Canterbury Inferno
The Canterbury Inferno was established in 2014 as the Canterbury Devilettes. They are one of three original teams of the NZWIHL, along with the Auckland Steel and Southern Storm. The Inferno are based at Alpine Ice Centre, located at in the Christchurch inner-city suburb of Opawa. Canterbury are two time NZWIHL champions.
The team's original name, the Devilettes, was a derivative of the already well-established men's team Canterbury Red Devils. who have competed in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League since 2005.[1]
Former New Zealand international player with the Ice Fernz, Angelique Mawson, was appointed inaugural head coach of Canterbury prior to the 2014-15 NZWIHL season.[2] On 6 December 20214, Canterbury contested their opening NZWIHL game against the Southern Storm in Dunedin. Shannen Kennedy scored the Devilettes first ever NZWIHL goal in the second period against the Storm. After a close game for the first two periods, Canterbury out performed the Storm in the third period to defeats the hosts 8–2 and secure the team's maiden win.[3] The Devilettes finished their first season last in the regular season standings, two points behind the Storm above them.[4] Canterbury performed better in the second NZWIHL season, finishing the season with the same points as Auckland at the top of the league table.[5] The Devilettes claimed their first championship title on goal difference, with their free-scoring forwards proving the difference to the Auckland Steel.[6] Canterbury had five of the top six scoring leaders for the season, including Marisa Blanco, who topped the leaders chart with 38 points from ten games.[7] In 2020, Canterbury claimed their second NZWIHL championship title with a 4–2 come-from-behind grand final victory over Auckland.[8] It was the first ever NZWIHL grand final, since the league introduced a Finals series ahead of the 2020 season. In July 2021, following the team's second league title, the Canterbury Devilettes changed their name to the Canterbury Inferno to create a separate identity from the Red Devils men's team.[9][1] In 2022, the Inferno made it to their second NZWIHL grand final. However, unlike in 2020, they were defeated by Queenstown based Wakatipu Wild 2–0 in the grand final, held at Dunedin Ice Stadium.[10]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Meikle, Hayden (7 August 2021). "Thunder ready to rumble in league". Otago Daily Times. Archived from the original on 18 August 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220818032455/https://www.odt.co.nz/sport/ice-hockey/thunder-ready-rumble-league. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
- ↑ "Angelique Mawson". eliteprospects.com. https://www.eliteprospects.com/staff/23498/angelique-mawson. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
- ↑ "New Zealand Women's Hockey League, Game 3, Saturday 6 December 2014". New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation. 6 December 2014. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230225121831/https://stats.iihf.com/NZIHF/7/IHW007903_74A_4_0.pdf. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
- ↑ "New Zealand Women's Hockey League, 2014, Tournament Progress". New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation. 10 March 2015. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230225121817/https://stats.iihf.com/NZIHF/7/IHW007200_76_14_0.pdf. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
- ↑ "New Zealand Women's Hockey League, 2015, Tournament Progress". New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation. 9 February 2016. Archived from the original on 22 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210622114826/https://stats.iihf.com/NZIHF/16/IHW016200_76_15_0.pdf. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
- ↑ "2015 New Zealand Women Ice Hockey League". New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230225121725/https://stats.iihf.com/NZIHF/16/index.html. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
- ↑ "New Zealand Women's Hockey League, 2015, Scoring Leaders". New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation. 9 February 2016. Archived from the original on 22 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210622113941/https://stats.iihf.com/NZIHF/16/IHW016000_85B_15_0.pdf. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
- ↑ "New Zealand Women's Hockey League, 2020 Grand Final, 1 November 2020". New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation. 1 November 2020. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230225121731/https://stats.iihf.com/NZIHF/98/IHW098114_74_1_0.pdf. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
- ↑ "Introducing the Canterbury Inferno". New Zealand Women's Ice Hockey League. 28 July 2021. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210803002334/https://www.nzwihl.com/2021/07/28/introducing-the-canterbury-inferno/. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
- ↑ Meikle, Hayden (26 September 2022). "Wild wins league trophy for first time". Otago Daily Times. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230224152817/https://www.odt.co.nz/sport/ice-hockey/wild-wins-league-trophy-first-time. Retrieved 11 March 2023.