Sydney Wolf Pack Explained

Team:Sydney Wolf Pack
Current:2016–17 AJIHL season
Bg Color:background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#435fc8 5px solid; border-bottom:#435fc8 5px solid;
Text Color:
  1. 000000
Logosize:200px
League:Australian Junior Ice Hockey League
Founded:18 September 2012
Arena:Penrith Ice Palace
City:Sydney
Owner:New South Wales Ice Hockey Association
Gm:Miranda Ransome
Nabil Fahmy
Coach:Andrew Reynolds
Steve Ransome
Captain:Dylan Alavert
Name1:Sydney Maple Leafs
Dates1:2012–2013
Name2:Sydney Wolf Pack
Dates2:2013–present
Championships1 Type:AJIHL Championships
Championships1:2 (2013), (2015)

The Sydney Wolf Pack are an Australian junior ice hockey team based in Sydney playing in the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League. They represent one of the two junior ice hockey teams from New South Wales currently playing in the AJIHL, 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 of the formation of the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League.[1] The team is controlled by the New South Wales Ice Hockey Association.[1] On 14 October 2012 it was announced that Sydney Bears player Steven Adams and Paul Kelly had signed on as coaches for the 2012–13 AJIHL season.[2]

The first team in club history:For the 2012–13 AJIHL season[2] [3]

Name Date of Birth Acquired Birthplace
19 2012 Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia
17 2012 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
18 2012
6 2012
20 2012
1 2012
13 2012 Scunthorpe, England, United Kingdom
9 2012 Sydney, Australia
12 2012 Sydney, Australia
25 2012
5 2012
11 2012
16 2012 Wombarra, New South Wales, Australia
15 2012 Gosford, New South Wales, Australia
3 2012
7 2012
2 2012
8 2012
10 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 Sydney Maple Leafs were renamed the Sydney Wolf Pack in September 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 Sydney Maple Leafs

In their first year, and the inaugural AJIHL season, the Sydney Maple Leafs wore a uniform that resembled the NHL namesake Toronto Maple Leafs. 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 AJIHL logo used for shoulder crests.[7]

2013–present Sydney Wolf Pack

Season by season results

2012 – 2013

In the inaugural season of the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League, 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.[8]

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 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.[9]

width=60Seasonwidth=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=100Finish
14 4 0 0 2 0 8 24 34 52 3rd
width=60Finalswidth=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=100Finish
4 3 1 0 1 24 9 AJIHL Champions

2013 – 2014

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 Sydney Maple Leafs were renamed the Sydney Wolf Pack in September 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] 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.

width=60Seasonwidth=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=100Finish
15 6 0 1 0 1 7 21 45 49 4th
width=60Finalswidth=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=100Finish
2014 Finals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Did not play

2014 – 2015

width=60Seasonwidth=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=100Finish
15 7 0 2 0 0 8 24 30 34 4th
width=60Finalswidth=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=30width=100Finish
2 2 1 0 0 8 7 AJIHL Champions

Players

Current roster

For the 2016–17 AJIHL season[10]

Name Date of Birth Acquired Birthplace
2 2016
4 2016
5 2015
6 2015
7 2015
8 2016
9 2016 Calgary, Alberta, Canada
11 2015
12 2016
13 2016
14 2015
15 2015
16 2016
17 2014
18 2016
19 2016
37 2013
1 2016

Captains

Head coaches

The first head coach for the Sydney Maple Leafs in the inaugural year for the AJIHL was Steven Adams.[11]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: AJIHL Teams Announced . Hewitt Sports Network . Andrew . Hewitt . 20 September 2012 . 22 September 2012 . https://archive.today/20121206033305/http://hewittsports.com/?p=6820 . 6 December 2012 . live.
  2. Web site: AJIHL rosters finalised . Hewitt Sports Network . Andrew . Hewitt . 14 October 2012 . 20 October 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160402215904/http://hewittsports.com/?p=7236 . 2 April 2016 . live.
  3. Web site: Sydney Maple Leafs . Pointstreak Sports Technologies . 20 October 2012 .
  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 . live.
  7. Web site: Hewitt . Andrew . Maple Leafs Break Through As Lightning Crack . 17 September 2015 .
  8. Web site: Official Game Sheet . Pointstreak Sports Technologies . 12 August 2012 . 9 August 2015 .
  9. Web site: Official Game Sheet . Pointstreak Sports Technologies . 10 March 2013 . 9 August 2015 .
  10. Web site: AJIHL rosters finalised . Ice Hockey NSW . 29 November 2016 . 8 January 2017 .
  11. Web site: Hewitt . Andrew . AJIHL Rosters Finalised . 17 September 2015 .