Sydney Bears

Sydney Bears
2017 AIHL season
City Macquarie Park, New South Wales
League Australian Ice Hockey League
Founded 1982
Home arena Macquarie Ice Rink
Colours                    
General manager Wayne Hellyer
Head coach Australia Ron Kuprowsky
Captain Australia Michael Schlamp
Website Bearsden.com.au
Franchise history
1982–1997 Macquarie Bears
1997–2007 Sydney Bears
2007–2009 AIHL Bears
2010– Sydney Bears
Championships
Regular season titles 2 (2002, 2008)
Conference Championships 0
Goodall Cups 2 (2002, 2007)

The Sydney Bears are an amateur ice hockey team in the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL).

The team plays out of Macquarie Ice Rink in Sydney, New South Wales. They have won two Goodall Cup championships since their founding in 2000, most recently in 2007. The Bears are the last remaining original team in the AIHL, after the Canberra Knights and Adelaide Avalanche folded and were reformed under different names. The team has previously played out of the Penrith Ice Palace and the Sydney Ice Arena.

Team history

The Bears were founded in 1982 and were originally known as the Macquarie Bears.[1] With the impending formation of a national league the team decided to change their name to the Sydney Bears in 1997.[1]

The Bears are two-time winners of the Goodall Cup and won the AIHL championship in 2002 and 2007. The team also won the Goodall Cup tournament in 2001 in Newcastle, the last time the Cup was awarded independently of the AIHL.

The Bears are the last remaining original team in AIHL after both Canberra and Adelaide folded and restarted under new names and management.

In 2002, the Bears defeated the Avalanche in the Goodall Cup final for their second consecutive Cup and their first and only AIHL Championship. In 2007 the team announced they would move to Penrith for the 2007 AIHL season at which time, dropping "Sydney" to become The Bears, or AIHL Bears. For the start of the 2010 season the Bears reverted to their previous name of Sydney Bears. It was that year the Bears also won their second AIHL Championship and their most recent to date.

2011 season

The Bears commenced the 2011 season on 16 April with a home opener against the newest addition to the AIHL, The Mustangs. Bears rookie forward Lucian Hackett scored the first goal of the season on his debut. Other Bears players making their debut were Laurie Mock, and import Kurtis Dulle.[2] The Bears struggled to record a win in their first five games, however their roster was not yet at full strength. The Bears were missing goaltender Sheldon Baerg, forward Tony Demelinne who was representing Netherlands at the IIHF World Championship Division I,[3] and defenceman Jordan Hale who was competing in the Royal Bank Cup with the Camrose Kodiaks.[4]

With the 2011 Roster finally at full strength with the arrival and clearance of their import players, the Bears made their way to Melbourne. The Bears showed signs of improvement in their game against the Melbourne Ice, losing 3-4 to them in the shootout.[5] The Bears also lost import Jordan Hale to a season ending lower body injury. The Bears then went on to record their first win of the season against the The Mustangs in a thrilling 5-3 victory, with newly acquired import Tony Demelinne displaying some of his puck handling skills and recording 4 points during the game.[6]

However The Bears game seemingly unravelled, experiencing huge losses to the Knights, BlueTongues and Ice. However bouncing back in June recording a win against the Newcastle North Stars, ending their winning streak and starting a 3-game win streak of their own. The month of June saw the Bears 3-2-0, and they reached a peak position of 7th in the standings.

2012 season to current

In February 2012 the Sydney Bears announced that they were leaving the Penrith Ice Palace as their home arena and were returning to play their games at the Sydney Ice Arena in Baulkham Hills where they had previously played from 2003 to 2006.[7] In January 2015 the Bears announced that they were moving back to the Penrith Ice Palace for the upcoming 2015 AIHL season.[8][9] The move comes after the Sydney Ice Arena's land was approved for redevelopment.[8] In a move the Bears' have dubbed 'The Homecoming', it was announced the team is returning to its roots at a re-developed Macquarie Ice Rink ahead of the 2017 season.

Season-by-season record

Season GP W T1 SOW SOL L GF GA PTS Finish Playoffs
2001 16 7 1 - - 8 70 74 15 2nd Lost Goodall Cup final, 7–10 (Adelaide Avalanche)
2002 15 12 1 - - 2 90 54 25 1st Won Goodall Cup final vs. Adelaide Avalanche
2003 6 1 0 - - 5 23 34 2 5th Did not qualify
2004 29 8 6 1 4 10 68 71 31 3rd Lost in Semifinals, 4-5 (West Sydney Ice Dogs)
2005 26 11 0 2 1 12 96 100 38 4th Lost in Semifinals, (Adelaide Avalanche)
2006 28 15 - 1 1 11 133 101 48 5th Did not qualify
2007 28 14 - 4 2 8 112 84 49* 4th Won Semifinals 4-5 (Adelaide Avalanche)
Won Goodall Cup, 4-3 in OT (Newcastle North Stars)
2008 28 20 - 0 1 7 134 118 61 1st Lost in Semifinal, 7-5 (Newcastle North Stars)
2009 24 1 - 3 0 20 66 140 9 7th Did not qualify
2010 24 12 - 8 1 3 41 83 92 3rd Lost Semifinal, 1-2 (Melbourne Ice)
2011 28 2 - 2 3 21 83 151 13 8th Did not qualify
2012 24 9 - 2 1 12 92 93 32 3rd, Bauer Did not qualify
2013 28 7 - 0 1 20 73 120 22 7th Did not qualify
2014 28 6 1 1 1 19 68 125 22 8th Did not qualify
2015 28 11 - 1 2 14 110 110 37 7th Did not qualify
2016 28 5 - 5 3 15 77 95 28 6th Did not qualify
1 As of the 2006 AIHL season, all games will have a winner. In 2014 due to the cancellation of a game, the AIHL declared the result a tie.
* The Bears were penalised 3 competition points for icing players that had not been officially cleared to play by the IIHF and IHA.

Championships

Goodall Cup: 2002, 2007
V.I.P. Cup: 2008

Players

Roster

Team roster for the 2017 AIHL season[10][11]

# Nat Name Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
19 Australia Saxon Air F R 22 2011 Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia
16 Canada Annesley, RyanRyan Annesley D L 31 2016 Ajax, Ontario, Canada
31 Australia Alan Becken G R 48 2017 Norquay, Saskatchewan, Canada
39 Australia Slavomir Boris D R 29 2017 Hriňová, Slovakia
49 United States Jackson Brewer F L 25 2017 Newton, Massachusetts, United
91 Australia Jeremy Brücker F 27 2017 Switzerland
97 Australia Tyerell Clare D R 19 2015
14 Australia Robert Covino F 2017
35 Australia James Downie G L 17 2015 Kellyville, New South Wales, Australia
84 Australia Esposito, AdrianAdrian Esposito F R 32 2013
65 Australia Lachlan Fahmy D L 18 2016 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
2 Australia Funes, BrianBrian Funes (A) D R 26 2016 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
26 Australia Justin Harrison G 2017
1 Australia Kimlin, AnthonyAnthony Kimlin G L 27 2016 Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
24 Czech Republic Tomas Landa F L 34 2015 Czechoslovakia
10 Australia Thomas Moncrieff F L 16 2017 Australia
13 Australia Lachlan McKenzie F L 20 2015 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
73 Canada Tyler Noseworthy F R 26 2017 St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada
31 Australia Luke Read G L 33 2013 Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
25 Australia Joel Rhodes D R 31 2016 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
7 Canada Nick Rivait D L 26 2017 Kingsville, Ontario, Canada
31 Australia Gabe Robledo G L 31 2016
20 Australia Vlad Rubes F L 46 2017 Prague, Czechoslovakia
65 Australia Tim Rye F R 19 2017 Chelsea, England
11 Australia Schlamp, MichaelMichael Schlamp (C) F R 36 2009 Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
55 Australia Richard Tesarik F L 32 2015
4 Australia Todd, CameronCameron Todd (A) F R 23 2013 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
37 Canada Brent Vandenberg F R 28 2016 Burlington, Ontario, Canada
15 Australia Jeremy Vasquez F L 17 2016 Kings Langley, New South Wales, Australia
43 Australia Patrick Ward D R 33 2015 Kirkcaldy, Scotland
Australia Alexander Wardlaw F 17 2017

Franchise scoring leaders

Top 10 franchise All-Time points scorers [12]

Note: GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; TP = Points; * = current Bears player

Name GP G A TP
Rubes, VladimirVladimir Rubes 239 154 245 399
Stransky, VladanVladan Stransky 137 100 149 249
Schlamp, MichaelMichael Schlamp* 206 101 138 239
Tomas Landa* 116 75 135 210
Murray Wand 170 70 75 145
Nelson-Bond, BrettBrett Nelson-Bond 254 51 60 111
Franchini, RobertoRoberto Franchini 85 42 53 95
Cameron Todd* 85 33 38 71
Andy Luhovy 46 31 40 71
Esposito, AdrianAdrian Esposito* 223 32 34 66

Top 5 franchise All-time Points Per Game

Note: GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; TP = Points; PPG= Point-Per Game * = current Bears player

Name GP G A TP PPG
Vit Stransky 15 22 18 40 2.667
Demelinne, TonyTony Demelinne 16 19 22 41 2.563
Harcharik, JosephJoseph Harcharik 28 27 25 52 1.857
Stransky, VladanVladan Stransky 137 100 149 249 1.818
Tomas Landa* 116 75 135 210 1.810

Current staff

  • Head Coach – Ron Kuprowsky
  • Assistant Coach – Ryan Annesley
  • Assistant Coach- Brent Vandenberg
  • Assistant Coach – Jeff Todd
  • Goaltending Coach – Colin Downie
  • General Manager – Wayne Hellyer
  • Vice President – Matthew Burrell
  • Team Manager – Neil McFadden
  • Team Physio – Valerie Chan

Arena

Home games are played at the Macquarie Ice Rink in Macquarie, in the Macquarie Shopping Centre. The team previously played at the Sydney Ice Arena in Baulkham Hills and Penrith Ice Palace in Penrith but announced they would return to Macquarie for the 2017 AIHL season.

References

  1. 1 2 "Sydney Bears Ice Hockey Club". Sydney Bears Ice Hockey Club. Retrieved 2017-02-10.
  2. ↑ "Buck wild night for The Bears". Game Recap 16 April 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  3. ↑ "Netherlands Entry List 2011" (PDF). Entry List By Team 2011. IIHF World Championship DIV I Group A. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  4. ↑ Corbett, Graeme. "Snakes strive for RBC record book".
  5. ↑ Australian Ice Hockey League. "Boxscores: May 14th 2011 - Sydney Bears vs Melbourne Ice". Australian Ice Hockey League Boxscores. AIHL.
  6. ↑ Nelson-Bond, Brett. "Bears Run Over Mustangs for Win". Game Recaps.
  7. ↑ Lambert, Peter (19 February 2012). "Bears in the Hills". Australian Ice Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2 March 2011. Retrieved 2012-03-02.
  8. 1 2 Brook, Eric (2015-01-08). "Sydney Bears Move To Penrith In 2015". Hewitt Sports. Archived from the original on 2015-01-10. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
  9. ↑ "Sydney Bears Relocate to Penrith Ice Palace". Ice Hockey News Australia. 2015-01-08. Archived from the original on 2015-01-10. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
  10. ↑ "Sydney Bears". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 2017-05-21.
  11. ↑ "Sydney Bears". Australian Ice Hockey League. Retrieved 2017-05-21.
  12. ↑ "Franchise All-Time Points". Elite Hockey Prospects.
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