New Year, New Board, New Rink for AIHL

New Board, New Rink, New Horizons for AIHL

The Australian Ice Hockey League board and member teams met for their
Annual General Meeting on Saturday the 28th November in Melbourne,
Victoria.

Following the retirement of three board members, four positions were
filled with the election of new members Josh Puls, Alex Lata, Ben
Keily and Sasky Stewart. Chairman Tim Frampton along with Gordon Young
and Peter Lambert were re-elected.

Six of the seven current teams had representatives present, and all
enjoyed a day together where they were able to plan, strategise and
work on any issues around the league.

Those present were treated to a first-ever inspection of the new
Docklands dual-ice facility, due to be opened in the first quarter of
2010. Prior to the AGM, the Melbourne Ice had announced they had come
to an arrangement to relocate the Ice to the new ice stadium from
2010.

The Docklands rink, known as the Icehouse, encloses two full
Olympic-sized ice surfaces (60m x 30m). The primary ice surface sits
below approximately 900 seats and will be fully enclosed in glass
barriers, making it only one of three fully-glassed rinks in
Australia.

The Icehouse will be the new home of Australias Winter Olympic Institute.

Other topics discussed included IHA relations, scheduling for 2010,
sponsorship, referee management and a proposed new team from Brisbane.

The 2010 AIHL schedule is due to be released early in 2010, with the
season expected to resume mid to late April.

The AIHL wishes to thank Simon Clarke, Paul Gallimore and Nathan
Carbone for their two to four years in service to the league as
members of the board.

Photos of the day & the Icehouse are available here in our new photo album.