Download all the ACTION for 2012

Tryouts and Selection Camp

Try outs are well underway for 2012 and over the next 8 weeks we will be evaluating players for both the AIHL and Academy squads, culminating in a selection camp over the weekend of the 24th and 25th of March.  Following the selection camp Medibank Melbourne Ice will announce the 2012 AIHL and Academy squads.

If trying out for the AIHL squad please contact our Team Manager  Shan Humphries.

If trying out for the Academy squad please contact our Academy Manager Damein Newland.

Both squads are open for try outs however we need to evaluate everyone before they step on the ice or join in the dedicated strength and conditioning sessions, please do not turn up and just expect to get ice time, you must contact our team staff and be cleared to tryout.

The AIF (GYM) sessions are run by Grant Rowe our fitness technician and before you are offered a spot at those sessions you will need to be cleared by the coaches and sit an interview with Grant.  These sessions are structured for elite athletes and are built on the off ice NCAA strength and conditioning standards.

Head Coach
Paul “Jaffa” Watson
coach1@melbourneice.com.au

Team Manager
Shan Humphries
manager@melbourneice.com.au

Academy Manager
Damien Newland
academy@melbourneice.com.au

*Please be ready and dressed in the rooms 15 minutes before the start time for the coaches briefing

Selection Camp

Along with the on-ice crew, it’s the club’s membership that injects the life and soul into the organisation.

By becoming a member of Melbourne Ice you become part of the ACTION and in doing so help the players live a dream whilst entertaining you.

This year we are increasing the benefits of membership with more great options, so sign up today and be part of the ACTION!

Membership benefits includes -

• free entry to all Melbourne Ice home games in the 2012 AIHL regular season (minimum 12 home games) at the Medibank Icehouse
• free entry to all Melbourne Ice home games in the 2012/2013 AWIHL regular season (minimum of 6 home games) at the Medibank Icehouse
• seating in the members’ reserved area at the Medibank Icehouse in the section behind the players benches
• express entry = less time in a queue via priority side door entrance reserved for members only
• entry to the exclusive skate with the players sessions throughout the year
• Harbour Town Hotel discount card – 20% off all purchases
• 1/2 price skating before or after a Melbourne Ice game at the Medibank Icehouse
• option to purchase a “10 year anniversary” genuine playing jersey (with your name on the back)
• option to secure the same seat for the entire season
• option to donate to the player support and equipment fund

A membership represents great value, as you get 12 men’s home games (plus any exhibition games) for the price of 8.  In addition, you get 6 women’s home games for the price of 4!

This represents a total savings of $100 – $130 on the adult gate price.

Members only Anniversary Team Jersey
This limited edition jersey is exactly what the players wear – the only difference being that each jersey will carry the number 10 and you can put your name on the jersey as well.  These jerseys are only available to members at the time of purchasing your membership

You can also donate to the Melbourne Ice player support and equipment fund whilst taking your membership.  All donations to this fund go directly to the players. The funds are pooled and all players throughout the year draw on this fund to cover any additional costs associated with equipment and costs associated with national duty or international travel.  This is a great way for you to make a real difference.

Membership

Adult $200.00
*Junior $110.00

*To be eligible for Junior Membership you must be under the age of 18 years of age as of the 1/01/2012

Standard AIHL game ticket pricing

$22.50 for an adult,
$15.00 for concession, and
$10.00 for a child (3-14).

Standard AWIHL ticket pricing

$10 per standard game for anyone over the age of 5 years on game day, or $10 per weekend pass.

Project Connect is a new initiative in response to your feedback.  Melbourne Ice has put together something really special for our fans in 2012 so we are building a team of people who have a passion for media and social media to drive “Project Connect”.

Project Connect is ready to launch and all we need is you; do you have a flair for video or audio editing and production, creative writing, enjoy social media banter, enjoy designing and developing websites or maybe just challenging yourself alongside like minded people who just love Melbourne Ice and the Australian ice hockey scene?

If this sounds like you please register your interest with Andy Lamrock by sending through your details.  Tell us a little about yourself, your area of expertise, skills and why you would want to be part of Melbourne Ice.  The Project Connect team like all Melbourne Ice positions will be for volunteers only. We will hold an information evening in mid March for all those people who register in the next few weeks.

Contact Andy Lamrock

president@melbourneice .com.au

Medibank Melbourne Ice women with two  wins on the road against Brisbane Goannas:
9-0 and 6-1.

The scoreline may not really reflect the amount of control the Ice had in either of the games this weekend, although this does not mean that the Ice played to the standard they are capable of.
Saturday’s game was high scoring, but overall characterized by non-systematic play. Coach Lee Brown commented that while there was moments of good play he was generally unimpressed by the majority of the game and that play of that standard would “just not cut it against Adelaide”. While offensively the team played with finesse, work in the defensive zone was undisciplined mainly due to the forwards staying too high in anticipation of breaking the puck out easily. Highlights included defender Silvia Luis notching her first goal for the Ice with a ripper shot from the point, and captain Shona Green with an excellent example of selfless play  with a full rink back check against one of Brisbane’s top forwards. On a sadder note, the team played with black arm bands for their absent team mate, Miriam Kresse who flew back to Germany this past week for family reasons. Our thoughts are with her and her family.

Today’s game, though lower scoring saw the MIW step up a little in comparison to Saturday. Each line showed examples of executing the systems that coaches have been demanding all season.
Youngster, Kristelle VanDerWolf continues to show her value as an up-coming full time player for the Ice, with some calm decision making in front of net, showing maturity beyond her years.
The team welcomed Zinny (assistant manager) and Tania (massage therapist) who were cool and collected for their first time on an away trip in manager Kylie Taylor’s absence.
These two wins will move the Ice in to second place for the finals series in Adelaide, to be played in a fortnight.

A big thanks to player sponsor and great friend of the team Tas for all his help and support. Also to Dan, Duxy and Will who flew up to support the team and do their live report on SmashFM.

Story by
Lucy Parrington

Game preview: Ice in the race to finish second for Finals

Christine Cockerell

This weekends games will determine finishing positions between the North Star Sirens (currently with 18 points) and the Medibank Melbourne Ice (currently with 14 points). The Ice have the chance to place second, but for this to occur they need to win both games against the Brisbane Goannas, and have to rely on the Northstar Sirens losing both games to the Hunter Adelaide Adrenaline. So while they have control over their double header against Brisbane, they will no doubt be sitting anxiously outside of playing to find out the scores of the Adrenaline v Sirens game.

Last time the Ice played the Goannas, they didn’t have too much trouble putting goals on the board. However, slight changes to the Goannas bench may see some tougher competition. Australian National Women’s Team goaltender Kristy Bruske will make a difference in net, and Tamra Jones should add defensive strength if she returns to the ice from injury.

The Ice will look to focus on improving their game play this weekend in the lead up for Finals; however, the loss of import Miriam Kresse who had to unexpectedly return home, will cause a shuffle in the forward line up. Hopefully Miriam’s departure will help drive the girls to fire up for the games. Young Kristelle VanDerWolf has got the call up to travel with the team this weekend, which will be a fantastic opportunity for her, being her first road trip with the MIW Team. Both Kristelle and Sarah Turbach have developed a great extent over this season and will be players to watch over the next few years. With National Team commitments coming to a head, DelBasso, Green and Parrington look to get the opportunity to play together, which will likely in turn see Nicole Tritter up front – in a position we all love to see her in. Defense will remain strong with the composure of Silvia Luis, Annie Miousse and Jo Schoof, who has lately been in a state of “dangle-itis”. This also gives Christine Cockerell, a defenceman that coach Lee Brown believes worthy of a National Team position, the chance to shine.

Make sure you follow @MelbourneIceMIW on twitter for game updates over the weekend.

Click to go to MIW Facebook Page

The Medibank Melbourne Ice Women’s team is all geared up for finals in Adelaide and they need your help to get there.

So in true Melbourne Ice spirit our ladies have organised tickets to the comedy festival on the 9th of February, all you need to do is contact the players and they will be happy to sell you a few tickets.  All proceeds raised go to help fund the road trip to Adelaide for the finals.  Like the men they are playing for back 2 back championships and are really playing well.

Follow the link to the Melbourne Ice Women’s Facebook page, thanks for the support.

With so much happening in Australian Ice Hockey the news just keeps getting better and better.

Just this week Medibank Melbourne Ice defensemen Todd Graham was selected to the AJHL ALL STAR weekend at the Iorio Arena in Walpole MA, playing for the Olympic All Stars. Todd is having a breakout season in Hartford, following on from his National Senior Team duties in April that lead to Australia advancing to Div 1 and helping Melbourne Ice to a second AIHL Championship.

Todd is just one of three imports in the AJHL to get the call up to the ALL STAR game, on behalf of everyone at Medibank Melbourne Ice we wish Todd all the success and we look forward to hopefully seeing him for season 2012 before returning to North America to begin college at Buffalo State.

Game 1 Saturday 21st January
Melbourne Ice Women 3 lose to North Star Sirens 4
A disappointing end for the MIW in Saturdays game against the North Star Sirens with the North Star Sirensscoring in the last minute of the game, while Tritter, Parrington, Green and Kresse all watched on from the penalty box.

As expected, today’s game was fast paced and intense, with both teams evenly matched in the neutral zone, and limited scoring chances due to good defense on both teams’ behalf. The Ice did however have some unfortunate misses with Delbasso ringing the post, Green pulled down on a breakaway and a number of tip-ins that were just short.

Captain Shona Green said “tomorrow we need to capitalize on our opportunities, especially tip ins and rebounds”. Overall the MIW put in a solid effort and will look to improve on their offensive opportunities, while maintaining defensive consistency in tomorrows game.

Youngsters and league rookies Kristelle VanDerWolf and Sarah Turbach both played an amazing game along with line mate Shaden Ganac, placing pressure on experienced North Star Sirens players.

Great to see a good crowd, thanks to all our supporters!

Go Ice Go!

Game 2 Sunday 22nd January

Melbourne Ice Women 13 defeat North Star Sirens 3

Did you like that move ref?

The Medibank Melbourne Ice Women’s team (MIW) had a convincing win over the North Star Sirens today at the Icehouse, Docklands. Coach Lee Brown said that “today’s game was an excellent win and we played as a uniform team”.
While the Ice did not play a bad game yesterday, they were an improved team today, with all three lines contributing to goals scored.
“The forwards created opportunities by crashing the net and recovering rebounds for goals” coach Brown said – a focus point from yesterday’s game.
Rookies Sarah Turbach and Kristelle VanDerWolf both put their first goal away for the season. DelBasso, Tritter, Parrington, Kresse, Teed all put goals in and assists were shared across the board.
Defense was also consistent today.
“Jo Schoof stepped up another level today leading the defense by example” said defense coach Tommy Powell.  Goalie coach Bruce Poling said “Gina Carroll played a solid game from start to finish, coming up with some key saves when called upon”.

Next games will be up in Brisbane as the MIW take on the Goannas! Stay tuned and look for updates on @melbourneiceMIW on twitter.

5 times Stanley Cup winner – Rick Chartraw – to come to Melbourne to run an on-ice coaching session with a pre-ice lecture session for the Melbourne Ice Wolves.

Rich Chartraw’s History:
Rick grew up in the US and then moved to Canada to play junior hockey in the Ontario league with the Kitchener Rangers, like Jason Baclig and Matt Armstrong (Melbourne Ice Men’s Team) did some years later.

5 times Stanley Cup Champion - Rick Chartraw

His NHL career started in 1974 with the Montreal Canadiens as their first round draft pick (10th overall, first American citizen ever selected in first round) where he played for 7 years as a defenceman primarily but also being called upon as a forward. With the Habs Rick dressed with one of the greatest teams of all time and won the Stanley Cup 4 times consecutively from 1976 to 1979, playing with hall of famers like Guy Lafleur, Jacques Lemaire, Ken Dryden, Guy Lapointe, Serge Savard and Larry Robinson, despite such a star studded cast Rick put in his best performances here in the late 70s playing 60+ games per year with 5 goals 16 points in ’78-’79.

He was then traded to the Kings in 1980 where he played with Marcel Dionne, Rangers in 1982 and finally the Oilers in 1983 where he won the cup once more in 1984 in his final NHL season along with Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri and Paul Coffey. He played 5 games for Team USA in the first Canada Cup (1976), the first best-of-the-best tournament in hockey history.

He’s also been a talented golfer since a teenager and is looking for some recommendations on a course on this his first trip to Melbourne. His past students and I myself attest to him being a generous and down-to-earth person who is a good match to the character of our club. He’s now 57

On behalf of the Melbourne Ice Wolves I would like to say a special thank you to;

Rick Chartraw: for providing his time to coach the Melbourne Ice Wolves.

Medibank Icehouse: Georgina Hood and Matt Kennedy for allowing ice hire of the Henke Rink in a peak school holiday time slot.

Peter Savvides: who reached out and provided the original link to Rick.

Melbourne Ice Wolves Executive: Providing behind the scenes organisation to make this happen.

If you want to witness one of the true legends helping the sport of ice hockey please feel free to come down to the Medibank Icehouse on Sunday 15th, January.  Puck drops at 6:30PM.

Please note the session is for Melbourne Ice Wolves players only, spectators are most welcome.

Emma Poynton
President
Melbourne Ice Wolves