Newcastle North Stars

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Newcastle North Stars
Newcastle Northstars logo.png
City Newcastle, New South Wales
League Australian Ice Hockey League
Founded 1981
Home arena Hunter Ice Skating Stadium
Franchise history
1977–1981 Newcastle Red Wings
1981–2017 Newcastle North Stars
2017–present Newcastle Northstars
Championships
Conference Championships 1 (2012)

main

Newcastle North Stars Logo.png

he Newcastle Northstars (formally Newcastle North Stars) is an Australian semi-professional ice hockey team from Newcastle, New South Wales. The Northstars are a member of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL), joining as an expansion team in 2002. The team is based at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Warners Bay, a suburb of Lake Macquarie, 15 kilometres south-west of Newcastle. The Northstars are affiliated with the ice hockey club of the same name. The team have won six Goodall Cups and five H Newman Reid Trophies, making them the most successful team in AIHL history.

History

1977–2001 (Pre-AIHL)

Team photo of Newcastle North Stars team from 1981 (courtesy David Turik)

Ice hockey started in the city of Newcastle in 1960 at the old boxing stadium where Marketown is now situated. Originally the Newcastle Red Wings, the Red Wings were part of national leagues of the time. Due to instability there were several variations of these leagues. The Red Wings became the North Stars in 1978 and were leading the national 'Super League' at the time when the Newcastle ice rink went into liquidation in late 1982.[1]

Some players then retired, while others went on to play for teams in Sydney or join inline hockey teams that started in the 1990s in Newcastle. A Newcastle North Stars in-line hockey team was formed including former members of the defunct Wharf Road team.[1]

In 2000 the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium (a.k.a. HISS) opened at 230 Macquarie Road, Warners Bay. The Lake Macquarie suburb, only 15 km from the city, proved an ideal location for the new rink.[2] The rink opened with former North Stars player/coach Garry Doré as general manager.[1]

A local committee was established and the Newcastle Northstars Ice Hockey Club was registered in 2001. The team mostly consisted of Canadian expatriates along with four talented local-born players contested the New South Wales Senior B championship. The Senior B North Stars went on to win the state Senior B Championship for 2001.

Later in 2001 the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium hosted the Goodall Cup tournament. The Goodall Cup is Australia's senior men's national tournament, contested since 1909. Utilising the experience from running the tournament and gaining assistance from existing AIHL teams, rink general manager Garry Doré began building a team ready for the Australian Ice Hockey League. Canadian expatriate Don Champagne was recruited to be coach,[3] and local hockey enthusiast Peter Lambert was recruited as Team Manager.[4]

2002–2006

The Newcastle Northstars entered the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) as the North Stars in 2002. They were a part of the league's expansion that saw the league double in size from three teams to six. The Northstars joined the league along with the Melbourne Ice and Western Sydney Ice Dogs.[5]

Don Champagne was appointed the inaugural Northstars AIHL head coach while Bill Jones was named foundation captain. Due to a lack of local talent in the first season, the league allowed the Northstars to find players in Sydney and evenly split their roster between locals and imports. Newcastle assembled a roster for 2002 with nine Canadians expats and eight locals.[6]

The 2002 season produced highs and lows for the Novocastrians. Newcastle's first ever match in the AIHL was at home at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium on 4 May 2002 against the Western Sydney Ice Dogs. The Northstars lost the match 3–7.[7] Newcastle's first AIHL victory and shutout came on 19 May 2002 when they defeated the Canberra Knights 4–0.[8] The Northstars finished the season in fourth place with six wins and ten losses. Canadian forward, Brett Hillier, finished the season as the Northstars top points scorers with 34 points.

In 2003, Newcastle appointed their first coaching director. Former Denmark and Canadian national team coach, Rob Barnes was appointed to the position by the Northstars.[6] Barnes made an immediate impact in Newcastle with the Northstars finishing second in the league table in the 2003 season. The Northstars then won their very first AIHL era trophy in 2003.[9] The Novocastrians defeated the Ice Dogs 4–1 in the AIHL final to claim the Goodall Cup.[10]

The Northstars backed up this success in 2004 by finishing top of the league table having only lost one match all season and claimed the team's first premiership and V.I.P. Cup.[11] Success continued in 2005 and 2006 with the Northstars claiming back-to-back Goodall Cups with victories over rivals Adelaide Avalanche in the final in both seasons.[12][13]

2007–2016

The decade between 2007 and 2016 saw the Northstars continue their strong position within the league, establishing a winning tradition within the team culture. Newcastle throughout this period of time, claimed league premiers and the H Newman Reid Trophy, four times by finishing top of the league standings in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2015. The team reached the Goodall Cup final eight times, claiming three Goodall Cups in 2008,[14] 2015[15] and 2016.[16] The Northstars also found success for the first time in the NSW Wilson Cup, lifting the trophy in 2015.[17] The Northstars set a few team records in 2015 with their highest ever points total in a season (63), highest goals scored in a season (152) and highest goals difference (+69). Canadian import, Geordie Wudrick also set league records for highest points in a season, 91 points at a rate of 3.25 per game and most goals in a season, 44 goals.[18] At the conclusion of the 2016 season, for the time, the team had become the most successful franchise in AIHL history.[19]

2017–present

April 2017, prior to the start of the 2017 season, the team announced a minor change to their name. They changed their name from the North Stars to the Northstars. The re-brand was completed to align to the team with the New South Wales registered club, the Newcastle Northstars Ice Hockey Club.[20]

2017 marked a shift in fortunes for the team. After only missing out on finals twice in the previous fifteen years, the Northstars not only failed to qualify for finals but finished their lowest ever position in the league, seventh. Ten wins from twenty eight matches with a negative twenty seven goal difference did not make for good reading.[21] Head coach, Andrew Petrie, decided to step down from his position at the conclusion of the season.[22]

2018 saw an improvement in the Northstars with thirteen wins in the season and a fifth-place finish under the leadership of stand-in coaching trio, Joey Theriault, Ray Sheffield and Garry Doré.[23] However, it was still not good enough to see them qualify for the finals weekend in Melbourne and for the first time in the team's history they failed to qualify for finals back-to-back.[24]

2019, the Northstars hired a new head coach in former Northstars player, John Kennedy Jnr.[25] This was the American Aussie's first head coaching positioning since retiring as a player. The team recruited well with a number of quality imports joining from overseas. Leading the way for the team in 2019 was Canadian import Sammy Banga who finished third top points scorer in the league with sixty-six points. The Northstars saw great improvement over the previous two seasons under the guidance of John Kennedy. They finished the season runners-up in the league standings and qualified for the finals which were played in Newcastle for the first time in seven years.[26] Unfortunately for the Northstars, they were defeated 2-3 by the Perth Thunder in the semi-finals in front of a boisterous home crowd.[27]

Season-by-season results

Newcastle Northstars all-time record
Season Regular season Finals Wilson Cup Top points scorer
P W T L OW OL GF GA GD Pts Finish P W L GF GA Result Semi Final Preliminary Final Goodall Cup Final Name Points
2002 20 6 – 14 – – 79 121 -42 12 4th – – Flag of Canada Brett Hillier 34
20031 19 14 – 5 – – 101 76 +25 28 2nd 2 2 – 11 5 Champion Won 7-4 (Bears) – Won 4-1 (Ice Dogs) – Flag of Ukraine Pavel Shtefan 19
2004 20 15 2 1 2 – 93 50 +43 51 1st 2 1 1 4 5 Runner-up Won 3-2 (2OT) (Avalanche) – Lost 1-3 (Ice Dogs) – Flag of Canada Sean Starke 38
2005 26 14 2 5 1 4 121 80 +41 50 2nd 2 2 – 8 3 Champion Won 5-2 (Ice Dogs) – Won 3-1 (Avalanche) – Flag of Canada Francis Walker 54
2006 28 16 – 11 – 1 138 89 +49 49 4th 2 2 – 10 1 Champion Won 6-1 (Ice) – Won 4-0 (Avalanche) – Flag of Netherlands Marcel Kars 66
2007 28 13 – 6 4 5 106 87 +19 52 3rd 2 1 1 8 6 Runner-up Won 6-3 (Ice) – Lost 2-3 (OT) (Bears) Group Flag of Canada Brad Wanchulak 69
2008 28 15 – 7 2 4 150 97 +53 53 4th 2 2 – 11 6 Champion Won 7-5 (Bears) – Won 4-1 (Ice Dogs) Group Flag of Canada Mickey Gilchrist 67
2009 24 17 – 5 2 – 122 85 +37 55 1st 2 1 1 7 6 Runner-up Won 5-3 (Blue Tongues) – Lost 2-3 (OT) (Adrenaline) Group Flag of Canada Éric Lafrenière 56
2010 24 14 – 2 7 1 131 74 +57 57 1st 1 – 1 6 7 Semi-finalist Lost 6-7 (Adrenaline) – – – Flag of United States Brian Bales 81
2011 28 18 – 6 1 3 132 106 +26 59 2nd 2 1 1 7 5 Runner-up Won 5-2 (Ice Dogs) – Lost 2-3 (Ice) – Flag of United States Peter Cartwright 75
2012 24 16 – 6 2 – 120 78 +42 52 1st, Bauer 2 1 1 8 8 Runner-up Won 5-4 (Adrenaline) – Lost 3-4 (Ice) – Flag of Canada Jeremy Boyer 58
2013 28 17 – 7 3 1 132 75 +57 58 2nd 2 1 1 9 7 Runner-up Won 6-1 (Thunder) – Lost 3-6 (Ice Dogs) – Flag of Canada Jeff Martens 67
2014 28 11 – 15 – 2 87 106 -19 35 6th – Runner-up Flag of Canada Chris Wilson 49
2015 28 19 – 4 1 4 152 83 +69 63 1st 2 2 – 7 5 Champion Won 4-3 (Brave) – Won 3-2 (Ice) Winner Flag of Canada Geordie Wudrick 91
2016 28 15 – 7 1 5 105 74 +31 52 3rd 2 2 – 5 3 Champion Won 3-2 (OT) (Thunder) – Won 3-2 (Brave) Group Flag of United States Connor McLaughlin 61
2017 28 7 – 15 3 3 97 124 -27 30 7th – – Flag of Canada Joe Harcharik 44
2018 28 9 – 11 4 4 106 119 -13 39 5th – – Flag of Canada Joe Harcharik 37
2019 28 16 – 9 3 0 127 89 +38 54 2nd 1 0 1 2 3 Semi-finalist Lost 2-3 (Thunder) – – – Flag of Canada Sammy Banga 66
2020 2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested
2021
2022 20 15 – 3 – 2 112 74 +38 47 2nd 3 1 2 7 12 Runner-up Lost 1-6 (Brave) Won 4-3 (OT) (Bears) Lost 2-3 (Brave) – Flag of Canada Francis Drolet 45
2023 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Totals 485 267 4 139 36 39 2211 1687 +524 29 19 10 110 82
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.
Champions Runners-up Third place

Championships

The Goodall Cup on top of the then champions, Newcastle Northstars, sweater ahead of the 2004 AIHL Finals weekend
1 Champions (6): 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2015, 2016
1 Runners-Up (7): 2004, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2022
1 Premiers (4): 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015
1 Runners-Up (4): 2011, 2013, 2019, 2022
1 Premiers (1): 2004
1 Runners-Up (2): 2003, 2005
1 Winners (1): 2015
1 Runners-Up (1): 2014
  • Bauer Conference
1 Winners (1): 2012
* This list also includes Premierships prior to the first trophy, V.I.P. Cup, for Premiers in 2004.

External links

This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Watts, Ellie-Marie (3 April 2012). "Champion Garry Dore to lead Newcastle North Stars". Newcastle Star. https://www.newcastlestar.com.au/story/210012/champion-garry-dore-to-lead-newcastle-north-stars/. Retrieved 4 February 2020. 
  2. ↑ "Hunter Ice Skating Stadium Warners Bay". www.eurohockey.com. http://www.eurohockey.com/arena/1288-hunter-ice-skating-stadium-warners-bay.html. Retrieved 2015-07-31. 
  3. ↑ Carpenter, Ross. "Champagne, Don (1950 - )". Legends of Australian Ice. https://icelegendsaustralia.com/legends-2/bio_champagne.html. 
  4. ↑ "Meet Peter Lambert". Newcastle Northstars. 24 May 2019. http://northstars.theaihl.com/leagues/newsletterarchive.cfm?clientid=3854&leagueid=14283&page=107208. 
  5. ↑ "History of the Australian Ice Hockey League". Australian Ice Hockey League. https://theaihl.com/leagues/custom_page.cfm?clientid=3856&leagueid=11464&pageid=10074. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Carpenter, Ross. "Barnes, Robert (1955 - )". Legends of Australian Ice. http://icelegendsaustralia.com/legends-2/bio_barnes.html. 
  7. ↑ "Western Sydney Ice Dogs vs Newcastle North Stars boxscore". Australian Ice Hockey League. 4 May 2002. https://theaihl.com/leagues/hockey_boxscores.cfm?clientID=3856&leagueID=11464&gameID=1415058. 
  8. ↑ "Canberra Knights vs Newcastle North Stars boxscore". Australian Ice Hockey League. 19 May 2002. https://theaihl.com/leagues/hockey_boxscores.cfm?clientID=3856&leagueID=11464&gameID=1415954. 
  9. ↑ Meehan, Michelle (8 August 2017). "Red & Blue on Ice ...WE ARE THE NORTHSTARS". Intouch Magazine. https://www.intouchmagazine.com.au/single-post/2017/08/01/Red-Blue-on-Ice-WE-ARE-THE-NORTHSTARS. 
  10. ↑ "Championnat d'Australie 2003" (in French). www.hockeyarchives.info. https://www.hockeyarchives.info/Australie2003.htm. 
  11. ↑ McMurtry, Andrew (31 May 2016). "Ice Dogs honour 2004 Championship". Australian Ice Hockey League. https://theaihl.com/leagues/newsletter.cfm?page=95397&clientID=3856&leagueID=11464. 
  12. ↑ "2005 AIHL Final boxscore". Australian Ice Hockey League. 4 September 2005. https://theaihl.com/leagues/hockey_boxscores.cfm?clientID=3856&leagueID=11464&gameID=1425110. 
  13. ↑ "2006 AIHL Final boxscore". Australian Ice Hockey League. 3 September 2006. https://theaihl.com/leagues/hockey_boxscores.cfm?clientID=3856&leagueID=11464&gameID=1426306. 
  14. ↑ Lambert, Peter (1 September 2008). "North Stars win Fourth Goodall Cup vs Ice Dogs, 4-1". Australian Ice Hockey League. https://theaihl.com/leagues/newsletter.cfm?clientID=3856&leagueID=11464&page=28706. 
  15. ↑ Clinton, Jared (31 August 2015). "Newcastle North Stars win Australian championship on penalty shot in overtime". The Hockey News. https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/watch-newcastle-north-stars-win-australian-championship-on-penalty-shot-in-overtime. 
  16. ↑ Parris, Michael (28 August 2016). "Newcastle North Stars win AIHL grand final against CBR Brave". Newcastle Herald. https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/4124432/north-stars-win-australian-ice-hockey-league-grand-final-i-photos/. 
  17. ↑ Watts, Ellie-Marie (20 April 2015). "North Stars win 2015 Wilson Cup". Newcastle Star. https://www.newcastlestar.com.au/story/3022493/north-stars-win-2015-wilson-cup-photos/. 
  18. ↑ Leeson, Josh (26 August 2015). "North Stars' Mr Nice Guy Geordie Wudrick skates off with MVP award". Newcastle Herald. https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/3308936/north-stars-mr-nice-guy-skates-off-with-mvp-award/. 
  19. ↑ Gardiner, James (22 November 2018). "Star Power: Who is Newcastle’s No.1 national sporting team". Newcastle Herald. https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/5770464/star-power-who-is-newcastles-no1-national-sporting-team/. 
  20. ↑ Lambert, Peter (2017-04-05). "North Stars now Northstars". Newcastle Northstars. http://northstars.theaihl.com/leagues/newsletterarchive.cfm?clientid=3854&leagueid=14283&page=99641. 
  21. ↑ "2017 AIHL season: Round 18". www.icehockeynewsaustralia.com. 26 August 2017. https://icehockeynewsaustralia.com/2017/08/26/2017-aihl-season-round-18/. 
  22. ↑ "Northstars coach Andrew Petre leaves after AIHL club opt for new structure". Newcastle Star. 17 October 2017. https://www.newcastlestar.com.au/story/4992904/petrie-out-as-northstars-change-line-up/. 
  23. ↑ Watts, Ellie-Marie (19 April 2018). "New way of coaching". Australian Ice Hockey League. http://northstars.theaihl.com/leagues/newsletter.cfm?page=103885&clientID=3854&leagueID=14283. 
  24. ↑ "2018 AIHL season: Round 18". www.icehockeynewsaustralia.com. 24 August 2018. https://icehockeynewsaustralia.com/2018/08/24/2018-aihl-season-round-18/. 
  25. ↑ "John Kennedy Jr named Newcastle Northstars coach for 2019 Australian Ice Hockey League Season". Newcastle Star. 1 March 2019. https://www.newcastlestar.com.au/story/5932173/northstars-name-new-coach-for-2019-john-kennedy-jr/. 
  26. ↑ "2019 AIHL season: Round 18". www.icehockeynewsaustralia.com. 23 August 2019. https://icehockeynewsaustralia.com/2019/08/23/2019-aihl-season-round-18/. 
  27. ↑ "AIHL: Bittersweet feeling for Newcastle Northstars coach John Kennedy Jr". Newcastle Star. 2 September 2019. https://www.newcastlestar.com.au/story/6360761/bittersweet-season-finish-for-northstars-coach/. 
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