Australian Ice Hockey League

Australian Ice Hockey League

Current season	2019
sport	ice Hockey
abbreviation	AIHL
Association	Ice Hockey Australia
League foundation	2000
Teams	8th
Country countries	Australia
Title holder	CBR Brave (1st title)
Record champions	Newcastle Northstars (6th title)
TV partner	Fox Sports, YouTube
Website	theAIHL.com

The Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) is the top ice hockey league in Australia and is subordinate to Ice Hockey Australia , a member of the IIHF . The league was founded in 2000 by the Canberra Knights , Sydney Bears and Adelaide Avalanche . Two years later three more teams were added.

The AIHL players are semi-professionals. During the summer break in the 2005 NHL , Steve McKenna , former NHL player with the Los Angeles Kings , Minnesota Wild , New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins , played for the Adelaide Avalanche . He returned to Australia as a coach in 2007. Rob Zamuner , also a former NHL player, was under contract with the Gold Coast Blue Tongues in the 2006 season .

Teams 2019

Location of the AIHL teams

team	Location	Venue	capacity	Founded	Joined	Former names
Adelaide Adrenaline	Adelaide	IceArenA	1,500	2008		Adelaide A's (2008)
CBR Brave	Canberra	Phillip Swimming & Ice Skating Center	1,000	2014
Melbourne Ice	Melbourne	O'Brien Icehouse	6,500	2002
Melbourne Mustangs	Melbourne	O'Brien Icehouse	6,500	2010	2011	Mustangs IHC (2010-2012)
Newcastle Northstars	Newcastle	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium	1,000	1981	2002	Newcastle North Stars (2002-2016)
Perth Thunder	Perth	Perth Ice Arena	400+	2010	2012
Sydney Bears	Sydney	Macquarie Ice Rink	2,000	1982	2000	AIHL Bears (2007-2009)
Sydney Ice Dogs	Sydney	Macquarie Ice Rink	2,000	2002		West Sydney Ice Dogs (2002-2009)

Former teams

• Adelaide Avalanche (2000–2008) ceased operations in June 2008. Player redesigned to play as Adelaide A (now known as Adelaide Adrenaline)
• Canberra Knights (2000-2013) business interruption in February 2014. The players were later redesigned to the CBR Brave
• Central Coast Rhinos (2005–2008) declined to sign the 2009 license
• Gold Coast Blue Tongues (2005–2014) suspended in 2012, license expired in 2014. Formerly known as Brisbane Blue Tongues.

Timeline

trophies

The Goodall Cup, the fifth oldest ice hockey trophy in the world

Goodall Cup

The Goodall Cup was awarded for the first time in 1909, but only since 2002 to the master of the AIHL. Before that, he was the winner of the United States Championship in Australia. In a few years (1914–1920, 1940–1946, 1955–1960, 1993) the cup was not played.

After the Stanley Cup (1892), the Queens Cup (1903), the Boyle Cup (1904) and the Allan Cup (1908), the Goodall Cup is the fifth oldest ice hockey trophy.

The previous Goodall Cup winners (from 1909 to 1999):

• New South Wales 35 times
• Victoria 24 times
• South Australia 6 times
• Queensland 1 time
• Australian Capital Territory 1 time

Regular Season Winner

From 2000 to 2003 the national champions did not receive a trophy from the AIHL. It was only in 2004 that the league introduced the VIP Cup for the championship winner. The trophy was named after the sponsor VIP Home Services. The VIP Cup was played four seasons before it was discontinued in 2007. In 2010, the league introduced a new cup, the H. Newman Reid Cup, for the championship winner. The trophy is named after Henry Newman Reid, who opened the first ice rinks in Australia between 1904 and 1907. The championships have been backdated to include the AIHL Bears and Newcastle North Stars as title holders for 2008 and 2009.

Regular Season Winner

• 2000 - Sydney Bears
• 2001 - Adelaide Avalanche
• 2002 - Sydney Bears
• 2003 - Adelaide Avalanche

VIP Cup winner

• 2004 - Newcastle North Stars
• 2005 - Adelaide Avalanche
• 2006 - Melbourne Ice
• 2007 - Adelaide Avalanche

H. Newman Reid Trophy winner

• 2008 - AIHL Bears
• 2009 - Newcastle North Stars
• 2010 - Newcastle North Stars
• 2011 - Melbourne Ice
• 2012 - Newcastle North Stars
• 2013 - Sydney Ice Dogs
• 2014 - Melbourne Mustangs
• 2015 - Newcastle North Stars
• 2016 - Melbourne Ice
• 2017 - Melbourne Ice
• 2018 - CBR Brave
• 2019 - CBR Brave

Wilson Cup

The Wilson Cup goes to the team that wins the preseason competition that has been held since the 2008 season.

In 2009 the Central Coast Rhinos won the Wilson Cup, but did not compete in the 2009 AIHL season.

Seasonal structure

Regular season

The AIHL season begins every year in April and lasts a total of five months. Games are played almost exclusively on Saturdays or Sundays, mostly in the afternoon, but there are also some evening games. Each team plays a total of four times against each of the other seven teams, so that each team has 28 games.

Extension and points system

The point system as it currently exists in the AIHL was only introduced in 2006. A team receives three points for a win, no points for a defeat. If a game ends in a draw, a penalty shootout is carried out. The winner of the penalty shootout receives two points, the losing team still receives one point. Until 2005, a five-minute extra time was played instead of a shootout .

Playoffs

In 2000 and 2001 the team was named champions that topped the table in the regular season. A final game for the championship was introduced in 2002. In 2003 the playoffs were expanded from two to four teams, with the semi-finals and the final each going over one game. So far there are no plans in the league that the playoffs will be held in series in the future, such as the "best of seven" known from the NHL.

AIHL master

Master since 2000

year	Location	master	Runner-up	Result
2000	Macquarie Ice Rink, Sydney	Adelaide Avalanche	Sydney Bears	6-5 (SO)
2001	Thebarton Snowdome, Adelaide	Adelaide Avalanche	Sydney Bears	10-7
2002	Blacktown Ice Arena, Sydney	Sydney Bears	Adelaide Avalanche	5-4 (SO)
2003	Glaciarium, Sydney	Newcastle North Stars	Sydney Ice Dogs	4–1
2004	Erina Ice World, Central Coast	Sydney Ice Dogs	Newcastle North Stars	3–1
2005	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium, Newcastle	Newcastle North Stars	Adelaide Avalanche	3–1
2006	Adelaide Ice ArenA, Adelaide	Newcastle North Stars	Adelaide Avalanche	4-0
2007	Penrith Ice Palace, Penrith	Sydney Bears	Newcastle North Stars	4–3 (OT)
2008	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium, Newcastle	Newcastle North Stars	Sydney Ice Dogs	4–1
2009	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium, Newcastle	Adelaide Adrenaline	Newcastle North Stars	3–2 (OT)
2010	Medibank Icehouse, Melbourne	Melbourne Ice	Adelaide Adrenaline	6-4
2011	Medibank Icehouse, Melbourne	Melbourne Ice	Newcastle North Stars	3–2
2012	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium, Newcastle	Melbourne Ice	Newcastle North Stars	4-3
2013	Melbourne Icehouse, Melbourne	Sydney Ice Dogs	Newcastle North Stars	6–3
2014	Melbourne Icehouse, Melbourne	Melbourne Mustangs	Melbourne Ice	6-1
2015	Melbourne Icehouse, Melbourne	Newcastle North Stars	Melbourne Ice	3–2 (OT)
2016	Melbourne Icehouse, Melbourne	Newcastle North Stars	CBR Brave	2-1
2017	Melbourne Icehouse, Melbourne	Melbourne Ice	CBR Brave	4–1
2018	Melbourne Icehouse, Melbourne	CBR Brave	Sydney Bears	4–3 (OT)
2019	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium, Newcastle	-	-	-

statistics

team	# Trophies	Years
Adelaide Adrenaline	1	2009
Adelaide Avalanche	2	2000, 2001
CBR Brave	1	2018
Melbourne Ice	4th	2010, 2011, 2012, 2017
Melbourne Mustangs	1	2014
Newcastle Northstars	6th	2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2015, 2016
Sydney Bears	2	2002, 2007
Sydney Ice Dogs	2	2004, 2013

Web links

• Official homepage of the Australia Ice Hockey League
• Official homepage of the Australia Ice Hockey Federation