Australian Junior Ice Hockey League

Australian Junior Ice Hockey League
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2013–14 AJIHL season
Sport Ice hockey
Founded 2012
Owner(s) Ice Hockey Australia
Inaugural season 2012–13
No. of teams 6
Country Australia
Most recent champion(s) Sydney Maple Leafs

The Australian Junior Ice Hockey League (AJIHL) is an Australian junior ice hockey sanctioned by Ice Hockey Australia. Open to players 20 years of age or younger, the AJIHL has four teams based in the cities of Melbourne and Sydney. The league was formed in 2012 and its first season starting in the same year. The league runs from October to March.

History

The Australian Junior Ice Hockey League was first announced on 18 September 2012 by Ice Hockey Australia.[1][2][3] The inaugural season will consist of four teams – Melbourne Blackhawks, Melbourne Red Wings, Sydney Lightning and the Sydney Maple Leafs, with teams being operated by their respective state governing body.[4][5][6] The season is set to start on 20 October 2012 at the Medibank Icehouse in Melbourne and runs until March with the finals to be held on the 9 and 10 March.[3] The Sydney based teams play their homes games at the Penrith Ice Palace in Penrith, New South Wales, while the Melbourne based teams play out of the Medibank Icehouse in Docklands, Victoria.[7][8] The Sydney Maple Leafs won the inaugural AJIHL finals after beating the Melbourne Red Wings in a tie-breaking sudden overtime period after the teams leveled the two game series.[9] The Maple Leafs had defeated the Sydney Lightning the week before in the Sydney semi-final, while the Red Wings won the Melbourne semi-final against the Blackhawks 7–3 to progress into the final.[10][11]

In August 2013 it was announced that Ice Hockey Victoria were renaming the two Melbourne teams for the 2013–14 season.[12] The Melbourne Blackhawks were renamed as the Melbourne Whalers, Melbourne Red Wings became the Melbourne Glaciers. The following month the Sydney Maple Leafs were renamed the Sydney Wolf Pack and the Sydney Lightning changed their name to the Sydney Sabres.[13][14] The changes were made in response to the National Hockey Leagues concern about the AJIHL using their team names and logos, as well as an opportunity to create new history for the teams.[12] In October 2013 the league expanded to six teams with two teams from Perth, the Sharks and the Pelicans, joining for the start of the 2013–14 season.[15]

Teams

TeamCity Joined Arena Former Names
Melbourne Glaciers Melbourne 2012 Medibank Icehouse Melbourne Red Wings (2012–13)
Melbourne Whalers Melbourne 2012 Medibank Icehouse Melbourne Blackhawks (2012–13)
Perth Pelicans Perth, Western Australia 2013 Xtreme Ice Arena
Perth Sharks Perth, Western Australia 2013 Xtreme Ice Arena
Sydney Sabres Sydney 2012 Penrith Ice Palace Sydney Lightning (2012–13)
Sydney Wolf Pack Sydney 2012 Penrith Ice Palace Sydney Maple Leafs (2012–13)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Australian Junior Ice Hockey League (AJIHL) Launch". Ice Hockey Australia. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  2. ↑ Harris, Myles (19 September 2012). "Ice Hockey Australia Launches the AJIHL (Australian Junior Ice Hockey League)". The Armchair Selector. Archived from the original on 2 December 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "AJIHL is here". Hewitt Sports Network. 18 September 2012. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  4. ↑ "AJIHL Teams Announced". Hewitt Sports Network. 20 September 2012. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  5. ↑ Lee, Chris (18 September 2012). "Green light for Australian Junior Ice Hockey League". Vancouver Canucks Australia. Archived from the original on 2 December 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  6. ↑ McQualter, Tegan (29 September 2012). "Youth league ready for lift off". On the Fly Hockey. Archived from the original on 2 December 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  7. ↑ "Sydney Lightning vs Sydney Maple Leafs". Pointstreak Sports Technologies. 10 November 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  8. ↑ "Melbourne Blackhawks vs Melbourne Red Wings". Pointstreak Sports Technologies. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  9. ↑ Hewitt, Andrew (10 March 2013). "Cinderella Finish For Maple Leafs at AJIHL Finals". Hewitt Sports Network. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  10. ↑ McMurty, Andrew (5 March 2013). "Maple Leafs dominate way into AJIHL Final". Hewitt Sports Network. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  11. ↑ Hewitt, Andrew (5 March 2013). "Wings Soar into AJIHL Final". Hewitt Sports Network. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Macdougall, Andrew (22 August 2013). "New look for Melbourne and the AJIHL". On the Fly Hockey. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  13. ↑ "Formerly the Sydney Maple Leafs". Sydney Wolf Pack. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  14. ↑ "Coaches Welcome the Sydney Sabres". Sydney Sabres. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  15. ↑ "AJIHL National Junior League Kicks Off in Perth". Ice Hockey WA. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.

External links