2015 AIHL season

The Gold Coast Blue Tongues licence expired two years after they were suspended from the AIHL due to their inability to organise a new ice rink.[1] In response the league has started making enquiries in Brisbane to gauge interest in placing a team back in the city.[1] The Central Coast Rhinos who played in the AIHL between 2005 and 2008 applied to re-enter the league at the 2014 Annual General Meeting.[2] Their application however was rejected for undisclosed reasons.[3] The Sydney Bears announced that they were moving from the Sydney Ice Arena to the Penrith Ice Palace.[4] The Bears previously played at the Ice Palace from 2007 to 2011 before relocating to the Ice Arena.[5] The teams move comes after the Ice Arena's land was approved for redevelopment.[4] In January 2015 the Sydney Ice Dogs announced a deal with DGB Media Group to produce a highlights program for their home games which will be aired on the Television Sydney station.[6] On 4 February the Canberra Institute of Technology announced that they had signed on with the CBR Brave as a major sponsor with a deal that would include the Institutes logo on the team jerseys and their students working with the players as part of their training.[7] The Brave also signed Anytime Fitness as a sleeve sponsor, Benchmarc Financial Group as a pants sponsor and Smoque restaurant as the club's official post match partner.[8][9][10] In April 2015 the Sydney Ice Dogs signed Southern Cross Group Services as a new sponsor for the club.[11] In March the league revealed new branding which included a new logo and slogan “Fast, Fierce, Full-on”. The new logo which is designed to represent the Australian Commonwealth star and a blade of an ice hockey stick was developed by Coordinate.[12] The CBR Brave announced that they had established a junior affiliate club, known as the Junior Brave, in conjunction with Ice Hockey ACT to compete in the NSW Midget Ice Hockey League.[13] On 17 March Hards Transport signed a deal with the Adelaide Adrenaline to become the clubs naming rights sponsor.[14] In April the Sydney Bears signed a deal with TGI Fridays Macquarie Centre restaurant to sponsor the bar located at the Penrith Ice Palace.[15] They also announced a partnership with apparel company Ryzer for 2015 with the company supplying the home and away uniforms.[16] The league changed one rule for the 2015 season, adopting the hybrid icing rule to allow players to better prepare for International Ice Hockey Federation competitions and mitigate risks associated with end wall collisions.[17]

In May watchmakers Haigh & Hastings signed a deal with the AIHL to become a sponsor for the 2015 season, expanding their activity in the league with the company already a major sponsor of the Perth Thunder.[18] Also in May the Perth Thunder announced Ryan Laurel Resourcing, Sandalford Wines and Smartclub as a new sponsors of the club and the CBR Brave changed their official post match partner from Smoque restaurant to the Hellenic Club’s Trattoria restaurant in order to accommodate the number of fans.[19][20][21] In June Sydney Ice Dogs head coach Anders Jespersen due to unknown reasons and was replaced by Sydney Bears player Mario Passarelli.[22] The head coach position was then handed to Tim Flynn after Passarelli opted to play for the Ice Dogs as a skater.[23][24] In July the league signed a deal with TGI Fridays Australia which saw them named as the official restaurant of the AIHL.[25] The deal includes TGI Fridays showing the Fox AIHL Games of the Week and the Melbourne Central restaurant hosting the official after part of the 2015 playoffs. Also in July the Perth Thunder announced that Zarraffa’s Coffee and Nova 93.7 had signed on with the club as sponsors.[26]

Player transfers

Interclub transfers Nat Player Previous team New team Ref Paul Baranzelli Sydney Ice Dogs Melbourne Ice [45] Mitch Bye Sydney Ice Dogs Newcastle North Stars [46] David Dunwoodie Sydney Ice Dogs CBR Brave [47] Sean Hamilton Melbourne Ice Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Adam Kimbley Sydney Bears Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Tyler Kubara Sydney Ice Dogs CBR Brave [49] Robert Malloy Sydney Ice Dogs Newcastle North Stars [46] Lukas Manco Sydney Bears Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Brendan Oakes Melbourne Mustangs Melbourne Ice [45] Mario Passarelli Sydney Bears Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Jarrod Smith Sydney Bears Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Shane Southwood Sydney Ice Dogs Newcastle North Stars [46] Alec Stephenson Sydney Bears Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Richard Tesarik Sydney Ice Dogs Sydney Bears [50] Patrick Ward Sydney Ice Dogs Sydney Bears [50]

Retirements Nat Player Team New role Ref Richard Ashton Melbourne Ice — [51] Brad Hunt CBR Brave Head coach of CBR Brave [40] Ray Sheffield Newcastle North Stars Assistant coach at Newcastle North Stars [52]

New signings Nat Player Previous team New team Ref Drew Akins Huntsville Havoc Melbourne Mustangs [53] Strat Allen No team Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Cory Banfield Pensacola Ice Flyers Melbourne Mustangs [53] Alan Becken Sydney Heat Sydney Bears [50] Steve Best Adelaide Redwings Adelaide Adrenaline [54][55] Jonathan Boxill Nottingham Panthers Adelaide Adrenaline [54] Tyson Boyd Adelaide Blackhawks Adelaide Adrenaline [54][56] Jordan Brunt No team CBR Brave [49] Dale Burgess Penrith Raptors Sydney Bears [50] Jake Burgess Sydney Wolf Pack Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Jamie Campbell West Coast Lightning Perth Thunder [57] Ellesse Carini Reach Rebels Sydney Bears [50] Taras Cheprakov Melbourne Whalers Melbourne Ice [45] Tyerell Clare No team Sydney Bears [50] Scott Clemie West Auckland Admirals Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Tommy Cooney Arizona State University Sydney Bears [50] Luc Daigneault No team Perth Thunder [57] Dayne Davis No team Newcastle North Stars [46] Cassian Delsar Adelaide Tigers Melbourne Ice [45][58] Peter Di Salvo Mississippi Riverkings Perth Thunder [57] James Downie CIHA Voyageurs Bantam AAA Sydney Bears [50] Andrew Erzen No team Melbourne Ice [45] Ryan Foll Melbourne Whalers Adelaide Adrenaline [54] David Foster Melbourne Glaciers Melbourne Ice [45] Charles Frazer Newcastle North Stars ECSL Sydney Bears [50] Nikolaos French Melbourne Whalers Melbourne Ice [45] Kelly Geoffrey No team CBR Brave [49] Matt Grogan No team Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Tyler Grove No team Adelaide Adrenaline [54] Mark Guggenberger Fort Wayne Komets Perth Thunder [57] Joseph Harcharik Orlik Opole Sydney Bears [50] Dávid Harmati No team Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Luke Harding Adelaide Blackhawks Adelaide Adrenaline [54][59] Kevin Harvey Rapid City Rush Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Jack Hayes Melbourne Glaciers Melbourne Mustangs [53] Kory Helowka Osby IK Adelaide Adrenaline [54] Mackenzie Hill Melbourne Whalers Melbourne Ice [45] Alex Hudson Peoria Rivermen Perth Thunder [57] Kamil Jarina No team Sydney Bears [50] Luke Judson Bakersfield Condors Perth Thunder [57] Toni Kluuskeri Corsaires de Dunkerque Perth Thunder [57] Jackson Knott Blueline Bombers Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Jake Knott Blueline Bombers Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Paul Kurceba Okotoks Drillers Melbourne Ice [45] Tomas Landa HC Risuty Sydney Bears [50] Alex Leclerc Sherbrooke Cougars Melbourne Ice [45] Ilman Lee Blueline Bombers Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Lenny Lee Melbourne Glaciers Melbourne Ice [45] Mitchell Levitt No team Perth Thunder [57] Jayden Lewis Meaford Knights CBR Brave [49] Lyndon Lodge West Coast Lightning Perth Thunder [57] James Marino ECSL Sting Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Tomas Manco No team CBR Brave [47] Kyle Mariani Laval Prédateurs CBR Brave [49] Brayden Martin Melbourne Glaciers Melbourne Ice [45] Mark McCann Cockburn Blackhawks Perth Thunder [57] Jackson McCoy No team Melbourne Mustangs [53] Lachlan McKenzie Penrith Raptors Sydney Bears [50] Luke Moffatt Storhamar Dragons Newcastle North Stars [46] Nicholas Novysedlak No team Melbourne Ice [45] Aleš Padělek HC Rebel Havlíčkův Brod Sydney Bears [50] Ben Pagett No team CBR Brave [49] Mario Passarelli No team Sydney Bears [50] Daniel Pataky Reach Rebels Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Nicola Pau Adelaide Redwings Adelaide Adrenaline [54][60] Jordan Peddle No team CBR Brave [49] Scott Pitt Braehead Clan CBR Brave [49] Alastair Punler West Coast Lightning Perth Thunder [57] Robbie Rama Melbourne Whalers Melbourne Mustangs [53] Ryan Remillard Adelaide Falcons Adelaide Adrenaline [54][61] Joel Rhodes Penrith Raptors Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Jan Safar Fayetteville FireAntz Newcastle North Stars [46] Tomas Sak Cockburn Blackhawks Perth Thunder [57] Charlie Smart West Coast Lightning Adelaide Adrenaline [54] Cameron Smith Sydney Heat Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Kane Spence ECSL Sting Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Ryan Strayer Southern Stampede Sydney Ice Dogs [48] Corey Stringer Melbourne Glaciers Melbourne Mustangs [53] Scott Swiston University of Alberta Augustana Newcastle North Stars [46] Alexandre Tetreault No team CBR Brave [49] Aleksi Toivonen HCIK CBR Brave [49] Josh Unice Sheffield Steelers CBR Brave [49] Vadim Virjassov No team Melbourne Mustangs [53] Andrew White No team Adelaide Adrenaline [54] Daniel Wilkinson West Coast Lightning Perth Thunder [57] Geordie Wudrick Louisiana IceGators Newcastle North Stars [46] Luke Zvonicek Blueline Bombers Sydney Bears [50]

Players lost Nat Player Previous team New team Ref Matthew Anderson Melbourne Mustangs No team [62] Brendan Ayton Sydney Bears No team [63] Matthew Ayton Sydney Bears No team [63] Sonny Bal Melbourne Ice No team [64] Simon Barg Sydney Ice Dogs No team [65] David Bell CBR Brave No team [66] Slavomir Boris Sydney Bears No team [63] Dylan Burgess Sydney Ice Dogs No team [65] Blake Cameron CBR Brave No team [66] David Chubb Adelaide Adrenaline No team [67] Nick Clark Adelaide Adrenaline No team [67] John Clewlow Sydney Ice Dogs Fayetteville FireAntz [65] Billy Cliff Sydney Ice Dogs No team [65] Darren Cope CBR Brave No team [66] Scott Corbett Melbourne Ice No team [64] Cody Danberg Newcastle North Stars No team [68] Ben DiMarco Sydney Bears Skautafélag Akureyrar [63] Mathieu Dugas Perth Thunder Sorel-Tracy Éperviers [69] Ted Fabijan Adelaide Adrenaline Melbourne Whalers [67] Justin Fox Perth Thunder Quad City Mallards [69] Adam Geric Newcastle North Stars No team [68] Jordan Grover Perth Thunder No team [69] Joshua Hansen Newcastle North Stars Newcastle North Stars ECSL [68] Jeff Harvey CBR Brave No team [66] Alexander Hall Melbourne Mustangs No team [62] Colby Hauser Perth Thunder No team [69] Ross Howell Melbourne Ice No team [64] Charlie Huber Adelaide Adrenaline No team [67] Gustaf Huth Melbourne Ice Hammarby Hockey [64] James Keane Adelaide Adrenaline No team [67] Anton Kokkonen CBR Brave TuTo [66] Simon Kudla Perth Thunder No team [69] Martin Kutek Melbourne Mustangs No team [62] Samuel Lammert Newcastle North Stars Newcastle North Stars ECSL [68] Paul Lazzarotto Melbourne Ice Melbourne Whalers [64] Matthew Lehoczky CBR Brave No team [66] Måns Lindgren Adelaide Adrenaline Piteå HC J20 [67] Brett Liscomb Adelaide Adrenaline Danbury Whalers [67] Dane Ludolph Sydney Bears No team [63] David Manning Adelaide Adrenaline IFK Ore [67] Harrison May Newcastle North Stars No team [68] Joel McFadden Sydney Bears Sydney Heat [63] Eric McKenna Sydney Ice Dogs Kowloon Warriors [65] Christopher McPhail CBR Brave No team [66] Matt Monaghan Sydney Ice Dogs No team [65] Carter Moore Sydney Ice Dogs No team [65] Adrian Nash Melbourne Mustangs No team [62] Brett Nelson-Bond Sydney Bears No team [63] Aku Nevalainen Perth Thunder HC Giants [69] Tim Newmark Sydney Bears Framingham State University [63] Timothy Noting Sydney Ice Dogs IFK Österåker [65] Mathieu Ouellette CBR Brave No team [66] Daniel Palmkvist Sydney Bears Berkshire Battalion [63] Dean Peterson Adelaide Adrenaline No team [67] Petri Pitkänen CBR Brave KeuPa HT [66] Nicholas Quirk-Orford Newcastle North Stars Newcastle North Stars ECSL [68] Shai Rabinowitz CBR Brave No team [66] Kim Ranta-Aho Perth Thunder HC Giants [69] Troy Robertson Melbourne Mustangs No team [62] Cameron Rose Sydney Ice Dogs No team [65] Jeff Smith Melbourne Ice Braehead Clan [64] Mark Smith Melbourne Ice No team [64] Daniel Spina Sydney Ice Dogs Blueline Bombers [65] Sean Hamilton Steen Sydney Bears Swan Lake Cougars [63] Stuart Stefan Perth Thunder Huntsville Havoc [69] Brenden Stobbs Sydney Bears Sydney Heat [63] Niko Suoraniemi Adelaide Adrenaline Orlik Opole [67] Daniel Szalinski Melbourne Ice No team [64] Darren Taylor CBR Brave No team [66] Matt Taylor Newcastle North Stars No team [68] Shaun Tobin Perth Thunder College of St. Scholastica [69] Corey Toy Perth Thunder Fayetteville FireAntz [69] Derek Walker CBR Brave No team [66] Corey Wilkie CBR Brave Ste. Anne Aces [66] Michael Will Adelaide Adrenaline Cardiff Devils [67] Rob Willis Sydney Bears No team [63] Chris Wilson Newcastle North Stars Louisiana IceGators [68] Jack Wolgemuth Melbourne Mustangs No team [62]

The regular season started on 25 April 2015 and ran through to 23 August 2015 before the top four teams compete in the Goodall Cup playoff series.[70] In February 2015 it was announced that the Sydney Bears and Sydney Ice Dogs had moved some of their home games to Canberra. The Sydney Bears home game against the CBR Brave on 20 June had to be moved due to the Penrith Ice Palace being unavailable for the game.[71] The Sydney Ice Dogs moved both their 1 and 22 August home games against the Brave to Canberra for undisclosed reasons.[71] The Ice Dogs also moved their 23 May home game in Liverpool against the Newcastle North Stars to 14 June at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Newcastle.[72] On 23 May the Brave hosted the Adelaide Adrenaline in the inaugural beyondblue cup at the Phillip Ice Skating Centre. The regular season game was held to rais awareness for the beyondblue charity and was won by the Brave 8–2.[21] On 20 June the Perth Thunder's regular season match against the Melbourne Mustangs was held at the Perth Arena as a pre-game event to the Canada v USA Ice Hockey Classic match. The Thunder defeated the Mustangs 4–3 in front of a crowd of 2,000.[73] On 28 July 2015 the league fined the Sydney Ice Dogs $500 and three competition points for multiple breaches of the AIHL by-law 4.[74] The by-law requires a team to travel with at least 15 players unless an exemption has been granted.[74] The Ice Dogs first breached the by-law on 4 July and received a written warning and then again breached it on 25 and 26 July, attracting the monetary fine and loss of competition points.[74] The Ice Dogs, who at the time of the fine only had two competition points, revert to zero points and can not gain any further points until they have accumulated the points they have forfeited.[74]

The Newcastle North Stars won the H Newman Reid Trophy after finishing first in the regular season with 63 points.[75] Following the playoffs the AIHL announced the winners of the 2015 awards.[76] Newcastle North Stars Geordie Wudrick and Jan Safar won the Most Valuable Player and Defenceman of the Year respectively, Kamil Jarina of the Sydney Bears won the Goaltender of the Year, Perth Thunder's Kieran Webster was named Rookie of the Year and Dave Kenway Coach of the Year, and the Skater's Network Local Player of the Year was won by Wehebe Darge of the Adelaide Adrenaline.[76]

Season awards

Below lists the 2015 AIHL regular season award winners.

Award	Name	Team
MVP	Geordie Wudrick	Newcastle North Stars
Goaltender	Kamil Jarina	Sydney Bears
Defenceman	Jan Safar	Newcastle North Stars
Rookie	Kieran Webster	Perth Thunder
Local player	Wehebe Darge	Adelaide Adrenaline
Coach	Dave Kenway	Perth Thunder

Source

The 2015 playoffs started on 29 August 2015, with the Goodall Cup final being held on 30 August. Following the end of the regular season the top four teams advanced to the playoff series. All three games were held at the Medibank Icehouse in Docklands, Victoria, the home of the Melbourne Ice and Melbourne Mustangs. The series was a single game elimination with the two winning semi-finalists advancing to the Goodall Cup final.[70] The finals were again sponsored by Air Canada, their third year in a row.[79] The Goodall Cup was won by the Newcastle Northstars who defeated the Melbourne Ice 3–2, from a penalty shot in first overtime.[80] Geordie Wudrick of the Newcastle North Stars was named the finals Most Valuable Player.[76] Following a fundraising campaign the three playoff games were streamed live for free by ATC Productions with the grand final being watched in 771 cities across 89 countries.[81] In addition Fox Sports broadcast a 90-minute special of each game on successive days from 8 to 10 September.[81]

On 19 August the league announced that they will hold the inaugural All-Star Weekend at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Newcastle on 12 and 13 September.[82] The event featured a skills competition on 12 September and an All-Star game on 13 September.[82] APA Group was announced as the sponsor of the weekend while Fox Sports broadcast a 90-minute special on 17 September.[82] The skills competition involved all 34 players competing in at least one of the six skill-based contests.[82] The six events to be featured included a breakaway challenge, fastest skater, elimination shootout, hardest shot, shooting accuracy and puck control.[82] The All-Star game consisted of two teams named Team Bales and Team Schlamp, named after their respective captains Brian Bales and Michael Schlamp and features players from different teams.[82]

The Skills competition saw players from the Melbourne Ice and Newcastle North Stars take out two of the six events each, while the Adelaide Adrenaline and Perth Thunder picked up one each.[83] On 13 September Team Schlamp defeated Team Bales 7–3 at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium to win the 2015 All-Star Game.[83] Patrick O’Kane of the Melbourne Mustangs was named the most valuable player of the match.[83]

• The Australian Ice Hockey League