The Sydney Ice Dogs (formally ''Western Sydney Ice Dogs'') is an Australian semi-professional

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

Sydney, New South Wales Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...

. Formed in 2002, the Ice Dogs are a member of the

Australian Ice Hockey League 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 ...

(AIHL). The Ice Dogs are two time

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. ...

champions.

History

Foundation blocks

Top level ice hockey in Western Sydney dates back to 1981. The

Blacktown Flyers Blacktown is a suburb in the City of Blacktown, in Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Blacktown is located west of the Sydney central business district. It is one of the most multicultural places within G ...

were a foundation member of the New South Wales Superleague (NSWSL), playing out of Blacktown Ice Arena. Following the closure of the Warringah Ice Skating Rink in the '90s, NSWSL powerhouse, Warringah Bombers relocated to Blacktown. Blacktown in-turn withdrew support for the Flyers and a semi-private owned team, the Blacktown Bullets, were founded and joined the league in place of the Flyers. In 1993 the NSWSL's collapsed and Blacktown joined the newly formed East Coast Super League (ECSL) in 1994 and competed in the ECSL until its own demise in 1999. The Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) started in 2000. The Bullets did not join the new league, so for the first time in nineteen years,

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

did not have a representative team in the top level of Australian hockey. Western Sydney's next chance came in 2002 when the AIHL decided to expand the league from three to six teams.

Western Sydney era

The Sydney Ice Dogs was established in 2002 as the Western Sydney Ice Dogs and entered the AIHL for the 2002 season. The Ice Dogs joined the league along with fellow expansion teams,

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

Newcastle North Stars The Newcastle Northstars (formally ''Newcastle North Stars'') is an Australian semi-professional ice hockey team from Newcastle, New South Wales. The Northstars are a member of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL), joining as an expansion te ...

. The Ice Dogs were the second Sydney based franchise to join the league, following foundation team, the

Sydney Bears The Sydney Bears (formally ''Macquarie Bears'') is an Australian semi-professional ice hockey team from Sydney, New South Wales. Established in 1982, the Bears are the only remaining founding member of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) sti ...

. The team was assembled and funded by John Wilson, owner of the Blacktown Ice Arena, and his son Anthony Wilson. The geneses of the Ice Dogs team came from the former Blacktown Bullets. Chris Sekura was named inaugural Ice Dogs captain. The Ice Dog's first AIHL season saw the team finish mid-table in third place, just missing out on the championship final match for the top two teams. Slovakian, Branislav Kronika, top scored for the Ice Dogs with twenty five points. In

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 ...

, the league introduced a new finals format that included the top four teams from the final league table, facing off in semi-finals and then the

final. The Ice Dogs reached the finals weekend in 2003 after finishing fourth in the regular season. They won their semi-final, defeating the league premiers, Adelaide Avalanche, 4–1. In the team's first appearance in the Goodall Cup final, the Ice Dogs were defeated by the Newcastle North Stars 1–4. 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 ...

, the Ice Dogs went one better and claimed the AIHL championship and the Goodall Cup for the first time in the team's history. They matched-up against the dominant North Stars, who won all but one match in the regular season, in the final for the second season in a row but this time they defeated them 3–1. October 2007, the Blacktown Ice Arena closed down leaving the Ice Dogs without a rink for the 2008 season. The Ice Dogs moved to

Baulkham Hills Baulkham Hills is a suburb in the Hills District of Greater Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 30 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district within the local government area of The Hills Shire. Baulk ...

and played out of the

Sydney Ice Arena Sydney Ice Arena was an ice sports and public ice skating centre, located in Norwest, New South Wales. It hosted a number of major events, including Australian Ice Hockey League games. A development application was submitted by property owner ...

for one season as they looked for a new home. During

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; ...

, the Ice Dogs finished the regular season runner-up and qualified for finals after missing out the year before. Western Sydney defeated the

in the semi-finals in overtime before coming up against

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

for the third time in a Goodall Cup (championship) final. In a score line replicating the 2003 final, the North Stars ran out a 1–4 victory over the Ice Dogs thanks in large part to the individual exploits of Mickey Gilchrist.

Sydney era

In 2009, the Ice Dogs underwent a team re-brand, changing their name to the Sydney Ice Dogs, changing colours to teal, orange and white and updating their digital platforms. The Ice Dogs also moved to their new home in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

at the Liverpool Catholic Club Ice Rink. In

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 ...

, Australia's first ever

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

player, Nathan Walker, made his debut for the Sydney Ice Dogs. Walker's debut came in a 6–2 loss at Liverpool Catholic Club Ice Rink against Ice Dog's rivals Newcastle North Stars. Walker got an assist in the match for a total of one point. Nathan Walker played a total of seven matches for the Ice Dogs during the 2010 and 2011 seasons. He broke up his calendar year between playing U18 hockey in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and senior hockey for the Ice Dogs in the AIHL. His time with the Ice Dogs culminated with his selection for the Australian national team (the Mightyroos) for the World Championships Division 2 in

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 ...

, which was hosted 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 ...

at the

Icehouse Icehouse or ice house may refer to: * Ice house (building), a building where ice is stored * Ice shanty, a shelter for ice fishing also known as an ''Icehouse'' * Ice skating rink, a facility for ice skating. * Ice hockey arena, an area where i ...

. The Mightyroos, along with Walker, went on to top their group and win gold and promotion to Division 1 for the following year. Walker was selected by Australia's head coach, former Ice Dog Vlad Rubes, as the team's MVP for the tournament. The Ice Dogs next success came in the 2013 season. The Ice Dogs won 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 ...

for the first time by finishing top of the regular season table. The team reached the Goodall Cup final and met Newcastle for the fourth time in the team's history. The Ice Dogs defeated the North Stars 6–3 to claim the team's second Goodall Cup. Australian national team goaltender, Anthony Kimlin led the team to the title and was named finals MVP. Following their 2013 success, the Ice Dogs won their first Wilson Cup in the pre-season NSW cup for 2014. A 4–2 victory in the cup final over the Newcastle North Stars at

secured the cup. The Ice Dogs were then shocked in April ahead of the new season. On 14 April, Ron Kuprowsky and his two assistants, Colin Downie and Brad Andrlon, all abruptly tendered their resignations with the Ice Dogs. In May 2014, experienced head coach, Andrew Petrie, was announced the new Ice Dogs head coach. Under Petrie the Ice Dogs finished fourth in the league and reached the finals for the fourth season in a row. The Ice Dogs were defeated by eventual winner, the

Melbourne Mustangs The Melbourne Mustangs (formally ''Mustangs IHC'') is an Australian semi-professional ice hockey team from Melbourne, Victoria. Formed in 2010, the Mustangs have been a member of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) since 2011. The Mustangs ...

in the semi-finals held at

Melbourne Icehouse The Icehouse (also currently known as O'Brien Icehouse due to naming rights) is an Australian ice sports and entertainment centre, located in the Docklands precinct of Melbourne, in Victoria, Australia.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 ...

. At the conclusion of the season Petrie left the team with one season remaining on his contract to take up the vacant position at AIHL and NSW rival,

. In

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 ...

, the Ice Dogs went through a season of upheaval. For undisclosed reasons the team moved two home matches against the CBR Brave away from Liverpool to

Phillip Ice Skating Centre The Phillip Ice Skating Centre (also known as Phillip Swimming & Ice Skating Centre and the Brave Cave) is an ice sports and public skate centre, opened in 1980 and located in the Woden Valley suburb of Phillip, Australian Capital Territory, Ph ...

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 ...

. There was a mass shakeup of the player roster with a number of veteran team stalwarts leaving. The Ice Dogs iced a lot of junior players in 2015 under the guidance of former Oman national team head coach, Anders Jespersen, and from the middle of June, Mario Passarelli and Tim Flynn. On the ice, the Ice Dogs suffered, losing 27 out of 28 matches. This included six matches where the opposition scored more than ten goals. The ice Dogs did defeat the

in a shootout on 13 June 2015 to claim their only win and points of the season, however, due to multiple breaches in the number of players travelled with, the Ice Dogs were penalised by the AIHL and had three competition points taken away, leaving the Ice Dogs on 0 points at the end of the season. In

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 ...

the Ice Dogs began to form a new direction for the team. Interim head coach, Tim Flynn took over as general manager in the offseason before a permanent new general manager was announced on 3 March 2016. Former Ice Dogs player, Jason Juba became the new GM and he was keen to re-connect the team to its roots and its early years form. The Ice Dogs then appointed former player, Vlad Rubes as new head coach. While a number of former players re-joined the Ice Dogs including, Tomas Manco, David Dunwoodie, Andrew White and Scott and Todd Stephenson. New team president, Chris Blagg, resurrected the ''Matt Clark Shield'' Match. The Matt Clark Shield was formally hosted by Blaggs former club, the Warringah Bombers and contested between 1995 and 2001 to fundraise for leukaemia research. Matt Clark was a former Bombers and national youth team player who died in 1995 from leukaemia. The Ice Dogs won the 2016 Matt Clark Shield match, nine goals to eight, against the Adelaide Adrenaline. In

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 ...

, the Ice Dogs celebrated their fifteen-year anniversary. To mark the milestone the team produced a special edition logo and a retro style playing kit that was modelled on the Warringah Bombers. The Ice Dogs also brought back their original colour scheme of blue, burgundy and white. Negotiations had occurred between team president, Chris Blagg, and general manager, Jason Juba, and the newly renovated

Macquarie Ice Rink The Macquarie Ice Rink is an ice sports and public skate centre, opened in 1981 and located within the Macquarie Shopping Centre in the northern Sydney suburb of Macquarie Park, New South Wales, Australia. It is the current home of the Sydney ...

in the off season that resulted in a deal that ended the Ice Dogs time in Liverpool and Western Sydney and moved the team to Sydney's Northern Suburbs in

Macquarie Macquarie may refer to: People * Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of the British colony of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821. * Elizabeth Macquarie Campbell, Lachlan Macquarie's second wife Locations * Division of Macquarie, an electoral district in th ...

. For the first time the Ice Dogs would share a home with Sydney rivals the Bears. Ice Dogs president, Chris Blagg was then appointed as head coach and he steered the team to their best finish since 2014, fifth place, one spot outside of qualification for finals. In

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 ...

, the Ice Dogs once again had a new head coach. Andrew Petrie was appointed for the second time, having last coached the team in 2014. The Ice Dogs lost their GM with Jason Juba stepping down from his role at the team to focus on family and business ventures. Juba was credited with rebuilding the team over the previous two seasons. The Ice Dogs also secured the services of 2015 AIHL MVP, Geordie Wudrick to bolster the scoring power of the team. Wudrick had previously spent one season with the North Stars and two seasons with the Brave. The Ice Dogs pushed for a finals birth but they lost to the Mustangs in the final match of the regular season and missed out on qualification by one point. The Dogs did find success in the Wilson Cup, claiming the trophy for the second time and the first time in the new configuration of the ''Battle for Sydney'' (whoever wins the head-to-head in the regular season between the Ice Dogs and Bears. In

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 team again challenged for finals but came up just short, finishing the season in sixth place. Ice Dogs' British forward, Tim Crowder, finished the season as the top point scorer in the league with 77 points while Canadian defenceman, Dylan Quaile, was named AIHL MVP and Defenceman of the Year after posting 63 points from 26 matches.

Season by season results

:¹ As of the

2006 AIHL season The 2006 AIHL season was the seventh season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It ran from 8 April 2006 until 27 August 2006, with the Goodall Cup finals following on 2 and 3 September 2006. The Melbourne Ice won the V.I.P. Cup after ...

, all games will have a winner. :² One of these losses was a double points game which would give the total of seven games played. :³ The Ice Dogs were fined three competition points for multiple breaches by-law 4 which requires teams to travel with at least 15 players unless an exemption has been granted.

Championships

: Champions (2):

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 ...

: Runners-Up (2):

(2008-Current) : Premiers (1):

: Runners-Up (2):

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 ...

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 ...

(2004–07) : Premiers (0): : Runners-Up (1):

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 ...

.''

Retired numbers

Throughout the history of the Sydney Ice Dogs, one jersey number has been retired in honour of a former club legend. {, class="toptextcells" , - , Style = "width: 50%" , * Anthony Wilson - # 3
(2002-2013, Defenseman) : Anthony was a founding player of the Ice Dogs in 2002. He assisted his father, John, along with the other Blacktown Bullets players, set up the team. Wilson, who played as a defenceman, spent over ten years playing for the Ice Dogs. He captained the team as well as Australia during his time with the Ice Dogs. Anthony was an instrumental part of the 2004 season Goodall Cup champions Ice Dogs team. Following his playing retirement he has held different roles at the Ice Dogs including General Manager and Defensive coach. On 23 August 2019, The Ice Dogs officially retired Wilson's number three jersey in a ceremony prior to an AIHL match against Sydney Bears at Macquarie Ice Rink.

Player records

These are the top-ten all-time player records in franchise history for the following categories: Appearances, Goals, Assists, Points, Penalty minutes
(Figures are updated after each completed AIHL regular season) {, , - valign=top , {, class="toccolours" style="width:21em" , - ! colspan="4" style="background:#773145;color:white;border:#773145 1px solid", All-time Apperiences , - ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid; width: 30px", # ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Name ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid; width: 30px", ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid; width: 30px", , - , 1 , , David Dunwoodie , , D , , 309 , - , 2 , , Todd Stephenson , , F , , 297 , - , 3 , , Tomas Manco , , D , , 268 , - , 4 , , Shannon McGregor , , D , , 262 , - , 5 , , Scott Stephenson , , F , , 257 , - , 6 , , Andrew White , , D , , 234 , - , 7 , , Anthony Wilson , , D , , 195 , - , 8 , , Billy Cliff , , F , , 171 , - , 9 , , Chris Sekura , , F , , 164 , - , 10 , , Scott Herbert , , F , , 136 , - , {, class="toccolours" style="width:21em" , - ! colspan="4" style="background:#773145;color:white;border:#773145 1px solid", All-time Goals , - ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid; width: 30px", # ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Name ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid; width: 30px", ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid; width: 30px", , - , 1 , , David Dunwoodie , , D , , 79 , - , 2 , , Scott Stephenson , , F , , 71 , - , 3 , , Todd Stephenson , , F , , 70 , - , 4 , , Grant Toulmin , , F , , 64 , - , 5 , , Andrew White , , D , , 57 , - , 6 , , Matt Monaghan , , F , , 55 , - , 7 , , Alex D'Jamirze , , F , , 53 , - , 8 , , Simon Barg , , F , , 49 , - , 9 , , Chris Sekura , , F , , 46 , - , 10 , , Billy Cliff , , F , , 43 , - , {, class="toccolours" style="width:21em" , - ! colspan="4" style="background:#773145;color:white;border:#773145 1px solid", All-time Assists , - ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid; width: 30px", # ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Name ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid; width: 30px", ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid; width: 30px", , - , 1 , , David Dunwoodie , , D , , 141 , - , 2 , , Todd Stephenson , , F , , 131 , - , 3 , , Grant Toulmin , , F , , 99 , - , 4 , , Scott Stephenson , , F , , 89 , - , 5 , , Andrew White , , D , , 85 , - , 6 , , Chris Sekura , , F , , 79 , - , 7 , , Anthony Wilson , , D , , 79 , - , 8 , , Simon Barg , , F , , 75 , - , 9 , , Tomas Manco , , D , , 68 , - , 10 , , Brett Thomas , , F , , 65 , - , {, class="toccolours" style="width:21em" , - ! colspan="4" style="background:#773145;color:white;border:#773145 1px solid", All-time Points , - ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid; width: 30px", # ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Name ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid; width: 30px", ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid; width: 30px", , - , 1 , , David Dunwoodie , , D , , 220 , - , 2 , , Todd Stephenson , , F , , 201 , - , 3 , , Grant Toulmin , , F , , 163 , - , 4 , , Scott Stephenson , , F , , 160 , - , 5 , , Andrew White , , D , , 142 , - , 6 , , Chris Sekura , , F , , 125 , - , 7 , , Simon Barg , , F , , 124 , - , 8 , , Anthony Wilson , , D , , 107 , - , 9 , , Alex D'Jamirze , , F , , 104 , - , 10 , , Brett Thomas , , F , , 102 , - , {, class="toccolours" style="width:21em" , - ! colspan="4" style="background:#773145;color:white;border:#773145 1px solid", All-time Penalties , - ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid; width: 30px", # ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Name ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid; width: 30px", ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid; width: 30px", , - , 1 , , David Dunwoodie , , D , , 1324 , - , 2 , , Andrew White , , D , , 1147 , - , 3 , , Todd Stephenson , , F , , 703 , - , 4 , , Chris Sekura , , F , , 553 , - , 5 , , Anthony Wilson , , D , , 462 , - , 6 , , Shannon McGregor , , D , , 446 , - , 7 , , Tomas Manco , , D , , 445 , - , 8 , , Scott Stephenson , , F , , 384 , - , 9 , , Billy Cliff , , F , , 325 , - , 10 , , Brian Funes , , D , , 282 , -

Club staff

''Current as of

.'' {, class="toccolours" style="width:30em" , - , + style="background:#773145; border-top:#773145 5px solid; border-bottom:#773145 5px solid;color:white", Ice Dogs staff , - ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Role !! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Name , - , Head coach , , Ondrej Cervenka , - , Assistant coach , , Nicholas Kabiotis , - , Team manager , , Angela Brown , - , Assistant manager , , Nicole Vasquez , - , Equipment manager , , Richard Stevens , - , Medic , , Kylie Boyd , -

Team identity

Name and colours

The Ice Dogs have gone through one change in name since inception in 2002. The team was originally known as the Western Sydney Ice Dogs but dropped the 'Western' part of their name in 2009 and became the Sydney Ice Dogs. The team at the time remained located in

but local rivals, the Bears, had moved further west in 2007 to Penrith and had dropped Sydney from their name. The Ice Dogs were the only team in the AIHL in

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 ...

known as Sydney. {, class="toccolours" style="width:30em" , - ! colspan="3" style="background:#773145;color:white;border:#773145 1px solid", Name history , - ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid; width: 30px", # !! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Name !! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Term , - , 1 , , Western Sydney Ice Dogs , , 2002–08 , - , 2 , , Sydney Ice Dogs , , 2009–Present , -
Sydney Ice Dogs currently identify with a

navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The ...

and

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

colour scheme. The ice Dogs came into the AIHL with the colour scheme of navy, burgundy and white. When the team re-branded in 2009, the Ice Dogs changed colours to

teal alt=American teal duck (male), Green-winged teal (male) Teal is a greenish-blue colour. Its name comes from that of a bird — the Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca'') — which presents a similarly coloured stripe on its head. The word is oft ...

, orange and white. The Ice Dogs kept this colour scheme till the end of 2016. With the move to Macquarie, and the fifteenth anniversary of the team, the Ice Dogs re-branded for the second time and reverted their colour scheme back to the original navy, burgundy and white.

Facilities

The Ice Dogs are currently based at

, inside the

Macquarie Centre Macquarie Centre is a shopping centre in the suburb of Macquarie Park on the North Shore of Sydney and is located opposite the main campus of Macquarie University. Transport The Metro North West Line offers frequent services to Macquarie ...

in Sydney's Northern Suburbs. The Macquarie facility consists of an Olympic sized rink (60m x 30m) with seating for approximately 2,000 people. The Ice Dogs have been in

since 2017. Prior to moving to Macquarie the Ice Dogs had been based in three different locations around

. The Ice Dogs began life at Blacktown Ice Arena,

Blacktown Blacktown is a suburb in the City of Blacktown, in Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Blacktown is located west of the Sydney central business district. It is one of the most multicultural places within Great ...

. They called Blacktown home until the family run and owned ice rink closed in October 2007. In 2008 the Ice Dogs moved to

and played out of the

. The team's stay in Baulkham Hills was short lived however, as they again moved in 2009 to

and the Liverpool Catholic Club Ice Rink. The Ice Dogs remained in Liverpool for eight years, playing their last season at the rink in

, prior to agreeing to move to Macquarie in 2017. {, class="toccolours" style="width:30em" , - ! colspan="3" style="background:#773145;color:white;border:#773145 1px solid", Stadium history , - ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Rink !! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Location !! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Term , - , Blacktown Ice Arena , ,

, , 2002–07 , - ,

, ,

, , 2008 , - , Liverpool Catholic Club Ice Rink , ,

, , 2009–16 , - ,

, ,

, , 2017–Present , -

Charitable work

Since 2016, the Ice Dogs have been raising money annually for leukaemia research through the Matt Clark Shield match. Each season the Ice Dogs pick a match during the AIHL regular season to contest for the shield and raise money for the Leukaemia Foundation of Australia. Team president, Chris Blagg, resurrected the Matt Clark Shield Match in 2016. The Shield was formally contested between 1995 and 2001 by Blagg's former club, the Warringah Bombers. Matt Clark was a former Bombers and national youth team player who died in 1995 from leukaemia at the age of 17. {, class="toccolours" style="width:50em" , - ! colspan="7" style="background:#773145;color:white;border:#773145 1px solid", Matt Clark Shield match history (2016–Present) , - ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Date ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Venue ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Away ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid; width: 50px", ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Home ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", , - , 6 August 2016 , , Liverpool Ice Rink , , Adelaide Adrenaline , , align="center", 8–9 , , Sydney Ice Dogs , , $5,000 ,
Ref
, - , 1 July 2017 , ,

, ,

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 ...

, , align="center", 3–5 , , Sydney Ice Dogs , , $10,000 ,
Ref
, - , 4 August 2018 , , Macquarie Ice Rink , , CBR Brave , , align="center", 6–3 , , Sydney Ice Dogs , , $11,170 ,
Ref
, - , 13 July 2019 , , Macquarie Ice Rink , , Adelaide Adrenaline , , align="center", 1–10 , , Sydney Ice Dogs , , $1,856 ,
Ref
, - , 9 July 2022 , , Macquarie Ice Rink , ,

Newcastle Northstars The Newcastle Northstars (formally ''Newcastle North Stars'') is an Australian semi-professional ice hockey team from Newcastle, New South Wales. The Northstars are a member of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL), joining as an expansion te ...

, , align="center", X–X , , Sydney Ice Dogs , , TBA , , – , -

Leaders

Team captains

The Ice Dogs have had ten captains in the team's known history. {, class="toccolours" style="width:30em" , - ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", No. !! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Name !! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Term , - , 1 , , Chris Sekura , , 2002–03 , - , 2 , , Anthony Wilson , , 2005 , - , 3 , , Mike Tobin , , 2006 , - , 4 , , Brett Thomas , , 2007–08 , - , 5 , , Anthony Wilson , , 2009–11 , - , 6 , , Andrew White , , 2012 , - , 7 , , Robert Malloy , , 2013–14 , - , 8 , , Brian Funes , , 2015 , - , 9 , , Scott Stephenson , , 2016–18 , - , 10 , , Tomas Manco , , 2019–21 , - , 11 , , Daniel Pataky , , 2022–Present , - References:

Head coaches

The Ice Dogs have had eleven different head coaches and one interim head coach in the team's history. {, class="toccolours" style="width:30em" , - ! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", No. !! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Name !! style="background:#04244b;color:white;border:#04244b 1px solid", Term , - , 1 , , Dion Dunwoodie , , 2002–04 , - , 2 , , Kristofer Gailloux (

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

) , , 2005 , - , 3 , , Dan Walker , , 2006 , - , 4 , , Anthony Wilson (

) , , 2007 , - , 5 , , Mark Stephenson , , 2008–10 , - , 6 , , Ron Kuprowsky , , 2011–13 , - , 7 , , Andrew Petrie , , 2014 , - , 8 , , Anders Jespersen , , , - , 9 , , ''Mario Passarelli ( interim)'' , , , - , 10 , , Vladimir Rubes , , 2016 , - , 11 , , Christopher Blagg , , 2017 , - , 12 , , Andrew Petrie , , 2018–21 , - , 13 , , Ondrej Cervenka , , 2022–Present , - References:

Broadcasting

Current:
*

Kayo Sports Kayo Sports is an over-the-top video streaming subscription service available in Australia, owned by Streamotion ( a wholly owned subsidiary of Foxtel). The service offers sports live and on demand from Fox Sports, ESPN, beIN Sports, and Racin ...

(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. * DGB Media Group (2015) - On 9 January 2015 the Ice Dogs announced that DGB will produce a half-hour highlights program for all Ice Dogs home games for the

2015 AIHL season The 2015 AIHL season was the 16th season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's t ...

that will be televised free-to-air on TVS (Television Sydney) Channel 44. * Self-broadcast (2017 - 2019) – The Sydney Ice Dogs self-broadcast all home matches with an online audio stream utilising the Mixlr platform.

References

External links

Official websiteAustralian Ice Hockey League Official websiteElite Prospects Team Profile
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