as successful on the ice as they are at the box office. They finished atop the AHL regular season standings last year, and made it all the way to the Calder Cup final, where they lost to Hershey in six games.

Most impressive to Playfair is the Moose's ability to develop young prospects like Michael Grabner and Cory Schneider for the Canucks while maintaining a winning on-ice product.

"You have to create an environment where it's understood that winning and (player) development goes hand-in-hand," Playfair said. "You don't have to sacrifice one for the other. You can do both when you have good character people who expect to win and who expect to play hard."

Winnipeg is a market that has known NHL hockey – the Jets played in the big league between 1979 and 1996 before moving to Phoenix – and Moose general manager Craig Heisinger said that in light of that, it's important that his franchise ice a winning product.

"And it's obviously better if your young players develop in a winning environment," Heisinger added. "We do have to find a line in the sand that fits both sides of it (developing players while winning). It's a thin line, but you've got to walk it as best you can."

On the hockey operations side, the Heat and Moose aren't exactly mirror images.

The Heat roster is almost entirely composed of Calgary Flames prospects – veteran enforcer Peter Vandermeer is the only player in the squad on an AHL contract, as opposed to a two-way NHL deal. The Moose, in contrast, sign and develop some of their own players, independently of the Canucks.

"We provide 10 of our own, at least," Heisinger explained. "That works well for us and it's worked well for Vancouver. And it works both ways, because we've gotten some good players from them."