The Sydney Wolf Pack are an Australian

junior ice hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from ...

team based in Sydney playing in the

Australian Junior Ice Hockey League The Australian Junior Ice Hockey League (AJIHL) is an elite amateur national ice hockey league in Australia, open to players 20 years of age or younger. History The Australian Junior Ice Hockey League was first announced on 18 September 2012 by ...

. They represent one of the two junior ice hockey teams from New South Wales currently playing in the

AJIHL The Australian Junior Ice Hockey League (AJIHL) is an elite amateur national ice hockey league in Australia, open to players 20 years of age or younger. History The Australian Junior Ice Hockey League was first announced on 18 September 2012 by ...

, which is the most elite level for ice hockey at a national level for ages between 16–20 years old.

Team history

AJIHL

The Sydney Maple Leafs were founded 18 September 2012 following the announcement 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 1 ...

of the formation of the

. The team is controlled by the New South Wales Ice Hockey Association. On 14 October 2012 it was announced that

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 ...

player Steven Adams and Paul Kelly had signed on as coaches for the

2012–13 AJIHL season The 2012–13 AJIHL season is the first season of the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League. It ran from 20 October 2012 until 17 February 2013, with the finals running from 3 March 2013 until 10 March 2013. The AJIHL is the highest Australian nat ...

. The first team in club history: ''For the

AJIHL expansion

The follow-up season in the

saw a lot of change via expansion and renaming of its existing teams. The Sydney Maple Leafs were renamed the Sydney Wolf Pack in September 2013. The changes were made in response to the

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 ...

s concern about the

using their team names and logos but also recognised the opportunity to create a new history for the teams through creating their own identity. In October 2013 the league expanded to six teams with two teams from

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, the

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

and the

Pelicans Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...

, joining for the start of the 2013–14 season.

Logo and uniform

2012–2013 Sydney Maple Leafs

In their first year, and the inaugural

season, the Sydney Maple Leafs wore a uniform that resembled the

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 ...

namesake

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

. The key difference with the logo design was the exclusion of the word Toronto within the leaf emblem. The jersey design and uniform otherwise bore close resemblance to the Toronto Maple Leaf design, with the

logo used for shoulder crests.

2013–present Sydney Wolf Pack

Season by season results

2012 – 2013

In the inaugural season of the

, the Sydney Wolf Pack began as the Sydney Maple Leafs. The beginning of the regular season saw the team not winning a game with the closest contest being an overtime loss to the Sydney Lightning. The Sydney Maple Leafs would record their first win as a club on 8 December 2012 against the Sydney Lightning in a 2–1 victory. Both goals scored in this historic win were scored by forward Dexter Crowe in the 2nd period about 5 minutes apart. After starting off without a win, the Sydney Maple Leafs would go on to win 4 out of their last 6 games, one of which was in overtime. In the post season finals, the Sydney Maple Leafs would continue their improved from by defeating the Sydney Lightning by a convincing 7–2 scoreline in the semi-finals. The finals series would be against the

Melbourne Red Wings The Melbourne Glaciers are an Australian junior ice hockey team based in Melbourne, Victoria playing in the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League. They represent one of the two junior ice hockey teams from Victoria currently playing in the AJIHL, ...

in a best of 3 format. The Sydney Maple Leafs won the series 2–1 after winning the final game of the series 1–0 from a first period goal by forward Scott Clemie.

2013 – 2014

The follow-up season in the

saw a lot of change via expansion and renaming of its existing teams. The Sydney Maple Leafs were renamed the Sydney Wolf Pack in September 2013. The changes were made in response to the

s concern about the

, the

and the

, joining for the start of the 2013–14 season. The finals format of a best of 3 was discontinued and the league adopted a gold-silver-bronze format which saw the 4th place Sydney Wolf Pack miss out on post season competition.

2014 – 2015

Players

Current roster

''For the 2016–17 AJIHL season''

Captains

* 2014–15 Scott Clemie (C), Patrick Nadin (A) * 2015–16 Patrick Nadin (C) * 2016–17 Jake Knott(C), Luke Zvonicek (A), Brenden Kong (A)

Head coaches

The first head coach for the Sydney Maple Leafs in the inaugural year for the

was Steven Adams. *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Steven Adams * 2013–14 Scott Stephenson * 2014–15 Andrew Reynolds * 2015–16 Amelia Matheson * 2016–17 Amelia Matheson

Awards and trophies

References

{{Sydney Sports Teams Australian Junior Ice Hockey League Ice hockey teams in Australia Sports clubs and teams in Sydney 2012 establishments in Australia Ice hockey clubs established in 2012