The Sydney Ice Dogs (formally ''Western Sydney Ice Dogs'') is an Australian 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. 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 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). The Ice Dogs are two time
Goodall Cup champions.
History
Foundation blocks
Top level ice hockey in Western Sydney dates back to 1981. The
Blacktown Flyers 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 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 and
Newcastle North Stars.
The Ice Dogs were the second Sydney based franchise to join the league, following foundation team, the
Sydney Bears
The Sydney Bears (formerly ''Macquarie Bears'') is an Australia, 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 ...
. 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
2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater.
In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War.
Demographic ...
, 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
Goodall Cup 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 60 ...
, 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 and played out of the
Sydney Ice Arena for one season as they looked for a new home. During
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 ...
, the Ice Dogs finished the regular season runner-up and qualified for finals after missing out the year before. Western Sydney defeated the
Melbourne Ice 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, United Kingdom
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
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 port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
at the
Liverpool Catholic Club Ice Rink
The Liverpool Catholic Club Ice Rink (also known as LCC Sports Complex Liverpool) is an ice sports and public skate centre, built in 1979 and located at the Hoxton Park precinct of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the home of the LCC ...
.
In
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
, Australia's first ever
National Hockey League
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 ...
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
The Liverpool Catholic Club Ice Rink (also known as LCC Sports Complex Liverpool) is an ice sports and public skate centre, built in 1979 and located at the Hoxton Park precinct of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the home of the LCC ...
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, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
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
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
, which was hosted in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
at the
Icehouse. 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 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
Sydney Ice Arena 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 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 language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...]
. 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,
Newcastle North Stars.
In
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 ...
, 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,
Canberra
Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
. 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
Sydney Bears
The Sydney Bears (formerly ''Macquarie Bears'') is an Australia, 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 ...
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
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 ...
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
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 ...
, 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 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. 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
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 ...
, 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
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 ...
, 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 2003 AIHL season statistics are incomplete. No one source has all the information and the AIHL has not published official statistics on www.theaihl.com
:
2 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
*
Goodall Cup
: Champions (2):
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 60 ...
,
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
: Runners-up (2):
2003
2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater.
In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War.
Demographic ...
,
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 ...
*
H Newman Reid Trophy (2008–Current)
: Premiers (1):
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
: Runners-up (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 ...
,
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
*
V.I.P. Cup (2004–07)
: Premiers (0):
: Runners-up (1):
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 60 ...
Players
Current roster
''Team roster for the 2024 AIHL season.''
Retired numbers
Throughout the history of the Sydney Ice Dogs, one jersey number has been retired in honour of a former club legend.
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:
Club staff
''Current as of 2024 AIHL season.''
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
Western Sydney 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
2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
known as Sydney.
Sydney Ice Dogs currently identify with a
navy
A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...
, burgundy and 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, 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
Macquarie Ice Rink, inside 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 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
Macquarie since 2017. Prior to moving to Macquarie the Ice Dogs had been based in three different locations around
Western Sydney. The Ice Dogs began life at
Blacktown Ice Arena,
Blacktown
Blacktown is a suburb in New South Wales, Australia, west of the Sydney central business district. It is one of the most multicultural places within Sydney, Greater Sydney.
History
Before the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, the area of ...
. They called Blacktown home until the family run and owned ice rink closed in October 2007. In 2008 the Ice Dogs moved to
Baulkham Hills and played out of the
Sydney Ice Arena. The team's stay in Baulkham Hills was short lived however, as they again moved in 2009 to
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
and the
Liverpool Catholic Club Ice Rink
The Liverpool Catholic Club Ice Rink (also known as LCC Sports Complex Liverpool) is an ice sports and public skate centre, built in 1979 and located at the Hoxton Park precinct of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the home of the LCC ...
. The Ice Dogs remained in Liverpool for eight years, playing their last season at the rink in
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 ...
, prior to agreeing to move to Macquarie in 2017.
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.
Leaders
Team captains
The Ice Dogs have had ten captains in the team's known history.
References:
Head coaches
The Ice Dogs have had eleven different head coaches and one interim head coach in the team's history.
References:
Broadcasting
Current:
* AIHL.TV (2023–present) – Worldwide paid subscription-based online video broadcasting published by the AIHL in partnership with the Clutch.TV platform using local production companies at each team’s rink. The service went live in April 2023, and would cover every AIHL regular season and finals games live and on demand.
*
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
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 ...
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.
* 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 of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It ran from 25 April 2015, until 23 August 2015, with the Goodall Cup finals following on 29 and 30 August. The Newcastle North Stars won both the H Newman R ...
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 using the
Mixlr platform.
References
External links
Official websiteAustralian Ice Hockey League Official websiteElite Prospects Team Profile
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{{AIHL
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Australian Ice Hockey League teams
Ice hockey teams in Australia
Sports clubs and teams in Sydney
Ice hockey clubs established in 2002
2002 establishments in Australia