The Newcastle Northstars (formally ''Newcastle North Stars'') is an Australian

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a conside ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

team from

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area ...

. The Northstars are a member of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL), joining as an expansion team in 2002. The team is based at the

Hunter Ice Skating Stadium The Hunter Ice Skating Stadium is an ice sports and public skate centre, opened in 2000 and located in Warners Bay, a suburb of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium serves as the home ice rink of the Newcastle Northstars who ...

Warners Bay Warners Bay is a suburb of the City of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, Australia, and is located from Newcastle's central business district on the eastern side of Lake Macquarie. It was named after Jonathan Warner, who settled the area. ...

, a suburb of

Lake Macquarie The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area in Greater Newcastle and part of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city from 7 September 1984. The area is situated adjacent to the city of Newcastle and i ...

, 15 kilometres south-west of Newcastle. The Northstars are affiliated with the ice hockey club of the same name and have won six

Goodall Cup The Goodall Cup is a perpetual trophy that is, currently, annually awarded to the playoff champions of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). The trophy is named after Australian born player John Edwin Goodall who originally donated the cup. ...

History

1977–2001 (Pre-AIHL)

Ice hockey started in the city of Newcastle in 1960 at the old boxing stadium where Marketown is now situated. Originally the Newcastle Red Wings, the Red Wings were part of national leagues of the time. Due to instability there were several variations of these leagues. The Red Wings became the North Stars in 1978 and were leading the national 'Super League' at the time when the Newcastle ice rink went into liquidation in late 1982. Some players then retired, while others went on to play for teams in Sydney or join

inline hockey Roller inline hockey, or inline hockey is a variant of hockey played on a hard, smooth surface, with players using inline skates to move and ice hockey sticks to shoot a hard, plastic puck into their opponent's goal to score points. The spo ...

teams that started in the 1990s in Newcastle. A Newcastle North Stars in-line hockey team was formed including former members of the defunct Wharf Road team. In 2000 the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium (a.k.a. HISS) opened at 230 Macquarie Road, Warners Bay. The Lake Macquarie suburb, only 15 km from the city, proved an ideal location for the new rink. The rink opened with former North Stars player/coach Garry Doré as general manager. A local committee was established and the Newcastle Northstars Ice Hockey Club was registered in 2001. The team mostly consisted of Canadian

expatriates An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

along with four talented local-born players contested the New South Wales Senior B championship. The Senior B North Stars went on to win the state Senior B Championship for 2001. Later in 2001 the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium hosted the

tournament. The Goodall Cup is Australia's senior men's national tournament, contested since 1909. Utilising the experience from running the tournament and gaining assistance from existing AIHL teams, rink general manager Garry Doré began building a team ready for the Australian Ice Hockey League. Canadian

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

Don Champagne was recruited to be coach, and local hockey enthusiast Peter Lambert was recruited as Team Manager.

2002–2006

The Newcastle Northstars entered the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) as the North Stars in 2002. They were a part of the league's expansion that saw the league double in size from three teams to six. The Northstars joined the league along with the

Melbourne Ice The Melbourne Ice is an Australian semi-professional ice hockey team from Melbourne, Victoria, based at the Icehouse in the Docklands precinct of central Melbourne. Founded in 2000, the Ice have been a member of the Australian Ice Hockey Leag ...

and

Western Sydney Ice Dogs The Sydney Ice Dogs (formally ''Western Sydney Ice Dogs'') is an Australian semi-professional ice hockey team from Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 2002, the Ice Dogs are a member of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). The Ice Dogs are ...

. Don Champagne was appointed the inaugural Northstars AIHL head coach while Bill Jones was named foundation captain. Due to a lack of local talent in the first season, the league allowed the Northstars to find players in Sydney and evenly split their roster between locals and imports. Newcastle assembled a roster for 2002 with nine Canadians expats and eight locals. The

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

season produced highs and lows for the Novocastrians. Newcastle's first ever match in the AIHL was at home at the

on 4 May 2002 against the

. The Northstars lost the match 3–7. Newcastle's first AIHL victory and shutout came on 19 May 2002 when they defeated the Canberra Knights 4–0. The Northstars finished the season in fourth place with six wins and ten losses. Canadian forward, Brett Hillier, finished the season as the Northstars top points scorers with 34 points. In 2003, Newcastle appointed their first coaching director. Former Denmark and Canadian national team coach, Rob Barnes was appointed to the position by the Northstars. Barnes made an immediate impact in Newcastle with the Northstars finishing second in the league table in the

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

season. The Northstars then won their very first AIHL era trophy in 2003. The Novocastrians defeated the Ice Dogs 4–1 in the AIHL final to claim the

. The Northstars backed up this success in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

by finishing top of the league table having only lost one match all season and claimed the team's first premiership and

V.I.P. Cup The V.I.P. Cup is a retired trophy that was awarded to the minor premiers of each season in the Australian Ice Hockey League from 2004 to 2009; that is, the team that finishes first overall in the standings at the end of the regular season. The t ...

. Success continued in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

with the Northstars claiming back-to-back Goodall Cups with victories over rivals Adelaide Avalanche in the final in both seasons.

2007–2016

The decade between 2007 and 2016 saw the Northstars continue their strong position within the league, establishing a winning tradition within the team culture. Newcastle throughout this period of time, claimed league premiers and the

H Newman Reid Trophy Commissioned by the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) in 2009, the H Newman Reid Trophy is an Australian men's ice hockey trophy awarded to the team that finishes top of the standings at the end of each AIHL regular-season, otherwise known as ...

, four times by finishing top of the league standings in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2015. The team reached the

final eight times, claiming three Goodall Cups in 2008, 2015 and 2016. The Northstars also found success for the first time in the NSW Wilson Cup, lifting the trophy in 2015. The Northstars set a few team records in 2015 with their highest ever points total in a season (63), highest goals scored in a season (152) and highest goals difference (+69). Canadian import, Geordie Wudrick also set league records for highest points in a season, 91 points at a rate of 3.25 per game and most goals in a season, 44 goals. At the conclusion of the 2016 season, for the time, the team had become the most successful franchise in AIHL history.

2017–present

April 2017, prior to the start of the 2017 season, the team announced a minor change to their name. They changed their name from the North Stars to the Northstars. The re-brand was completed to align to the team with the New South Wales registered club, the Newcastle Northstars Ice Hockey Club.

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

marked a shift in fortunes for the team. After only missing out on finals twice in the previous fifteen years, the Northstars not only failed to qualify for finals but finished their lowest ever position in the league, seventh. Ten wins from twenty eight matches with a negative twenty seven goal difference did not make for good reading. Head coach, Andrew Petrie, decided to step down from his position at the conclusion of the season.

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

saw an improvement in the Northstars with thirteen wins in the season and a fifth-place finish under the leadership of stand-in coaching trio, Joey Theriault, Ray Sheffield and Garry Doré. However, it was still not good enough to see them qualify for the finals weekend in Melbourne and for the first time in the team's history they failed to qualify for finals back-to-back.

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, the Northstars hired a new head coach in former Northstars player, John Kennedy Jnr. This was the American Aussie's first head coaching positioning since retiring as a player. The team recruited well with a number of quality imports joining from overseas. Leading the way for the team in 2019 was Canadian import Sammy Banga who finished third top points scorer in the league with sixty-six points. The Northstars saw great improvement over the previous two seasons under the guidance of John Kennedy. They finished the season runners-up in the league standings and qualified for the finals which were played in Newcastle for the first time in seven years. Unfortunately for the Northstars, they were defeated 2-3 by the

Perth Thunder The Perth Thunder is an Australian semi-professional ice hockey team from Perth, Western Australia. Founded in 2010, the Thunder have been a member of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) since 2012. The Thunder are based at the Perth Ice Ar ...

in the semi-finals in front of a boisterous home crowd.

Season-by-season results

Notes:

Championships

: Champions (6):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

: Runners-Up (6):

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

(2008-Current) : Premiers (4):

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

: Runners-Up (3):

(2004–07)^* : Premiers (1):

: Runners-Up (2):

* Wilson Cup : Winners (1):

: Runners-Up (1):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

*Bauer Conference : Winners (1):

:^* This list also includes Premierships prior to the first trophy, V.I.P. Cup, for Premiers in 2004.

Players

Current roster

''Team roster for the

2022 AIHL season The 2022 AIHL season is the delayed 21st season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL), following the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The season will consist of 60 regular season games and is scheduled to run from 30 April to 28 A ...

.''

Player records

The following are the top five all-time leaders in five different statistical categories: matches played; goals; assists; points; penalty minutes

Staff

''Staff roster for the

Team identity

Rivalries

Sydney Ice Dogs

The Proski Newcastle North Stars' primary rivals are the Sydney Ice Dogs (Formally West Sydney Ice Dogs). The first ever AIHL game for the Proski North Stars was a loss to the Ice Dogs, who joined the league in 2002 along with the North Stars. The two teams have a rich history in the AIHL Finals of facing off in big matches in pursuit of the

. The North Stars defeated the Ice Dogs in the

and

finals to win the Goodall Cup (both by a margin of 4–1). The North Stars lost the Cup to the Ice Dogs in the

final, while also defeating the Ice Dogs in the semi-final in

Adelaide

Over the years the Northstars developed a healthy competitive rivalry with Adelaide franchises, the Adelaide Avalanche and Adelaide Adrenaline. The Northstars and Adelaide have a knack of facing off in big finals matches with both teams sharing in the winning spoils at different times. The Northstars and Avalanche met in the Goodall Cup deciders in

and

. In 2005, the two teams fought for the regular season title with the Avalanche finishing first but the Northstars used their home crowd advantage in the final to secure a 3–1 victory. In 2006, the Northstars only snuck into the finals by finishing fourth but in the finals the dominated the Melbourne Ice in the semi's before meeting the Avalanche in the final. The Northstars played the perfect match, shutting out Adelaide and securing the cup with a 4–0 victory. In

the North Stars were defeated by the Adrenaline in overtime in the Goodall Cup final, 3–2 in overtime. In

the Adrenaline knocked out the Northstars in the semi-final, holding off a third period comeback by the Northstars to win 7–6.

CBR Brave

Since the induction of the CBR Brave into the AIHL in 2014, the Northstars have built a heated rivalry with the team from

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. The two sides have fought each other for league titles, faced-off in hotly contested finals matches, seen players and coaches switch teams and seen a player's career ended. Both sets of fans have a history of banter with walk out music, placards and clothing being used to ramp up the rivalry. In the 2015 AIHL semi-finals the two teams met in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

. The Brave took a 3–0 lead thanks to two short-handed goals deep into the second period. The Northstars then kicked into life and fought back to win the match 4-3 thanks to a third period hat trick to league MVP Geordie Wudrick. The Brave then ‘poached’ Wudrick and Jan Safar for the 2016 season, causing a massive stir around the league. Northstar's head coach, Andrew Petrie, took the issue up with the local media and labelled the Brave disrespectful and a team trying to buy the league title. He also went on to label the city of Canberra a place ‘in the middle of nowhere’. The four 2016 regular season matches saw the two teams rack up 178 penalty minutes and end Brave import Art Bidlevskii's career. The defenceman was accidentally struck in the throat. The two teams met in the AIHL final with the Northstars triumphing over the Brave 2–1 to clinch their sixth

. In 2017, Newcastle legend, Rob Starke switched to the Brave to take up the head coaching position following his playing retirement. He took with him another long-time Northstars favourite, Brian Bales. In 2019, the two teams fought for the H Newman Reid trophy for finishing premiers on top of the regular season table. The Northstars and Brave were one and two for much of the season but in the end the Brave claimed the trophy and the Northstars finished second.

Honoured members

Accolades

The Newcastle Northstars have been recognised by the

Newcastle City Council Newcastle City Council is the local government authority for the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne. The council consists of 78 councillors, three for each of the 26 wards in the city. It is currently controlled by the Labou ...

as Newcastle's most outstanding senior sports team on three occasions in 2003, 2004 and 2006. They were also a finalist in 2008. North Stars goalie Matt Ezzy was voted "Sportsperson of the Year" by the Lake Macquarie City Council for his 2005 season in February 2006, and was a finalist for the same award in 2007. North Stars defenceman and assistant captain Rob Starke was also a finalist for Senior Sportsperson of the year, 2007. North Stars coach Don Champagne was voted "Sports Official of the Year 2010" at the 2011 Newcastle City Sports Awards.

S.M. Hudson Trophy

The Hudson Trophy is awarded by

Ice Hockey Australia 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 190 ...

for sportsman of the year. It was first awarded in 1964 and is open for nominations by Australian ice hockey organisations and teams. Glenn Foll, who captained the Australian national team between 1990 and 2006, is the only player who has played for the Northstars and won the Hudson Trophy. Foll played for Newcastle during the

2005 AIHL season The 2005 AIHL season was the sixth season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It ran from 16 April 2005 until 28 August 2005, with the Goodall Cup finals following on 3 and 4 September 2005. The Adelaide Avalanche won the V.I.P. Cup aft ...

. He won the award in 2003 while playing for rivals Adelaide Avalanche.

Retired numbers

Throughout the history of the Newcastle Northstars, three jersey numbers have been retired in honour of former club legends. The retired jersey number banners hang on the player's bench side of the

Club award winners

Since 2003, each season the Northstars hold an annual awards night to present that season's team awards. There are six awards given out at the awards nights including most valuable player, best defensive player, most improved player, most dedicated player, Tony Huntley Award for best Australian player and the coach's award. References:

Team leaders

Team captains

The Northstars have had five different captains in the team's known history. References:

Head coaches

The Northstars have had four different head coaches in the team's history. In 2018, the Northstars had no head coach, instead the team chose a new coaching structure of three associate coaches to share the coaching responsibilities. Joey Theriault, Ray Sheffield and Garry Doré took up these roles in 2018. References:

General managers

The Northstars have had one general manager (GM) in the team's history. References:

Team managers

The Northstars have had seven different team managers in the team's history. References:

Coaching directors

The Northstars have had one coaching director in the team's history. References:

Broadcasting

Current: * Kayo Sports (2022–present) – Domestic online video broadcasting in Australia as part of the league wide deal struck in the lead up to the 2022 AIHL season to show every AIHL game live. *

Sportradar Sportradar AG is a multinational corporation with headquarters in St. Gallen, Switzerland, that collects and analyzes sports data for bookmakers, national and international sports federations, and media companies. As of 2022, the company has ...

(2022–present) – International online video broadcasting in North America and Europe as part of a league-wide 3-year deal signed in March 2022 in the lead up to the 2022 AIHL season. Former: *

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...

(2013 – 2019) – Part of the entire

AIHL The Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) is Australia's top-level ice hockey league. Established in 2000, the AIHL is sanctioned by Ice Hockey Australia (a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation). The league is run by its own board of ...

domestic TV broadcasting deal with

to show one game a round, normally on Thursday's at 4:30 pm or after NHL games during NHL season.

Northstars trivia

''Trivia that relates to the Newcastle Northstars club or current and past players of the Northstars.'' *The North Stars set an AIHL record for most goals scored in a game by one team – and also for the greatest winning margin in a game – when they defeated the Canberra Knights by a score of 21–2 at the HISS on 6 August 2006. Centre Marcel Kars recorded 8 goals and 4 assists in the game. *Goaltender Ken Kozak played for the North Stars in 2002. He was in goal for the Australian national team when they defeated

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

58–0 in Perth in 1987, a world record score for an international ice hockey game.