Sydney Bears

Sydney Bears
City	Jamisontown, New South Wales
League	Australian Ice Hockey League
Founded	1982
Home arena	Penrith Ice Palace
Franchise history
1982–1997	Macquarie Bears
1997–2007	Sydney Bears
2007–2009	AIHL Bears
2010–	Sydney Bears
Championships
Regular season titles	2 (2002, 2008)
Conference Championships	0

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The Sydney Bears are a semi-professional ice hockey team based in Penrith, New South Wales, who are members of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). They have won two Goodall Cup championships since their founding in 2000, most recently in 2007. The Bears are one of the original three teams that founded the AIHL in 2000, along with the Adelaide Avalanche, and Canberra Knights. The Bears play out of the Penrith Ice Palace, having previously played at the Sydney Ice Arena.

Team history

The Bears were founded in 1982 and were originally known as the Macquarie Bears. Due to the upcoming formation of a national league the team changed its name to the Sydney Bears in 1997. In 2007 the team separated away from its junior club operations and were renamed the AIHL Bears. After the split the team remained affiliated with the junior club, which kept the name of the Sydney Bears Ice Hockey Club. In 2010 the AIHL Bears were reverted to their old name, Sydney Bears.

The Bears are two-time winners of the Goodall Cup and won the AIHL championship in 2002 and 2007. The Bears were one of three teams that founded the AIHL in 2000, along with the Adelaide Avalanche and Canberra Knights. Although the Bears did not win the championship in either year, they won the Goodall Cup tournament in 2001 in Newcastle, the last time the Cup was awarded independently of the AIHL.

Logo worn from 2000-2007. Changed when the Bears moved to Penrith

In 2002, the Bears defeated the Avalanche in the Goodall Cup final for their second consecutive Cup and their first and only AIHL championship to date. Four members of the Bears - Tyler Lovering, Brett Nelson-Bond, Vladimir Rubes and Murray Wand - were named to the Mighty Roos roster for the 2006 Division II World Championships in New Zealand. In 2007 the team announced they would move to Penrith for the 2007 AIHL season at which time, dropping "Sydney" to become The Bears, or AIHL Bears. For the start of the 2010 season the Bears reverted to their previous name of Sydney Bears.

Season-by-season record

Season	GP	W	T1	SOW	SOL	L	GF	GA	PTS	Finish	Playoffs
2001	16	7	1	-	-	8	70	74	15	2nd	Lost Goodall Cup final, 7–10 (Adelaide Avalanche)
2002	15	12	1	-	-	2	90	54	25	1st	Won Goodall Cup final vs. Adelaide Avalanche
2003	6	1	0	-	-	5	23	34	2	5th	Did not qualify
2004	29	8	6	1	4	10	68	71	31	3rd	Lost in Semifinals, 4-5 (West Sydney Ice Dogs)
2005	26	11	0	2	1	12	96	100	38	4th	Lost in Semifinals, (Adelaide Avalanche)
2006	28	15	-	1	1	11	133	101	48	5th	Did not qualify
2007	28	14	-	4	2	8	112	84	49*	4th	Won Semifinals 4-5 (Adelaide Avalanche) Won Goodall Cup, 4-3 in OT (Newcastle North Stars)
2008	28	20	-	0	1	7	134	118	61	1st	Lost in Semifinal, 7-5 (Newcastle North Stars)
2009	24	1	-	3	0	20	66	140	9	7th	Did not qualify
2010	24	12	-	8	1	3	41	83	92	3rd	Lost Semifinal, 1-2 (Melbourne Ice)
2011	28	2	-	2	3	21	83	151	13	8th	Did not qualify
2012	24	9	-	2	1	12	92	93	32	3rd, Bauer	Did not qualify
2013	28	7	-	0	1	20	73	120	22	7th	Did not qualify
2014	28	6	1	1	1	19	68	125	22	8th	Did not qualify
2015	28	11	-	1	2	14	110	110	37	7th	Did not qualify
2016	28	5	-	5	3	15	77	95	28	6th	Did not qualify

¹ As of the 2006 AIHL season, all games will have a winner. In 2014 due to the cancellation of a game the AIHL declared the result a tie.

* The Bears were penalised 3 competition points for icing players that had not been officially cleared to play by the IIHF and IHA.

Championships

New South Wales Championship: 1989, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999.

Goodall Cup: 2002, 2007

V.I.P. Cup: 2008

External links

• Official website of the Sydney Bears
• Sydney Bears profile on Elite Hockey Prospects
• The Official AIHL site

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