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.

Sydney Wolf Pack
CitySydney
LeagueAustralian Junior Ice Hockey League
Founded18 September 2012
Home arenaPenrith Ice Palace
Owner(s)New South Wales Ice Hockey Association
General managerMiranda Ransome
Nabil Fahmy
Head coachAndrew Reynolds
Steve Ransome
CaptainDylan Alavert
Franchise history
2012–2013Sydney Maple Leafs
2013–presentSydney Wolf Pack
Championships
AJIHL Championships2 (2013), (2015)
Current season

Team history

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AJIHL

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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]

# Nat Name Pos Date of Birth Acquired Birthplace
19 Saxon Air F 25 March 1995 2012 Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia
17 Spencer Austin D 5 March 1992 2012 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
18 Nolan Barlow F 16 September 1994 2012
6 Adrian Braun F 3 June 1994 2012
20 Dylan Burgess G 8 March 1994 2012
1 Jake Burgess G 26 June 1994 2012
13 Scott Clemie F 16 December 1994 2012 Scunthorpe, England, United Kingdom
9 Sam Cook D 26 July 1993 2012 Sydney, Australia
12 Dexter Crowe F 3 June 1996 2012 Sydney, Australia
25 Jonathan Hughes G 7 June 1995 2012
5 Chris Johnson F 2012
11 James Keating F 2 March 1992 2012
16 Tyler Kubara F 28 November 1994 2012 Wombarra, New South Wales, Australia
15 Samuel Lammert F 26 July 1994 2012 Gosford, New South Wales, Australia
3 Ilman Lee D 3 March 1994 2012
7 Riley Major D 9 January 1996 2012
2 Kieran Poole F 20 February 1996 2012
8 Cameron Rose D 28 January 1994 2012
10 Jayden Ryan F 21 October 1992 2012

AJIHL expansion

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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

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2012–2013 Sydney Maple Leafs

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Sydney Maple Leafs used this logo between 2012 and 2013

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

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Sydney Wolf Pack uniform 1 March 2015

Season by season results

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2012 – 2013

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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]

Season GP W OTW SOW OTL SOL L PTS GF GA Finish
2012–13 14 4 0 0 2 0 8 24 34 52 3rd
Finals GP W OTW OTL L GF GA Finish
2013 Finals 4 3 1 0 1 24 9 AJIHL Champions

2013 – 2014

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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.

Season GP W OTW SOW OTL SOL L PTS GF GA Finish
2013–14 15 6 0 1 0 1 7 21 45 49 4th
Finals GP W OTW OTL L GF GA Finish
2014 Finals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Did not play

2014 – 2015

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Season GP W OTW SOW OTL SOL L PTS GF GA Finish
2014–15 15 7 0 2 0 0 8 24 30 34 4th
Finals GP W OTW OTL L GF GA Finish
2015 Finals 2 2 1 0 0 8 7 AJIHL Champions

Players

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Current roster

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For the 2016–17 AJIHL season[10]

# Nat Name Pos Date of Birth Acquired Birthplace
2 Alex Ross F 2016
4 James Urweiss F 2016
5 Luke Zvonicek F 30 August 1996 2015
6 Dylan Lavery F 2015
7 Harry Good F 2015
8 Matthew Kopp D 2016
9 Alberic Benjamin F 4 June 2000 2016 Calgary, Alberta, Canada
11 Tom Roberts D 2015
12 James Merinoe D 2016
13 Lachlan McKenzie F 2016
14 Alex Elias D 2015
15 Danny Blazevic D 2015
16 Luca Tramonte F 2016
17 Brendan Kong F 14 April 1994 2014
18 Nicholas Weiland D 2016
19 Liam Chalker D 2016
37 Jake Knott F 21 June 1996 2013
1 Ignacy Benjamin G 15 March 1999 2016

Captains

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Head coaches

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

Awards and trophies

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Sydney Wolf Pack AJIHL Championship Team 1 March 2015.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Hewitt, Andrew (20 September 2012). "AJIHL Teams Announced". Hewitt Sports Network. Archived from the original on 6 December 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  2. ^ a b Hewitt, Andrew (14 October 2012). "AJIHL rosters finalised". Hewitt Sports Network. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  3. ^ "Sydney Maple Leafs". Pointstreak Sports Technologies. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Formerly the Sydney Maple Leafs". Sydney Wolf Pack. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Coaches Welcome the Sydney Sabres". Sydney Sabres. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  6. ^ a b "AJIHL National Junior League Kicks Off in Perth". Ice Hockey WA. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  7. ^ Hewitt, Andrew. "Maple Leafs Break Through As Lightning Crack". Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  8. ^ "Official Game Sheet". Pointstreak Sports Technologies. 12 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  9. ^ "Official Game Sheet". Pointstreak Sports Technologies. 10 March 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  10. ^ "AJIHL rosters finalised". Ice Hockey NSW. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  11. ^ Hewitt, Andrew. "AJIHL Rosters Finalised". Retrieved 17 September 2015.