Australian Ice Hockey League Releases 10th Anniversary Schedule

Australia’s official national men’s ice hockey league has released their game schedule for their 10th season, with eighty-four games running from April’s Anzac Day Weekend to late August.

The seven existing teams of the Australian Ice Hockey League will represent the highest recognised level of the sport in Australia. The teams feature the vast majority of the Australian Senior Men’s Team that will compete in the IIHF World Championships Division II held in Mexico City, along with exciting imported players from overseas leagues, and the local youth and veteran players that become the fans’ own as they play out their careers at home.

The 2010 season will kick off on the 24th of April with Melbourne’s Ice visiting Newcastle’s North Stars, and Sydney’s Bears hosting the Canberra Knights. The finals will be held on the 28th and 29th of August in a location yet to be determined.

League Chairman Tim Frampton said the AIHL had plenty to celebrate on the league’s 10th anniversary season.

“The league is going from strength to strength with an ever-improving game on the ice, and infrastructure building has provided the AIHL success in several achievements over the past few seasons.

“Achievements such as Foxtel broadcast of our finals, live on-line video for our fans and players up to and including the NHL level have been the milestones of our first ten years.

“In 2010 we will see the ground-breaking new rink in Melbourne, the Pointstreak statistics system introduced and we believe the highest-ever level of imported and local players.”

The AIHL is expected to capture the imagination of many Australians with interest in winter sports peaking, boosted by the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and the opening of the Australian Winter Institute’s 1000 seat double ice rink in the Docklands, Melbourne.

The 84-game schedule can be found here at http://www.theaihl.com/leagues/3856/graphics/2010AIHL_SCHEDULE_FINAL.pdf.