Melbourne Glaciers Explained

Team Name:Melbourne Glaciers
Current:2016–17 AJIHL season
Bg Color:background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#dc1015 5px solid; border-bottom:#000000 5px solid;
Text Color:
  1. 000000
Logosize:200px
League:Australian Junior Ice Hockey League
Founded:18 September 2012
Arena:O'Brien Group Arena
City:Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Colours:(2012–13)

(2013-present)
Owner:Victorian Ice Hockey Association
Gm: Sean McConville
Coach: Michael Flaherty
Captain:
Name1:Melbourne Red Wings
Dates1:2012–2013
Name2:Melbourne Glaciers
Dates2:2013-present
Championships1 Type:AJIHL Championships
Championships1:1 (2018)
Reg Season Titles:2 (2013), (2016)

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

History

AJIHL

The Melbourne Red Wings were founded 18 September 2012 following the announcement by Ice Hockey Australia of the formation of the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League.[1] The team is controlled by the Victorian Ice Hockey Association.[1] On 14 October 2012 it was announced that Warren Porter had signed on as coach for the 2012–13 AJIHL season with Michael Flaherty as his assistant.[2]

The first team in club history:

For the 2012–13 AJIHL season[2] [3]

Name Date of Birth Acquired
10 2012
3 2012
4 2012
5 2012
15 2012
8 2012
6 2012
7 2012
20 2012
19 2012
14 2012
18 2012
11 2012
9 2012
2 2012

AJIHL Expansion

The follow-up season in the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League saw a lot of change via expansion and renaming of its existing teams. The Melbourne Red Wings were renamed the Melbourne Glaciers on 22 August 2013.[4] [5] The changes were made in response to the National Hockey Leagues concern about the AJIHL 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, the Sharks and the Pelicans, joining for the start of the 2013–14 season.[6]

Logo and Uniform

2012-2013 Melbourne Red Wings

In their first year, and the inaugural AJIHL season, the Melbourne Red Wings wore a uniform that resembled the NHL namesake Detroit Red Wings. The jersey design and uniform bore close resemblance to the Detroit Red Wings design, with the AJIHL logo used for shoulder crests.[7]

2013-present

On 22 August 2013 it was announced that the Melbourne Red Wings would change their name to the Melbourne Glaciers, which avoided the close resemblance with the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL after the NHL had made complaint about a breach of copyright and it also allowed the team to develop its own brand identity.[8]

The renaming to Melbourne Glaciers was carefully chosen to reflect Australia's rich hockey culture. The name Glaciers is a tribute to the Melbourne Glaciarium,[8] which was the first place that an ice hockey game was played in Australia on Tuesday 17 July 1906.[9] The Melbourne Glaciarium was also home to one of the original 4 ice hockey teams in Australia called the Glaciarium, who were founded as part of the formation of the Victorian Ice Hockey Association (VIHA) in 1908.[10]

On 13 September 2013, the new Melbourne Glaciers logo design and branding was created by Ross Carpenter and his son, Jack Carpenter, who was largely involved in the creation of the uniform design.

The suggestion to use Glaciers as a new name for the Melbourne Red Wings was made by Michael Flaherty and the reasoning behind it was to honor the Melbourne Glaciarium, the location of the first game of ice hockey game played in Australia. The league made the decision to continue using a predominantly red jersey and provided a limit of 4 colors. The decision to use red as a base colour is thought to honor their patron of the time, Basil Hansen, who first played for the VIHA Red Arrows in 1947. The colors used were charcoal grey, a blue-grey and white to create a palette with glacial coloring.[11]

[11]

[11] The Melbourne Glaciarium was situated on the bank of the Yarra River, facing Melbourne city which is currently referred to as South Gate. When it was built in 1906 it was the third largest ice arena in the world and seated 2000 patrons, though peak attendance could see up to 5000 patrons in the venue at one time.[11]

Season by season results

width=60Seasonwidth=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=100Finishwidth=300Playoff
14 8 0 1 5 47 41 25 1st Won semi-final vs. Melbourne Blackhawks, 7–3
Lost finals series vs. Sydney Maple Leafs, 1–2

Players

Current roster

For the 2016–17 AJIHL season

Name Date of Birth Acquired
2 2016
4 2013
6 2014
7 2016
8 2015
10 2014
11 2013
12 2016
13 2016
14 D2015
15 2015
16 2016
18 2016
1 2016

Captains

The first team Captain for the Melbourne Red Wings in the inaugural year for the AJIHL was Brendan McDowell, his Alternate Captains were Matt Stringer and Chris Fahy.[12]

Head coaches

The first Head Coach for the Melbourne Red Wings in the inaugural year for the AJIHL was Warren Porter.[12]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: AJIHL Teams Announced . Hewitt Sports Network . Andrew . Hewitt . 2012-09-20 . 2012-09-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140102191652/http://hewittsports.com/?p=6820 . 2 January 2014 . live .
  2. Web site: AJIHL rosters finalised . Hewitt Sports Network . Andrew . Hewitt . 2012-10-14 . 2012-10-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160402215904/http://hewittsports.com/?p=7236 . 2 April 2016 . live .
  3. Web site: Melbourne Red Wings . Pointstreak Sports Technologies . 2012-10-20 .
  4. Web site: Formerly the Sydney Maple Leafs . Sydney Wolf Pack . 25 September 2013 . 2 February 2014 .
  5. Web site: Coaches Welcome the Sydney Sabres . Sydney Sabres . 25 September 2013 . 2 February 2014 .
  6. Web site: AJIHL National Junior League Kicks Off in Perth . Ice Hockey WA . 21 October 2013 . 2 February 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140226182948/http://www.icewa.com.au/ice-hockey/news/2/ajihl-national-junio . 26 February 2014 . dead .
  7. Web site: Hewitt . Andrew . Wings Secure Maximum Points in Melbourne . 17 September 2015 .
  8. Web site: New look for Melbourne and the AJIHL . On the Fly Hockey . Andrew . Macdougall . 22 August 2013 . 17 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140218224635/http://ontheflyhockey.com/new-look-for-melbourne-and-the-ajihl/ . 18 February 2014 . dead .
  9. News: International Hockey Match at the Glaciarium - America vs. Australia. Punch (Melbourne) . 19 June 1906 . 30 August 2015.
  10. Web site: Jack Carpenter's Victoria A Brief History of Ice Time. Legends of Australian Ice - Jack Carpenter's Victoria A Brief History of Ice Time . 28 February 2015.
  11. Web site: AJIHL Jersey Design . . Ross . Carpenter . 18 September 2013 . 18 September 2013.
  12. Web site: Hewitt . Andrew . AJIHL Rosters Finalised . 17 September 2015 .