Admin: Created page with "{{Infobox Pro hockey team | team_name = Melbourne Whalers |bg_color = background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#39b549 5px solid; border-bottom:#0c1975 5px solid; |text_color = #00000..."

2017-01-13T17:12:58Z

Created page with "{{Infobox Pro hockey team | team_name = Melbourne Whalers |bg_color = background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#39b549 5px solid; border-bottom:#0c1975 5px solid; |text_color = #00000..."

New page

{{Infobox Pro hockey team
| team_name = Melbourne Whalers
|bg_color = background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#39b549 5px solid; border-bottom:#0c1975 5px solid;
|text_color = #000000
| logo = Melbourne_Whalers_logo.png
| logosize = 200px
| league = [[Australian Junior Ice Hockey League]]
| founded = 18 September 2012
| arena = [[O'Brien Group Arena]]
| city = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
|uniform_image=
| colours = ([[2012–13 AJIHL season|2012-13]]) <br /> {{color box|#CA2313}} {{color box|#000000}} {{color box|#FFFFFF}}<br> (2013-present) <br /> {{Color box|#39b549}} {{Color box|#0c1975}}
| owner = [[Victorian Ice Hockey Association]]
| website =
| name1 = Melbourne Blackhawks
| dates1 = 2012–2013
| name2 = Melbourne Whalers
| dates2 = 2013–present
| championships1_type = AJIHL Championships
| championships1 = '''0'''
| reg_season_titles = '''0'''
}}

The '''Melbourne Whalers''' are an Australian junior ice hockey team based in Melbourne, Victoria playing in the [[Australian Junior Ice Hockey League]]. They represent one of the two junior ice hockey teams from Victoria currently playing in the AJIHL, which is the most elite level for ice hockey at a national level for ages between 16-20 years old.

==History==

===AJIHL===

The Melbourne Blackhawks were founded 18 September 2012 following the announcement by [[Ice Hockey Australia]] of the formation of the [[Australian Junior Ice Hockey League]].<ref name="201213TEAMINFO">{{cite web | url=http://hewittsports.com/?p=6820 | title=AJIHL Teams Announced | publisher=Hewitt Sports Network |first=Andrew |last=Hewitt | date=2012-09-20 | accessdate=2012-09-22 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/6Ari1on3N |archivedate=2012-09-22 |deadurl=no}}</ref> The team is controlled by the [[Victorian Ice Hockey Association]].<ref name="201213TEAMINFO"/> On 14 October 2012 it was announced that former [[Australia men's national ice hockey team|Australia]]n player Doug Stevenson had signed on as coach for the [[2012–13 AJIHL season]].<ref name="TEAMHEWITTSPORTS">{{cite web | url=http://hewittsports.com/?p=7236 | title=AJIHL rosters finalised | publisher=Hewitt Sports Network |first=Andrew |last=Hewitt | date=2012-10-14 | accessdate=2012-10-20 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/6BY7lIkmT |archivedate=2012-10-20 |deadurl=no}}</ref>

The Melbourne Blackhawks played the first ever AJIHL game against the [[Sydney Lightning]] at the [[O'Brien Group Arena|Medibank Icehouse]] on 21 October 2012. The Blackhawks defeated the Lightning by a score of 5-3.
<ref name="Wingssecure">{{cite web | last = Hewitt | first = Andrew | title = Blackhawks Make Winning Start | url =
http://hewittsports.com/blackhawks-winning-start/ | accessdate = 17 September 2015 | archiveurl = | archivedate = 21 October 2012 }}</ref>

===AJIHL expansion===

The follow up season in the [[Australian Junior Ice Hockey League]] saw a lot of change via expansion and renaming of its existing teams. The '''Melbourne Blackhawks''' were renamed the '''Melbourne Whalers''' in September 2013.<ref name="SYDWPRENAMED">{{cite web | url=https://www.facebook.com/sydneywolfpack | title=Formerly the Sydney Maple Leafs | publisher=Sydney Wolf Pack | date=25 September 2013 | accessdate=2 February 2014 |archiveurl= |archivedate= |deadurl=no}}</ref><ref name="SYDSABRENAMED">{{cite web | url=https://www.facebook.com/SydneySabres | title=Coaches Welcome the Sydney Sabres | publisher=Sydney Sabres | date=25 September 2013 | accessdate=2 February 2014 |archiveurl= |archivedate= |deadurl=no}}</ref> The changes were made in response to the [[National Hockey League]]s concern about the [[Australian Junior Ice Hockey League|AJIHL]] using their team names and logos but also recognised the opportunity to create a new history for the teams through creating their own identity.In October 2013 the league expanded to six teams with two teams from Perth, the [[Perth Sharks|Sharks]] and the [[Perth Pelicans|Pelicans]], joining for the start of the 2013–14 season.<ref name="PERTHTEAMS">{{cite web | url=http://www.icewa.com.au/ice-hockey/news/2/ajihl-national-junio | title=AJIHL National Junior League Kicks Off in Perth | publisher=Ice Hockey WA | date=21 October 2013 | accessdate=2 February 2014 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/6N5FkusBi |archivedate=2 February 2014 |deadurl=no}}</ref>

==Logo and uniform==

===2012-2013 Melbourne Red Wings===
[[File:ChicagoBlackhawksLogo.png|left|thumb|Melbourne Blackhawks used this logo between 2012-2013]]

In their first year, and the inaugural AJIHL season, the Melbourne Blackhawks wore a uniform that resembled the [[NHL]] namesake [[Chicago Blackhawks]]. The jersey design and uniform bore close resemblance to the Chicago Blackhawks design, with the AJIHL logo used for shoulder crests.<ref name="Wingssecure"/>
On August 22, 2013 it was announced that the Melbourne Blackhawks would change their name to the '''Melbourne Whalers''', which avoided the close resemblance with the Chicago of the [[NHL]] after the NHL had made complaint about a breach of copyright and it also allowed the team to develop its own brand identity.<ref name="MELBOURNERENAMED">{{cite web | url=http://ontheflyhockey.com/new-look-for-melbourne-and-the-ajihl/ | title=New look for Melbourne and the AJIHL | publisher=On the Fly Hockey |first=Andrew |last=Macdougall | date=22 August 2013 | accessdate=17 September 2015 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/6K8KMjfKH |archivedate=5 October 2013 |deadurl=no}}</ref>

On September 13, 2013, the new Melbourne Whalers logo design and branding was created by Ross Carpenter and his son, Jack Carpenter, who was largely involved in the creation of the uniform design.

The suggestion to use '''Whalers''' as a new name for the Melbourne Blachawks was made by '''Wayne McBride''' as an honor to the modern day Melbourne Coat of Arms, which has black and blue spouting whale. The [[Australian Junior Ice Hockey League]] selected a new colour scheme which was a watery blue and green.<ref name="Melbourne redesign">{{cite web | url=http://www.ihv.org.au/news/ajihl-jersey-design-information/ | title=AJIHL Jersey Design | publisher=Ice Hockey Victoria |first=Ross |last=Carpenter | date=18 September 2013 | accessdate=18 September 2013}}</ref>

{{Quote|text=Yet, many of today's fans would be decidedly disinterested in the iconography of canon harpoons and whale boats. Coastal whaling stations may have helped build Melbourne and Australia but we have moved on one hundred and seventy five years from Portland Bay's whaling industry at its height. In fact, we have been an anti-whaling nation since 1979, more at home with whale watching in winter at Portland or along the Great Ocean Road.

For that reason, the logo features the common denominator between then and now. It characterizes a breaching sperm whale, one of a kind that was once commonly hunted in local waters. |author=Ross Carpenter}}<ref name="Melbourne redesign"/>

{{Quote|text=Although now protected it is still threatened, and still pretty angry. These are the largest toothed whale up to 20m in length, with the head being one-third, that dive up to 3 km for prey. The four-colour logo was completed by the need for white highlights and red for that all-consuming mouth straight out of Moby Dick. It looked altogether better on green than blue and so that became the dominant colour of the jersey, broken by white and blue accents in the shape of fins and wavy lines. |author=Ross Carpenter}}<ref name="Melbourne redesign"/>

{{Quote|text=The nameplate design is based around the letter "W" and that iconic whale behaviour known as "tail extension" with all the remaining letters rising like a splash. The nameplate is also used in a round badge on the blue cover pants, and its tail extension is repeated each side with a splash in two shades of green. A sperm whale silhouette makes a modern peace symbol on the lower back and helmet to complete the kit. |author=Ross Carpenter}}<ref name="Melbourne redesign">{{cite web | url=http://www.ihv.org.au/news/ajihl-jersey-design-information/ | title=AJIHL Jersey Design | publisher=[[Ice Hockey Victoria]] |first=Ross |last=Carpenter | date=18 September 2013 | accessdate=18 September 2013}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Wikipedia}}

[[Category:Ice hockey teams in Australia]]

Melbourne Whalers - Revision history

Admin: Created page with "{{Infobox Pro hockey team | team_name = Melbourne Whalers |bg_color = background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#39b549 5px solid; border-bottom:#0c1975 5px solid; |text_color = #00000..."