The Sydney Bears (formerly ''Macquarie Bears'') is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

semi-professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team from

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, New South Wales. Established in 1982, the Bears are the only remaining founding member of the

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

(AIHL) still operating. The Bears are based at Macquarie Ice Rink, within the

Macquarie Centre Macquarie Centre is a shopping centre in the suburb of Macquarie Park in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney and is located opposite the main campus of Macquarie University. History 20th Century 1960s: purchase of land In 1968, Grace Bro ...

, in the northern suburbs of Sydney. The Sydney Bears are three time Goodall Cup champions and four time H Newman Reid Trophy premiers.

History

Prior to AIHL

The Sydney Bears was founded on 1 July 1982 as the Macquarie Bears Ice Hockey Club Incorporated. The team was formed concurrently to the non-incorporated local ice hockey club sharing the same name. The Bears were based out of the Macquarie Ice Rink. The club competed in the NSW Super League (NSWSL) and then the East Coast Super League (ECSL). In 1989 the Bears claimed the NSWSL championship with star defenceman Glen Foll claiming top points scorer for the season. In 1997 the club decided to change its name to the Sydney Bears Ice Hockey Club in preparation for a new national competition. In September 1999, the Bears won the East Coast Super League after defeating the Canberra Knights in a two match grand final series held at Phillip Ice Skating Centre, Canberra. In game one, on 18 September, the Bears fought their way to a close a 6–5 victory over the hosts. In game two, on 19 September, Sydney's goalkeeper Alan Becken claimed a shutout as the Bears won 5–0.

AIHL era

2000–10

In 2000, the Australian Ice Hockey league (AIHL) was established. The league adopted a franchise arrangement for competing teams so the Sydney Bears set up their incorporation as The Bears AIHL Inc. and were granted an AIHL licence. The Sydney Bears claimed the inaugural AIHL season premiership by finishing top of the round-robin season involving the Bears,

Adelaide Avalanche The Adelaide Avalanche was a semi-professional ice hockey club based in the Adelaide, South Australia, Adelaide suburb of Thebarton, South Australia. The Avalanche, founded in 1999, was a founding member of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL ...

and Canberra Knights. The Bears were defeated by the Avalanche, 6–5 in a shootout in the single match championship final. The Sydney Bears backed up this performance and made the championship final in 2001. They were again defeated by the Adelaide Avalanche, 10–7. The Bears did find success in the Goodall Cup tournament in 2001. Held in

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

, it was the last Goodall Cup tournament held independently to the AIHL. In 2002, the Bears had a breakout AIHL season. The team left Macquarie and moved to the new Sydney Ice Arena in

Baulkham Hills Baulkham Hills (;) is a suburb in the Hills District, New South Wales, Hills District of Greater Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located within north-west of the Sydney central business district mostly within the Loca ...

. The league doubled in size to six teams and the Bears finished the season first in the table to claim their second premiership. They faced a familiar foe, Adelaide Avalanche, in the first Goodall Cup Final for the AIHL. In Blacktown Ice Arena, the Bears defeated Adelaide 5–4 in a shootout to clinch the Goodall Cup and claim their first AIHL Championship. In 2003, the AIHL adopted a new finals format that involved the top four teams from the regular season. The Sydney Bears were involved in and won the one and only third place play-off in an AIHL finals weekend. The Bears continued their rivalry with Adelaide and defeated them 10–5 in the match to claim third. From 2004 the AIHL tweaked the finals format to remove this match. The Bears next found success in 2007 and 2008. In 2007, the Sydney Bears changed their name to the AIHL Bears (or simply the Bears) as the team left Sydney for Penrith. The team played out of the

Penrith Ice Palace The Penrith Ice Palace (also known as Penrith Ice Rink.) was an ice sports and public skate centre, located west of Sydney in Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia. It permanently closed on Wednesday 29 June 2022. It se ...

. The Bears won their second championship and Goodall Cup by defeating the Newcastle North Stars 3–2 in overtime in the final. The Bears also won the inaugural Wilson Cup in 2007. In 2008, the Bears claimed the H Newman Reid Trophy for the first time by finishing top of the league table ahead of the Western Sydney Ice Dogs. The Bears also claimed back-to-back Wilson Cups after defeating the Ice Dogs in the pre-season tournament's final 6–4.

2010–20

To start the new decade, in 2010, the team rebranded and changed their name back to the Sydney Bears. The team switched between Penrith and Sydney Ice Arena over the course of seven seasons. In 2017, Macquarie Ice Rink, at a cost of $3 million, had been upgraded to AIHL standards providing the Bears the opportunity to return to their spiritual home. The Bears, along with the Ice Dogs, moved into the newly renovated arena located within the

. The upgrade of Macquarie Ice Rink also brought back the Sydney Bears (IHNSW) club to Macquarie. Since the move in 2017, the AIHL team and the IHNSW club have increased cooperation and support between the two clubs. Ex AIHL Bear's players have been taking up coaching roles within the IHNSW club while the IHNSW Bears provides the AIHL team a pathway for local players. In 2018, prior to the season starting, the Bears unveiled a new team logo to signify their return home to Macquarie. On the ice, the Bears struggled to find form. The team spent seven consecutive seasons failing to reach the AIHL finals weekend between 2011 and 2017. In 2018 the team's fortunes began to improve. The Bears finished second in the league and made their first appearance in the Goodall Cup final in eleven years. They were defeated 4–3 in overtime by the CBR Brave but their display and spirit was praised. In 2019, the Sydney Bears surprised many and went one better and clinched their third Goodall Cup. It was their second Cup success after finishing the regular season in fourth place. The Bears defeated 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 Are ...

, 5–2 in the final.

Season-by-season results

Notes: Notes References:

Championships

* Goodall Cup : Champions (3):

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

: Runners-Up (3):

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

* H Newman Reid Trophy (2008–Current) : Premiers (2):

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

: Runners-Up (2):

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

*Hellyer Conference : Winners (2):

* Wilson Cup : Winners (8):

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

: Runners-Up (2):

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

* V.I.P. Cup (2004–07)¹ : Premiers (2):

: Runners-Up (1):

*East Coast Super League : Champions (1): 1999 *NSW Super League : Champions (1): 1989 :¹ This list includes Premierships prior to the first trophy for Premiers in 2004.

Players

Current roster

''Team roster for the 2024 AIHL season.''

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) Legend:

Staff

''Current as of 2024 AIHL season.''

Team facilities

The Sydney Bears' current home venue is the Macquarie Ice Rink, located within the Macquarie Shopping Centre in Macquarie,

. The Macquarie facility consists of an Olympic sized rink (60m x 30m) with seating for approximately 2,000 people. Macquarie is the spiritual home of the Bears, as the team called Macquarie home from foundation in 1982 till 2002. In 2002 the team moved to the recently constructed Sydney Ice Arena in

, Sydney. After five years the team moved out of Sydney and into the

Penrith, New South Wales Penrith is a city in New South Wales, Australia, located in Greater Western Sydney, 55 kilometres (31 mi) west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Nepean River, on the outskirts of the Cumberland Plain. Its elevati ...

, out west of the city. In 2012 the Bears returned to Sydney and to the Sydney Ice Arena. In late 2013 / early 2014 it was announced that the ownership of the Sydney Ice Arena, Hillsong, had lodged a development application with the

NSW Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

to re-develop the site into a residential complex, removing the twelve year old ice rink. The Bears moved back to Penrith for the 2015 and 2016 AIHL seasons. In 2017 it was announced that the Bears would return home to Macquarie to play out of the newly upgraded Macquarie Ice Rink, which now met AIHL standards.

Leaders

Team captains

The Bears have had seven captains in the team's known history. References:

Head coaches

The Bears have had four head coaches in the team's known history, with Vladimir Rubes taking the position in three stints. References:

General managers

The Bears have had three general managers in the team's known history. References:

Broadcasting

Current:
* AIHL.TV (2023–present) – Worldwide paid subscription-based online video broadcasting published by the AIHL in partnership with the Swedish company StayLive AB platform using local production companies at each team’s rink. In Sydney, Thought Fox Media Group is the local production company. The service went live in April 2023 in partnership with Clutch.TV, and would cover every AIHL regular season and finals games live and on demand. In 2024, the service expanded to offer

Apple iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

and Andriod Play apps. *

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 2024, the company has 2 ...

(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:
* Kayo Sports (2022) – 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. *

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

(2013 – 2019) – Part of the entire AIHL domestic TV broadcasting deal with

to show one game a round, normally on Thursday's at 4:30 pm or after

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

games during NHL season. * Self-broadcast (2015 – 2019) – Between 2015 and 2019 the Sydney Bears self-broadcast all home matches with an online audio stream utilising the Mixlr platform. Eric Brook and Nicholas Kutnjak called the play by play with various co commentators joining the team during the season.

References

External links

Sydney Bears Official websiteSydney Bears Official TwitterAIHL official websiteElite Prospects Team Profile
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