Ice Hockey Australia

Australia
Association name Ice Hockey Australia
IIHF Code AUS
IIHF membership 11 February 1938
President Don Rurak
IIHF men's ranking 34
IIHF women's ranking 25
http://www.iha.org.au

The Australian Ice Hockey Federation, currently trading as Ice Hockey Australia (IHA), is the official national governing body of ice hockey in Australia and is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. It was first established in 1908, making it one of the oldest national ice hockey associations in the world.

The purpose of Ice Hockey Australia is to encourage, promote, control and administer all forms of ice hockey in and throughout Australia through and by various Member States for the mutual and collective benefit of the members and sport itself.[1]

IHA also governs an eight-team, semi-professional league, known as the Australian Ice Hockey League.

History

Early years

The birth of Ice hockey occurred in Adelaide with ghundi in the construction of the first rink in Australia in the early years of the 20th Century. Since then, the "Hockey Bug" has spread all over the country. The prosperous growth of Ice Hockey in Adelaide, Melbourne and later Sydney was abandoned as soon as the First World War broke out in 1914. Ice Hockey was much slower off the mark after the First World War. The Sydney rink had closed throughout the war and did not re-open until 1920. There had been some hockey in Melbourne in 1919 but was not on a really organised basis, in that year the Melbourne team made its first appearance. In 1921 interstate games resumed, the few pre-war players who made it home safely and were capable of playing, were drafted into teams.

However the story was different in 1922, club teams in Victoria were stronger than ever before, there several players of high standard available for the representative side which played New South Wales in Melbourne, and they astonished New South Wales by winning the series and the now famous Goodall Cup. Although they did not know it at the time, Victoria's win that year was a memorable one, it was not to be repeated for 25 years.

The next year (1923) saw a big step forward on the national level. While the Victorian team was visiting Sydney for the Goodall Cup series, a central body was formed to control the game on an Australia wide basis. Players were now receiving equipment from Canada and some were beginning to wear production and homemade protective padding and gloves. The twenties drew to a close with New South Wales still dominating the interstate scene. The tragic economic depression was sweeping the world and entertainment was something people listed very low on their budgets.

The early thirties were remarkable for the development in the strength and character of Australian Ice Hockey. Inter state growth was on the rise and new faces joined the sport, whose names are still known to this day. With the outbreak of war in the later part of the decade, as was the case in the First World War, hockey players were quick to join up and several were decorated for their devoted and heroic service to their country.[2]

Middle years

When Ice Hockey was ready to be resumed after World War II, the position regarding players was the best it had ever been. A ready made pool of youngsters was waiting to join the returning servicemen in what were to become the boom years of the game. In 1947, Victoria won the Goodall Cup after 25 years of being in the wilderness. The next year 1951, the association became the strongest it has ever been. The association took steps to have only four teams in each rink brought about ability to concentrate the quality of the teams, and have a better quality of game.[2]

Affiliated organizations

Ice Hockey Australia has many state branches across the country:[3]

In addition to the above, there are three organisations affiliated to IHA, with responsibility for the control of ice hockey within their own organisations but remaining under the rules and regulations of IHA. The affiliated bodies are:[3]

Australian Junior Ice hockey League

Australian Junior Ice Hockey League
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.[4][5][6] 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.[7][8][9] 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.[6] 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.[10][11] 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.[12] 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.[13][14]

In August 2013 it was announced that Ice Hockey Victoria were renaming the two Melbourne teams for the 2013–14 season.[15] 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.[16][17] 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.[15] 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.[18]

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)

Champions

National teams

Each year Ice Hockey Australia participates in a number of international championships that are held by the International Ice Hockey Federation.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.iha.org.au/organisation.asp
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.iha.org.au/history.asp
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.iha.org.au/structure.asp
  4. ↑ "Australian Junior Ice Hockey League (AJIHL) Launch". Ice Hockey Australia. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "AJIHL is here". Hewitt Sports Network. 18 September 2012. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  7. ↑ "AJIHL Teams Announced". Hewitt Sports Network. 20 September 2012. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ "Sydney Lightning vs Sydney Maple Leafs". Pointstreak Sports Technologies. 10 November 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  11. ↑ "Melbourne Blackhawks vs Melbourne Red Wings". Pointstreak Sports Technologies. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 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.
  16. ↑ "Formerly the Sydney Maple Leafs". Sydney Wolf Pack. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  17. ↑ "Coaches Welcome the Sydney Sabres". Sydney Sabres. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  18. ↑ "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