Regan Wilson profiled in ODT
Posted on Nov 24th 2009 by Kyle.
Dunedin Thunder and NZ age grade representative Regan Wilson was profiled in the Otago Daily Times today.
Dunedin Thunder and NZ age grade representative Regan Wilson was profiled in the Otago Daily Times today.
From the President
As the dust settles on another ice hockey season (with Oldtimers dragging it out until Xmas!) it is an appropriate time to look back on the achievements of the club and its members. They are too many to list here, but at the upcoming Annual General Meeting (6pm) and Dinner and Prize-giving (7pm) on 21st November at the rink we will have the opportunity to celebrate many of them. We hope you all can attend and bring friends and family.
While there is only minimal ice hockey taking place over the summer, the next three months are actually the time where many of the decisions are made about the upcoming season. Starting with the election of the new board at the AGM, the club will be making a number of important decisions over the coming months, including the number and nature of practices, the cost of ice hockey and the way that we collect the money. New leagues, such as a Premier contact league are proposed for next season, as well as changes to existing leagues such as the DIHL and High Schools. There are many ways that members can input to this discussion, but the most important one is to complete the members survey. This will close at the AGM, enabling the results to be compiled and given to the board for future planning, so if you have not completed a survey, please do so and return it either to the gear room or AGM. See below for a link.
Lastly, earlier this year the club hosted the Division III World Champs, and the New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation has returned a proportion of the profits from that event to the DIHA. Those club members that volunteered their time to the event have either had their share forwarded to the Dunedin Thunder (where appropriate), or will receive a cheque or credit on money owed to the club soon.
The work of volunteers drives most of the club’s work, and now is the time when we ask for members and their parents to volunteer to help with the coming season. If you are at all available to help in any way please get in contact via email or let me know at the AGM.
Lastly we hope all members enjoy their summer off, and we will see you in late February for the beginning of another season.
Kyle Matthews
President
president@dunedinicehockey.co.nz
News
Dunedin Ice Hockey League
Well done Jets and Superfly, who won the 2009 Spring DIHL A and B grades respectively, in a very competitive competition in both grades. A big thanks to Pete Lamb and the rest of his DIHL team for all their work in making the competition successful.
Congratulations
To all the club members who attended the recent Nationals. Southern Women narrowly missed out on gold on goal differential. Peewee and Midget teams came close third, and Juniors rocked Auckland and Canterbury by bringing home gold – the first gold Southern has won in this grade ever.
End of Season
Sunday night practice will be having its last night on Sunday 22nd November. In addition, there will be no ice hockey on 15 November due to a speed skating camp.
Membership Card Photo Competition
The club will be distributing a membership card to all members for the 2010 season. This card will have associated discounts around town to reward you for your membership and support of Dunedin Ice Hockey. The club is holding a competition for the best ice hockey photo to go on the front of the card. Get entries to Callum Wood by the 21st November, email operations@dunedinicehockey.co.nz.
Coming Up
Annual General Meeting
The AGM for the DIHA will take place on November 21st, 6pm, upstairs at the Dunedin Ice Stadium. The AGM elects the board for the coming season, sets the membership levy, and receives accounts and reports for the year. We will also be calling for volunteers for the many positions that make the club a success – coaches, managers, league coordinators etc. The board will also be presenting draft player codes of conduct for discussion to members.
While the AGM is taking place peewee and midget players will be playing cross ice games, $5 each.
Further information is available at http://dunedinicehockey.co.nz/diha-agm-21-november/.
In addition, the AGM is the last chance for members to complete the survey that the club will use to make changes for the 2010 season. Complete and return to the box in the gear room, or at the AGM. More information and a copy of the survey is available at http://dunedinicehockey.co.nz/survey/.
End of Year Prize Giving
This will immediately follow the Annual General Meeting at 7pm. All members, family, friends and supporters are welcome. The prize giving will include a BBQ dinner, at $5/head, and a cash bar. Grades will also present prizes to players.
Anyone who is available to help with the prize giving dinner (cooking for a hundred people is a major job!) please contact Larry Martin on larry2c@yahoo.co.nz, or 021 272 0079.
Rick Parry’s Summer Goalie Camp
Dunedin Thunder and Ice Blacks goal tender will be running a summer camp focused entirely on goaltenders from 27 – 29 November. The camp includes on and off ice work and goalie specific drills. For more information visit http://dunedinicehockey.co.nz/rick-parrys-summer-goalie-camp/.
Women’s Development Camp, Dunedin, 11 – 13 December
The New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation is holding a development camp for women in the South Island at the Dunedin Ice Stadium next month. The camp includes four on ice sessions and two off ice, for $100. Email Jeff Bonazzo for more information, jeffbonazzo@hotmail.com.
Peewee and Midget Development Camps, Dunedin, January 2010
The New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation is holding development camps open for all players in late January 2010 at the Dunedin Ice Stadium. These camps are run by the Ice Blacks coach, assisted by many Ice Blacks and Ice Fernz. They are a fantastic way to get top level coaching. For more information and registration forms go to http://dunedinicehockey.co.nz/national-u13-u16-development-camps-january-2009/.
New Zealand Masters Games 2010
For all those males 35+ and females 30+ plus, Dunedin Ice Stadium will be hosting the New Zealand Masters Games for the second time in Waitangi Weekend 2010. The competition will include teams from around New Zealand and Australia. To register visit http://dunedin2010.nzmg.com/, for more information contact Steve Jackson on steve.jackson@otago.ac.nz. Earlybird registrations close at the end of November.
Please find attached some information from Rick Parry out of Dunedin. Rick is one of the Goaltenders for the Ice Blacks and plays for the Dunedin Thunder in the NZIHL. And as such, he is a very strong technical goalie. He has been overseas several times playing on NZ teams and has played a season of Junior hockey in Canada. While overseas and with the IBs, Rick has been trained by several of the best Goaltending Coaches in the world.
He would like to run a goalie camp in Dunedin from the 27th to the 29th of November and pass some of his knowledge on. Please let him know if you can attend or know of some goalie that may benefit from his help.
From the President
As the season comes near to a close, the hockey only gets bigger. Lots of our players will be travelling up to Auckland over the next month to compete in the national finals, the whole club wishes them the best of luck and we hope Southern comes back with a swag of gold medals.
The quality of our ice rink is also seeing us hosting another international event this weekend. Australia, like the Ice Blacks (who just won promotion) will be playing in Division II next year, so they should be great competition for our team in a double header on Saturday and Sunday night.
I am currently distributing a survey around our club members at practices. If you do not attend practices, or do not receive one, please get it from http://dunedinicehockey.co.nz/survey/. This survey will help the 2010 Board of Directors drive the direction and focus of their work, professional coaching, number of games, practices, etc. We would appreciate it if youth players who are financially supported by their parents, complete it together with their parents.
Lastly, below you will find some information on the upcoming DIHL. This will be a great set of games to finish off your hockey season in style, so I encourage you all to sign up.
Kyle Matthews
President
president@dunedinicehockey.co.nz
News
Dunedin Thunder
Dunedin Thunder’s season finished last weekend with a very competitive game against defending champions Botany Swarm. Despite their limited success on the ice this year, I know the Thunder team and the off-ice support crew have worked very hard this year in a tremendously difficult competition.
Later this year DIHA will be talking with Thunder about both organisations having stronger links, particularly given that our goals are about the promotion and playing of the sport of hockey. I hope that Thunder can take a greater involvement in the coaching of up-and-coming ice hockey players, and in return DIHA can help the players out by taking a bigger role in promoting Thunder and our sport. If anyone is keen to be involved in supporting Thunder next year, please let me know.
DIHA Equipment Bonanza
The club has recently been very successful with grant applications, and is spending a considerable amount of money investing in our equipment room and the gear in it. More safety equipment for beginners, particularly Kiwihockey kids, more goalie gear, more sticks, and more storage space to fit it all. One thing we’re becoming aware of it the tendency of members to just wander in and out of the room and take stuff. Unfortunately this situation is not satisfactory, gear is not being returned in a satisfactory state, and our volunteers are tired of cleaning up after members. Members should only be in the room when a manager or coach is there.
The buy up means that we can now equip a full ice load of forty kids in full gear. So encourage your friends to try out kiwihockey (Thursday afternoon, subsidised by the rink), adult beginners (Sunday night) and introduce them to this great game.
Congratulations
To the DIHL Juniors team who beat the PE team to win the Autumn 2009 DIHL in a shootout. A tremendous effort from the Juniors to step up and beat the senior teams.
To the Dunedin Peewees who have again been unbeaten this season, and are Southern Ice Hockey League Champions for the third year running. The team has a 48-0-0 record over that three years, and are graduating tremendous young ice hockey players up the age grades.
To all the DIHA members that have been selected by the Southern Ice Hockey League to represent the region at nationals in Auckland. Dunedin continues to provide a healthy number of players who form strong Southern teams. Last year we brought home two gold medals (U16s and Women) and a silver (U13s), we hope for a similarly strong showing this year from the teams.
End of Season
Practices for all grades should be finished by 17 September, except for Kiwihockey and Adult beginners which continue on.
Peewees and Midgets are fully paid up for the year. Juniors and SNC will have a second half bill for their practices which you should receive soon.
Costs for practices are kept down by the club applying for grants to help cover the cost of ice time. For all grades this year the club has successfully received grants of between $1000 and $1500. This is directly funneled into the grades to keep members’ costs down.
There will also be an end of season function in late September or early October, to which all members are invited.
Coming Up
Australia vs Ice Blacks
As part of the New Zealand Winter Games, the Australian Ice Hockey team is here this weekend to take on the New Zealand Ice Blacks. Games are 7pm Saturday, 5pm Sunday, tickets available from the door from between $10 (children) and $25 (adults).
This is a terrific chance to get see top level ice hockey again in Dunedin. There should be a decent crowd so we recommend getting there half an hour early to make sure that you can get in on time.
Both games are also being shown on Sky Sport 3 on Sunday (game one delayed at noon, game two live). Encourage your family and friends to tune in and watch, it’s a fantastic opportunity to promote our great sport.
Dunedin Ice Hockey League Spring 2009
The next round of the Dunedin Ice Hockey League will be starting in mid-September. The competition will be run in two grades, with the better players in an A grade, and the B grade having a more relaxed social element to it. For more information, including registration forms, see http://www.dunedinicehockey.co.nz/dihl/.
Southern Cross Womens Tournament 12 – 13 September Tekapo
All female players of all levels are invited to participate in this tournament. For more information contact Megan Gilchrist, megan.gilchrist@hotmail.com.
Annual General Meeting
The AGM for the DIHA will take place in November. All board positions will be up for election, and we are always looking for people to stand for the board or help organise the many tasks that is involved in running a successful hockey club. All members will be emailed with further details closer to the time.
N.Z.I.H.F. National Team
Coaching Position Available
Applications are being sought for Head Coach for the National U16 Development Team
The Application Form and Job Description is available by contacting the National Coaching Coordinator Jeff Bonazzo, jeffbonazzo@hotmail.com. Applications Close 30th November 2009.
Coach will be appointed for one year February 2010 – February 2011
The National U16 Development Team has toured Australia in the past and has been very successful at introducing young players to the National Team Program. Applicants for this position require a desire to create success for this team by providing a structured program building from Nationals Championships through to the desired tour. Individual player’s skill development, team building, individual and team tactics as well as strong discipline policies will be a priority requirement in this program. The Coaching Staff will be expected to select players as per NZIHF National Team Guidelines, put together a seasonal training program for players and hold a training camp before any tour. The Head Coach will also be required to provide documentation and planning as per job description. The there is an incumbent Assistant Coach attached to this team.
N.Z.I.H.F. National Team
Manager Position Available
Applications are being sought for Manager for the National U16 Development Team
The Application Form and Job Description is available by contacting Grant Hay, NZIHF President, granth@woosh.co.nz. Applications Close 30th November 2009.
Manager will be appointed for one year February 2010 – February 2011
The National U16 Development Team has successful toured in the past. Applicants for these positions require a desire to create success for this team by providing a structured program building from Nationals Championships through to the tour. The Manager will also be required to provide documentation and budgets as per job description and NZIHF Managerial Guidelines. An incumbent Assistant Manager also comes attached to the position.
The Annual General Meeting of the Dunedin Ice Hockey Association will take place at 6pm on Saturday 21 November, upstairs at the Dunedin Ice Stadium.
AGM Notice, AGM Nomination Form, and list of jobs with descriptions to be filled at the meeting are attached.
The AGM will also discuss the draft player code of conducts which the club plans to adopt for the 2010 season.
During the AGM peewee and midget players will be able to play cross ice games, at a cost of $5/player.
After the AGM the club will have its annual prizegiving, including a BBQ dinner, to which all players, family and friends are invited. Dinner $5/head, cash bar.
Thanks to everyone for playing in this year’s Spring DIHL, I enjoyed organising and playing in it and hope everyone else enjoyed it as well. A special thanks go to Jackie, Joyce, Bronwyn and Rae for volunteering their time to do the time and score keeping, to Michael Mitchell for organising the refs, to Kyle for helping get this off the ground, to Ryan for generating a buzz leading up to each week’s games on his slapshot(.net.nz) forum and to Gavin for organising the beverage sales in the warm room which drew larger crowds each successive week.
All four games this week were very competitive and very close with three out of four games being decided by one goal and the remaining game being decided by two goals. Congratulations to the Bullfrogs and Stars who won their consolation matches and to Superfly and the Jets who won their respective championships.
One of my goals for this league was to make the competition even, so individual players could no longer control the game and to increase the intensity of the competition. To a certain extent I think this was accomplished, hopefully we can build on this in upcoming leagues.
Cheers, and thanks again.
Pete
P.S. league MVP goes to Blake Sinclair:)
Next week’s finals are now decided. Consolation matches are: for the B grade, Bullfrogs vs. The Chiefs and for the A grade, Stars vs. FYC. The Championship matches are between the Midgets and Superfly in the B grade and between Bears and Jets in the A grade.
This week’s MVPs were: Robert Morgan for Superfly, Kara Ross for the Bullfrogs, Callan McLaughlin for the Jets, Regan Wilson for FYC, Steph Patchett for the Midgets, Jordan Campbell for The Chiefs, Israel Lewis for the Bears and Mallory Handcock for the Stars.
More importantly than scores and MVPs, there are a couple issues I’d like to address. In last night’s game between Midgets and The Chiefs, I, as an A grade player, played for The Chiefs. My decision to play was not to influence the outcome of the game but to fill in for missing players (no B grade reserves were available). The outcome of the game was inconsequential as the Midgets had a guaranteed spot in the finals and The Chiefs would be playing in the consolation against the Bullfrogs. I thought my playing in the game appropriate for two reasons: a) I had been helping out most of The Chiefs players at adult beginner training sessions for the last year and a half and thought, if anything, it would be helpful for The Chiefs players; b) I thought the Midgets, being the leading team in the B grade so far, would, if anything, benefit from playing against more experienced opposition.
If I have misjudged the situation, and players on either side (but specifically the Midgets) did not enjoy the game or thought it was unfair, I would like to make a sincere apology to these players. My motivation to organise this league was, and still is, to improve ice-hockey in Dunedin by improving the standard of play in the DIHL.
On a separate issue, the Jets/FYC game on Tuesday was an obsolute disgrace. I hope the up and coming players in Dunedin do not look to that kind of behaviour as respectable or even acceptable. I hope the responsible individuals have the integrity to admit to ruining the game and wasting the time of everyone involved.
League standings and schedule for the finals next week are attached.
Also, there are a few players who have not paid yet. If you haven’t paid and don’t pay before the next game DO NOT expect to play.
See you next week.
Pete
Week 5 resulted in a shake-up in the standings as we head into the last week before the finals. The Midgets were handed their first loss, FYC earned their first point and a loss by the Jets and win by the Bears opened up the A grade points race.
This week’s MVPs were as follows. Sam Sheard for setting up crucial, late stage goals to put Superfly ahead of the Midgets. Joe Orr’s three point performance earned him the honours. In Tuesday’s A grade game Mike Sam and Peter Lamb were given the award. Mike for his puck control causing endless frustration for the Jets and me just for looking so damn good.
Wednesday featured two close games between the Bullfrogs and The Chiefs, and FYC and the Stars, respectively. MVP for the Bullfrogs was Kara Ross who delivered a solid game in goal for the Bullfrogs. Gavin Kennedy earned MVP for The Chiefs; in his two point performance, Gavin’s first goal of the season was a result of thunderous head fakes on the Bullfrogs defense (the result of which caused patrons in the Octagon to butt heads, dogs sneezed, babies cried and Rhys groomed the ice in the opposite direction). Duncan Sykes, for the Stars, and Ben Roth, for FYC, were the MVPs in the A grade game. Duncan for scoring a hat trick, that included the game tying goal in the last ten seconds of the game, and Ben Roth for his two goal performance to keep FYC out front of the Stars until the final seconds.
A look at the standings shows how both grades have opened up with this week’s results. If we have ties for points after next week, finalists will be determined accordingly. To break the tie we will first look at ‘goals for’, the team with the most moves on. If that does not resolve the tie the team with the fewest ‘goals against’ will move on, then the fewest penalties and if the tie (by some miracle) is still not resolved a coin toss (unless anyone has any better ideas).
So, for Week 6, in the A grade a win or a draw by the Stars guarantees them a spot in the finals. Should the Bears beat the Stars they would both be tied with 8 points. In that case they would both hope for a Jets loss to both be in the finals. With a Bears win and a Jets win there would be a three way tie at the top. In that case, so far, the Bears would have to beat the Stars by three to guarantee their spot in the finals. Beyond that it will come down to ‘goals for’ and possibly ‘goals against’. I think there are probably two more pages worth of possibilities that I obviously won’t go into.
For the B grade, the Midgets have guaranteed themselves a spot in the finals. Their opponent will be either Superfly or The Chiefs. A Superfly win and a loss by The Chiefs would put Superfly in the final. A Superfly loss and a win by The Chiefs would put The Chiefs in the final. A win by both (or a loss by both) teams puts Superfly in the final unless The Chiefs can make up the 17 point differential in ‘goals for’.
Hope that makes more sense to you than it does to me!
See you next week.
Pete
This week’s DIHL competition featured rematches of Week 3. Highlights
from this week include the emergence of Stefan King as black hole in
goal, letting nothing escape his grasp, and a surprise shoot-out to
settle a draw between the Jets and Stars.
In this week’s first game, between the Midgets and the Bullfrogs,
replacement goalies for each team were required. Olivia and Stefan
bailed out the respective teams with Olivia playing for the Midgets in
the first and third periods and the Bullfrogs in the second with
Stefan at the other end. Great goaltending by both kept the score low.
The Midgets put Stephan to the test facing a smattering of shots in
the periods he defended the Bullfrogs goal. Olivia faced fire in the
second. For those interested, goalie stats for Olivia and Stefan were
15 shots, 11 saves and 16 shots, 14 saves, respectively. Aside from
the goalies, it was a fierce game with the Midgets overpowering the
Bullfrogs to remain undefeated in the B grade. Players of the game
were Anna Craw for the Bullfrogs and Xavier Wood-Aliberch for the
Midgets.
In the first game Olivia suffered a knee injury preventing her playing
for her FYC team in the A grade game against the Bears. Stefan was
once again called up to defend the goal, this time for FYC. The Bears
came out on top beating the FYC 4-0. The score could have easily been
6-0 were it not for glove-hand of King stealing two sure goals from,
ex-Ice Black, Mike Sam (maybe next time Mike). Richard Kendall scored
a brilliant goal while sliding on his back to earn MVP honours. Jarrod
Williams was the FYC player of the game for his solid defensive play
against the Bears.
Wednesday’s B grade game had the Maglashan Superfly team seeking
revenge (with a few reserves this time) after last week’s loss to The
Chiefs. Becoming a familiar sight was Stefan King playing goal for
Superfly, filling in for Josh Hubbard. The offensive onslaught by
Superfly was too much for Peter Wallis’s Chiefs. Superfly took the
game 4-0. Robert Morgan was given MVP honours for Superfly, setting up
a nice goal in the second period. Rieke Stackmann was a ray of light
on what could only be described as a dreary performance by the Chiefs.
Stackmann, in fleating moments of brilliance, make Stefan have to work
for his first DIHL shutout.
The Jets and Stars faced off in a rematch of last week’s nail biting
finish… and this week did not let the capacity crowd in the
warm-room down. The lead fluctuated back and forth the whole game.
Toward the end of the third period the Jets scored what they thought
was the go ahead goal, only to have it called back on a goalie
interference call. Frustration got the better of the Jets allowing a
break away goal to Heath Dunlop on the ensuing play… seemingly a
crushing blow. However, a heroic effort by the Jets to keep the puck
in the Stars zone in the final seconds and get one last shot off saw
van Leeuwen sneak the tying goal past Parry with just 3 seconds left.
A spontaneous decision by the league organiser forced the game to be
settled by a shootout. After 14 pitiful attempts/great saves the game
was finally decided when Dan Dilkes scored to put the Jets on top.
(Note: in the future draws will not result in a shootout unless time
permits and will be up to the judgment of the referees.) The Stars
were given 1 point for a draw and the Jets 2 for the shootout win. Sam
Smith and Dan Dilkes were their respective team’s MVPs.
As always, many thanks to the scorers who volunteered their time to
make these games possible.
See you all next week
Pete