Australian Ice Hockey League

Infobox sports league
logo=AIHL.jpg
sport=Ice hockey
founded=2000
teams=8
country=AUS
champion=Newcastle North Stars
website= [http://www.theaihl.com.au/ theAIHL.com.au]
current_season=2008 AIHL seasonThe Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) is Australia's top-level ice hockey league. It is sanctioned by Ice Hockey Australia (a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation) and is run by its own Board of Directors.

AIHL players are semi-professional. Typically this means that players are not paid to play in the AIHL, but receive other benefits such as the use of a car, accommodation, flights/travel within Australia, and other benefits. Often these benefits are supplied or funded by sponsors and vary from team to team.

The AIHL is typically regarded as being somewhere equivalent to Canadian Tier II Junior A Hockey, or similar in standard to some of the less-known European professional leagues such as the Dutch National League. To support this claim, a great deal of imported players have gone from the AIHL to the Dutch league, and vice versa.

The AIHL has attracted players up to and including NHL players: Steve McKenna (Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Minnesota Wild) played for the Adelaide Avalanche in 2005, Rob Zamuner (Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning) played for the Brisbane Blue Tongues for half a season in 2006.

In 2007 Mel Angelstad (Washington Capitals and Portland Pirates) joined Adelaide Avalanche, and goalie Tyrone Garner (Calgary Flames) played in net for the Brisbane Blue Tongues.

The Gold Coast Blue Tongues have recruited NHL and LNAH veteran Gaetan Royer to play for them in 2008.

Teams

Defunct or Relocated Teams

eason Structure

Regular season

The AIHL season commences at the beginning of April and runs through to the first weekend of September, the Goodall Cup Final usually coinciding with Australian Fathers Day. Games are usually played on Saturday or Sunday, typically between 3.30pm and 5.45pm depending on the venue.

Teams nominally play each of their seven opponents in the league four times for a total of 28 regular season games. However, some games played for double-points to keep travel costs low where necessary.

Overtime and points system

The AIHL's points system, introduced in its present form in 2006, is similar to ice hockey leagues in Europe. 3 points are awarded for a win, and 0 points for a loss. Games that end in a tie go to a shootout, with the standings table displaying both shootout wins (SOW) and shootout losses (SOL). Shootout wins are worth 2 points, while shootout losses are worth 1 point. The shootout replaced an NHL-style five-minute overtime period which was used up to 2005.

Playoffs

For the 2000 season, the AIHL champion was the team that finished first in the standings at the end of the regular season. The AIHL introduced a championship game in 2001. In 2002 the Goodall Cup was awarded to the winner of the championship game for the first time; in previous seasons, the Goodall Cup had been held as a separate tournament. In 2003, the playoffs expanded to four teams (1 v 4, 2 v 3). The semi-finals and final remain single-game series, with all three games played at the same venue in one weekend; the 2006 AIHL playoffs were held in Adelaide. The AIHL has not announced any plans to expand the playoffs to multiple-game series.

Playoff finals have been held in the following locations:

*2001: Adelaide - Thebarton Snowdome (now the Adelaide Ice ArenA)
*2002: Sydney - Blacktown Ice Arena
*2003: Sydney - Glaciarium (now the Sydney Ice Arena)
*2004: Central Coast, NSW - Erina Ice World (now Erina Ice Arena)
*2005: Newcastle - Hunter Ice Skating Stadium, Warners Bay
*2006: Adelaide - Adelaide Ice ArenA, Thebarton
*2007: Sydney - Penrith Ice Palace, Penrith

The 2008 Finals Weekend will be held in Newcastle/Lake Maquarie area, at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium, hosts of the 2005 finals tournament. The Finals Weekend will follow the typical format of semi finals on Saturday, first 1v4 then 2v3 placed teams, followed by the two semi final winning teams playing for the Goodall Cup and the AIHL Championship on Sunday evening.

League champions

*2000: Adelaide (first in standings)
*2001: Adelaide (def. Sydney in final)
*2002: Sydney (def. Adelaide in final)
*2003: Newcastle (def. Western Sydney in final) 4-1
*2004: Western Sydney (def. Newcastle in final) 3-1
*2005: Newcastle (def. Adelaide in final) 3-1
*2006: Newcastle (def. Adelaide in final) 4-0
*2007: Penrith (formerly Sydney) (def. Newcastle in final during Overtime) 4-3
*2008: Newcastle (def. Western Sydney in final) 4-1

Trophies and awards

;Goodall CupThe champions of the AIHL are awarded the Goodall Cup, a perpetual trophy third in age only to the Stanley Cup and the Allan Cup amongst national ice hockey trophies around the world. The Goodall Cup was incorporated into the AIHL in 2002 due to the league's expansion to 6 teams.

;V.I.P. CupThe V.I.P. Cup is awarded to the minor premiers of each season; that is, the team that finishes first overall in the standings at the end of the regular season.

;Wilson CupThe Wilson Cup is awarded to the winner of the AIHL pre-season competition, which began in 2008.

ee also

*List of AIHL seasons
*New Zealand Ice Hockey League

External links

* [http://www.theaihl.com.au AIHL official site]
* [http://www.iha.org.au Ice Hockey Australia]
* [http://forums.internationalhockey.net/showthread.php?t=6745 2008 AIHL Rosters]
* [http://www.nhl.com/features/pond/australia091406.html NHL.com article on Australian hockey]
* [http://www.sydneyicehockey.com.au Sydney Ice Hockey]