Sydney Bears

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Sydney Bears
2020 AIHL season
Sydney Bears logo.png
CityMacquarie Park, NSW
LeagueAustralian Ice Hockey League
Founded1982 (39 years ago) (1982)
Home arenaMacquarie Ice Rink
ColoursRed, black, silver and white
       
General managerAustralia Wayne Hellyer
Head coachAustralia Ron Kuprowsky
CaptainAustralia Michael Schlamp
AffiliatesSydney Bears IHC (IHNSW)
Penrith Raptors (ECSL)
Sydney Sting (ECSL)
Blueline Bombers (ECSL)
Reach Rebels (ECSL)
WebsiteBearsden.com.au
Franchise history
1982–1997Macquarie Bears
1997–2007Sydney Bears
2007–2009AIHL Bears
2010–presentSydney Bears
Championships
H Newman Reid Trophies3 (2000, 2002, 2008)
Goodall Cups3 (2002, 2007, 2019)

The Sydney Bears (formally Macquarie Bears) is an Australian amateur 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 (AIHL) still operating. The Bears are based at Macquarie Ice Rink, within the Macquarie Centre, in the northern suburbs of Sydney. The Sydney Bears have claimed three Goodall Cups in 2002, 2003 and 2019.

History[]

Prior to AIHL[]

The Sydney Bears was founded on 1 July 1982 as the Macquarie Bears Ice Hockey Club Incorporated. The team was formed concurrently to the non-incorporated local ice hockey club sharing the same name.[1] The Bears were based out of the Macquarie Ice Rink. The club competed in the NSW Super League (NSWSL) and then the East Coast Super League (ECSL).[2] In 1989 the Bears claimed the NSWSL championship with star defenceman Glen Foll claiming top points scorer for the season.[3] In 1997 the club decided to change its name to the Sydney Bears Ice Hockey Club in preparation for a new national competition.[4]

AIHL era[]

2000-10[]

Logo used from 2000–2007. Changed when the Bears moved to Penrith

In 2000, the Australian Ice Hockey league (AIHL) was established.[5] The league adopted a franchise arrangement for competing teams so the Sydney Bears set up their incorporation as The Bears AIHL Inc. and were granted an AIHL licence.[6]

The Sydney Bears claimed the inaugural AIHL season premiership by finishing top of the round-robin season involving the Bears, Adelaide Avalanche and Canberra Knights. The Bears were defeated by the Avalanche, 6–5 in a shootout in the single match championship final.[7]

The Sydney Bears backed up this performance and made the championship final in 2001. They were again defeated by the Adelaide Avalanche, 10–7.[8] The Bears did find success in the Goodall Cup tournament in 2001. Held in Newcastle, it was the last Goodall Cup tournament held independently to the AIHL.[6]

In 2002, the Bear's had a breakout AIHL season. The team left Macquarie and moved to the new Sydney Ice Arena in Baulkham Hills. The league doubled in size to six teams and the Bears finished the season first in the table to claim their second premiership. They faced a familiar foe, Adelaide Avalanche, in the first Goodall Cup Final for the AIHL.[5] In Blacktown Ice Arena, the Bears defeated Adelaide 5–4 in a shootout to clinch the Goodall Cup and claim their first AIHL Championship.[9]

In 2003, the AIHL adopted a new finals format that involved the top four teams from the regular season.[5] The Sydney Bears were involved in and won the one and only third place play-off in an AIHL finals weekend. The Bears continued their rivalry with Adelaide and defeated them 10–5 in the match to claim third. From 2004 the AIHL tweaked the finals format to remove this match.[10]

The Bears next found success in 2007 and 2008. In 2007, the Sydney Bears changed their name to the AIHL Bears (or simply the Bears) as the team left Sydney for Penrith.[11] The team played out of the Penrith Ice Palace. The Bears won their second championship and Goodall Cup by defeating the Newcastle North Stars 3–2 in overtime in the final.[12] The Bears also won the inaugural Wilson Cup in 2007.[13] In 2008, the Bears claimed the H Newman Reid Trophy for the first time by finishing top of the league table ahead of the Western Sydney Ice Dogs.[14] The Bears also claimed back-to-back Wilson Cup's after defeating the Ice Dogs in the pre-season tournament's final 6–4.[13]

2010-20[]

To start the new decade, in 2010, the team rebranded and renamed back to the Sydney Bears.[11] The team switched between Penrith and Sydney ice Arena over the course of seven seasons.[15][16] In 2017, Macquarie Ice rink, at a cost of $3 million, had been upgraded to AIHL standards providing the Bears the opportunity to return to their spiritual home.[1] The Bears, along with the Ice Dogs, moved into the newly renovated arena located within the Macquarie Centre.[17] The upgrade of Macquarie Ice Rink also brought back the Sydney Bears (IHNSW) club to Macquarie. Since the move in 2017, the AIHL team and the IHNSW club have increased cooperation and support between the two clubs. Ex AIHL Bear's players have been taking up coaching roles within the IHNSW club while the IHNSW Bears provides the AIHL team a pathway for local players.[18] In 2018, prior to the season starting, the Bears unveiled a new team logo to signify their return home to Macquarie.[19]

On the ice, the Bears struggled to find form. The team spent seven consecutive seasons failing to reach the AIHL finals weekend between 2011 and 2017. In 2018 the team's fortunes began to improve. The Bears finished second in the league and made their first appearance in the Goodall Cup final in eleven years.[20] They were defeated 4–3 in overtime by the CBR Brave but their display and spirit was praised.[21] In 2019, the Sydney Bears surprised many and went one better and clinched their third Goodall Cup. It was their second Cup success after finishing the regular season in fourth place. The Bears defeated the Perth Thunder, 5–2 in the final.[22]

Season-by-season results[]

Champions Runners-up Third Place
Sydney Bears all-time record
Season Regular season Finals weekend Wilson Cup Top points scorer
P W T L SW SL GF GA GD Pts Finish P W L GF GA Result Semi-final Goodall Cup final Name Points
2000 Information not available 1 0 1 5 6 Runner-up – Lost 5-6 (SO) (Avalanche) – Information not available
2001 16 7 1 8 – – 70 74 -4 15 2nd 1 1 – 10 7 Runner-up – Lost 7-10 (Avalanche) – Information not available
2002 20 16 1 3 – – 126 69 +57 33 1st 1 1 – 1 0 Champion – Won 5-4 (SO) (Avalanche) – Australia Murray Wand 27
2003[a] 6 1 – 5 – – 23 34 -11 2 3rd[b] 2 1 1 14 12 Third[c] Lost 4-7 (North Stars) – – Czech Republic Vladimir Rubes 14
2004 20 8 1 6 1 4 68 71 -3 31 3rd 1 – 1 4 5 Semi-finalist Lost 4-5 (Ice Dogs) – – Canada Trent Ulmer 24
2005 26 11 – 12 2 1 96 100 -4 38 4th 1 – 1 3 6 Semi-finalist Lost 3-6 (Avalanche) – – United States Andy Luhovy 33
2006 28 15 – 11 1 1 133 101 +32 48 5th – – Czech Republic Vladan Stransky 57
2007 28 14 – 8 4 2 112 84 +28 49[d] 4th 2 2 – 7 3 Champion Won 4-1 (Avalanche) Won 3-2 (OT) (North Stars) Winner Czech Republic Tomas Landa 62
2008 28 20 – 7 – 1 134 118 +16 61 1st 1 – 1 5 7 Semi-finalist Lost 5-7 (North Stars) – Winner Czech Republic Vladan Stransky 63
2009 24 1 – 20 3 – 66 140 -74 9 7th – Group Czech Republic Vladimir Rubes 36
2010 24 12 – 8 1 3 82 90 -8 41 3rd 1 – 1 1 2 Semi-finalist Lost 1-2 (Ice) – – Czech Republic Vladimir Rubes 34
2011 28 2 – 21 2 3 83 151 -68 13 8th – – Canada Michael Schlamp 45
2012 24 9 – 12 2 1 92 93 -1 32 3rd, Bauer – – Czech Republic Tomas Landa 58
2013 28 7 – 20 0 1 73 120 -47 22 7th – – Czech Republic Tomas Landa 33
2014 28 6 1[e] 19 1 1 88 125 -57 22 8th – Group Canada Hamilton Steen 31
2015 28 11 – 14 1 2 110 110 +0 37 7th – Runner-up United States Joe Harcharik 52
2016 28 5 – 15 5 3 77 95 -18 28 6th – Winner Czech Republic Tomas Landa 33
2017 28 6 – 14 3 3 101 121 -20 33 6th – Winner United States Jackson Brewer 45
2018 28 15 – 7 3 3 104 72 +32 54 2nd 2 1 1 6 4 Runner-up Won 3-0 (Thunder) Lost 3-4 (OT) (Brave) Runner-up United States Charlie Adams 54
2019 28 15 – 11 2 0 121 102 +19 49 4th 2 2 0 11 6 Champion Won 6-4 (Brave) Won 5-2) (Thunder) Winner Canada Danick Gauthier 53

Notes:

  1. ^ 2003 AIHL season statistics are incomplete. No one source has all the information and the AIHL has not published official statistics on www.theaihl.com.
  2. ^ Based on the most complete information available, the Sydney Bears finished the 2003 season in third place and qualified for the first four team finals weekend.
  3. ^ 2003 was the one and only season where a third place play-off was contested as part of the finals format for the AIHL. The Sydney Bears defeated the Adelaide Avalanche 10-5 in the third place play-off to clinch third.
  4. ^ The Bears were penalised 3 competition points for icing players that had not been officially cleared to play by the IIHF and IHA.
  5. ^ As of the 2006 AIHL season, all games have a winner, which eliminated the tie from the league. In 2014 due to the cancellation of a game against Adelaide Adrenaline, the AIHL declared the result a tie.

Notes References: [23] [24] [25] [26] [27]

Championships[]

Champions (3): 2002, 2007, 2019
Runners-Up (1): 2001
Premiers (1): 2008
Runners-Up (1): 2018
Winners (5): 2007, 2008, 2016, 2017, 2019
Runners-Up (2): 2015, 2018
Premiers (1): 2002
Runners-Up (1): 2001
  • NSW Super League
Champions (1): 1989
1 This list includes Premierships prior to the first trophy for Premiers in 2004.

Players[]

Current roster[]

Team roster for the 2019 AIHL season[28][29]

2019 AIHL Sydney Bears Roster
# Nat Name Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
16 Canada Ryan Annesley (A) D L 35 2016 Ajax, Ontario, Canada
31 New Zealand Aston Brookes G L 28 2018 Queenstown, New Zealand
91 Australia Jeremy Brücker F 31 2017
97 Australia Tyerell Clare D R 23 2015
18 Slovakia Adam Dauda F L 26 2019 Bratislava, Slovakia
84 Australia Adrian Esposito F R 36 2013 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
2 Australia Brian Funes D R 30 2016 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
78 Canada Danick Gauthier F L 29 2019 Waterloo, Quebec, Canada
13 Australia Joey Gunner F L 20 2018 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
19 Switzerland Kyllian Guyenet D L 28 2019 Sierre, Switzerland
26 Australia Justin Harrison G 2017
68 Australia Michael Haynes F L 35 2018 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
28 Australia Anthony Kimlin G L 31 2016 Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
19 Czech Republic Jan Koubek F L 29 2019 Prague, Czechoslovakia
80 Canada William Lameroux D R 26 2019 Trenton, Ontario, Canada
12 Canada Ryan Lough F L 28 2018 Manotick, Ontario, Canada
8 Australia Thomas Moncrieff F L 20 2017 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
19 United States Chris Moquin F R 26 2019 Hooksett, New Hampshire, United States
24 Australia Tim Newmark D L 27 2019 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
9 New Zealand Jacob Ratcliffe F R 24 2019 Canterbury, New Zealand
10 Sweden Taegan Rippon D R 20 2019 Battle, East Sussex, United Kingdom
55 Australia Gabe Robledo G L 35 2016
20 Australia Vladimir Rubes (A) F L 51 2017 Prague, Czechoslovakia
11 Australia Michael Schlamp (C) D R 40 2009 Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
7 Australia Thomas Steven F R 23 2018 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
14 Australia Daniel Taylor F 18 2019
4 Australia James Urweiss F R 21 2018 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
39 Canada Justin Vienneau D L 35 2019 Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
89 Australia Alexander Wardlaw F R 21 2017 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Player records[]

These are the top-ten all-time player records in franchise history for the following categories: Appearances,[30] Goals,[31] Assists,[32] Points,[33] Penalty minutes[34]
(Figures are updated after each completed AIHL regular season)

As of February 2020
All-time Apperiences
# Name Pos MP
1 Australia Vladimir Rubes F 299
2 Australia Adrian Esposito F 287
3 Australia Michael Schlamp D 270
4 Australia Brett Nelson-Bond F 270
5 Australia Paul Shumak F 187
6 Australia Murray Wand D 180
7 Australia Steven Adams D 151
8 Australia Vladan Stransky F 145
9 Australia Spencer Austin D 141
10 Australia Tomas Landa F 134
All-time Goals
# Name Pos G
1 Australia Vladimir Rubes F 176
2 Australia Michael Schlamp D 126
3 Australia Vladan Stransky F 101
4 Australia Tomas Landa F 86
5 Australia Murray Wand D 77
6 Australia Brett Nelson-Bond F 54
7 Australia Roberto Franchini F 43
8 Australia Cameron Todd F 36
9 Australia Paul Shumak F 34
10 Australia Adrian Esposito F 32
All-time Assists
# Name Pos A
1 Australia Vladimir Rubes F 270
2 Australia Michael Schlamp D 182
3 Australia Vladan Stransky F 154
4 Australia Tomas Landa F 148
5 Australia Murray Wand D 84
6 Canada Ryan Annesley F 78
7 Australia Brett Nelson-Bond F 63
8 Australia Roberto Franchini F 53
9 Australia Cameron Todd F 46
10 United States Andy Luhovy F 40
All-time Points
# Name Pos Pts
1 Australia Vladimir Rubes F 446
2 Australia Michael Schlamp D 308
3 Australia Vladan Stransky F 255
4 Australia Tomas Landa F 234
5 Australia Murray Wand D 161
6 Australia Brett Nelson-Bond F 117
7 Australia Roberto Franchini F 96
8 Canada Ryan Annesley D 95
9 Australia Cameron Todd F 82
10 Australia Paul Shumak F 72
All-time PIM
# Name Pos PIM
1 Australia Spencer Austin D 578
2 Australia Michael Schlamp D 505
3 Australia Brett Nelson-Bond F 469
4 Australia Vladimir Rubes F 351
5 Australia Tyerell Clare D 338
6 Australia Vladan Stransky F 304
7 Australia Murray Wand D 263
8 Australia Paul Shumak F 235
9 Australia Adrian Esposito F 192
10 Canada Ryan O'Keefe D 192

Staff[]

Current as of 21 April 2018 [35]

Technical Staff
Position Name
Head Coach Australia Ron Kuprowsky
Assistant Coach Canada Ryan Annesley
Assistant Coach Canada Brent Vandenberg
Assistant Coach Australia Jeff Todd
Goaltending Coach United Kingdom Colin Downie
Club Staff
Position Name
President Australia Wayne Hellyer
Vice President Australia Matthew Burrell
Team Manager Australia Neil McFadden
Team Physio Australia Valerie Chan

Team facilities[]

The Sydney Bears current home venue is the Macquarie Ice Rink, located within the Macquarie Shopping Centre in Macquarie, Sydney. The Macquarie facility consists of an Olympic sized rink (60m x 30m) with seating for approximately 2,000 people.[36]

Macquarie is the spiritual home of the Bears as the team called Macquarie home from foundation in 1982 till 2002. In 2002 the team moved to the recently constructed Sydney Ice Arena in Baulkham Hills, Sydney. After five years the team moved out of Sydney and into the Penrith Ice Palace, Penrith, New South Wales, out west of the city.[37] In 2012 the Bears returned to Sydney and to the Sydney Ice Arena. In late 2013 / early 2014 it was announced that the ownership of the Sydney Ice Arena, Hillsong, had lodged a development application with the NSW Government to re-develop the site into a residential complex, removing the twelve year old ice rink.[38][39] The Bears moved back to Penrith for the 2015 and 2016 AIHL seasons.[40] In 2017 it was announced that the Bears would return home to Macquarie to play out of the newly upgraded Macquarie Ice Rink, which now met AIHL standards.[41][42]

Stadium history
Rink Location First Last
Macquarie Ice Rink Macquarie 1982 2001
Sydney Ice Arena Baulkham Hills 2002 2006
Penrith Ice Palace Penrith 2007 2011
Sydney Ice Arena Baulkham Hills 2012 2014
Penrith Ice Palace Penrith 2015 2016
Macquarie Ice Rink Macquarie 2017 Present

Broadcasting[]

TV:
Fox Sports (2013–present) - Part of the entire AIHL TV deal with Fox Sports to show one game a round, normally on Thursday's at 4:30 pm or after NHL games during NHL season.[43]
Online audio streaming:
Self-broadcast (2015 - Current) - Since 2015 the Sydney Bears has self-broadcast all home matches with an online audio stream utilising the platform.[44]

Eric Brook and Nicholas Kutnjak calls the play by play with various co commentators joining the team during the season.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Our History". www.sydneybears.com.au. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  2. ^ Carpenter, Ross. "Hellyer, Wayne(1963 - )". Legends of Australian Ice. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  3. ^ Carpenter, Ross. "Foll, Glen(1962 - )". Legends of Australian Ice. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  4. ^ Carpenter, Ross. "Hulme, Tim (1967 - )". Legends of Australian Ice. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c "History of the Australian Ice Hockey League". Australian Ice Hockey League. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "About the Bears". Sydney Bears. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  7. ^ "Adelaide Avalanche: The Franchise that changed Australian hockey forever". Adelaide Adrenaline. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  8. ^ "Championnat d'Australie 2001" (in French). www.hockeyarchives.info. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  9. ^ Meltzer, Bill (28 May 2008). "Australia celebrates hockey centennial with gold". National Hockey League. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  10. ^ "Championnat d'Australie 2003" (in French). www.hockeyarchives.info. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b "Team History". Sydney Bears. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  12. ^ "2007 AIHL Grand Final Boxscore". theaihl.com. 2 September 2007. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b "Hungry Bears have done it again!". AIHL Bears. Archived from the original on 9 April 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  14. ^ "Minor Premiership an ice hockey curse". www.theroar.com.au. 2 July 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  15. ^ Lambert, Peter (19 February 2012). "Bears in the Hills". Australian Ice Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  16. ^ Brook, Eric (8 January 2015). "Sydney Bears Move To Penrith In 2015". Hewitt Sports. Archived from the original on 10 January 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  17. ^ Musico, Bianca (17 January 2017). "#TheHomecoming: The Bears Finally Return Home to Macquarie Ice Rink". Sydney Bears. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  18. ^ Darnley, Ryan (22 June 2017). "Bears Mentor Next Generation". Sydney Bears. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  19. ^ "Bears unveil new logo". www.icehockeynewsaustralia.com. 26 December 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  20. ^ "Australian Ice Hockey League 2018 Standings". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  21. ^ Tiernan, Eamonn (2 September 2018). "Canberra Brave win first Goodall Cup in overtime epic". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  22. ^ Allen, Trevor (9 September 2019). "Bears shock rivals to claim Goodall Cup". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  23. ^ "2002 AIHL season: 2002 AIHL Grand Final - Unconfirmed". www.theaihl.com. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  24. ^ "Championnat d'Australie 2003 (French)". www.hockeyarchives.info. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  25. ^ "AIHL History". www.hockeywise.com.au. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  26. ^ McIlroy, Tom (19 July 2014). "Adelaide Adrenaline team bus crashes forcing Canberra ice hockey game to be cancelled". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  27. ^ Mooney, Harrison (1 August 2014). "Australian hockey's CBR Brave upset after game for first place canceled due to bus crash". www.yahoo.com. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  28. ^ "Sydney Bears". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  29. ^ "Sydney Bears". Australian Ice Hockey League. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  30. ^ "Sydney Bears - All Time Regular Season Player Stats - Games Played". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  31. ^ "Sydney Bears - All Time Regular Season Player Stats - Goals". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  32. ^ "Sydney Bears - All Time Regular Season Player Stats - Assists". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  33. ^ "Sydney Bears - All Time Regular Season Player Stats - Points". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  34. ^ "Sydney Bears - All Time Regular Season Player Stats - Penalty minutes". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  35. ^ "Bears Off-Ice Staff". www.bears.theaihl.com. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  36. ^ "About Macquarie Ice Rink". www.macquarieicerink.com.au. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  37. ^ "Sydney Bears relocate to Penrith Ice Palace". www.icehockeynewsaustralia.com. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  38. ^ Thomson, Warren (10 December 2013). "Sydney Ice Arena could make way for a 20-storey development". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  39. ^ Brodie, Will (22 May 2014). "The Australian Ice Hockey League's recurring dilemma". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  40. ^ Tarbert, Kristine (16 April 2015). "Only way is up for Ice Hockey's Sydney Bears who will play in Penrith this season". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  41. ^ Stavrinos, Anthony (24 January 2017). "Ice Hockey returns to Macquarie Centre". www.weeklytimes.com.au. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  42. ^ "#TheHomecoming: The Bears Finally Return Home to Macquarie Ice Rink". Sydney Bears. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  43. ^ Brodie, Will (17 April 2013). "Ice hockey gets pay TV boost". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  44. ^ "Sydney Bears Game Day Live". mixlr.com/sydneybears/. Retrieved 11 June 2018.

External links[]

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