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Sydney Bears

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Sydney Bears
CityPenrith, New South Wales
LeagueAIHL
Founded2000 (2000)
Home arenaPenrith Ice Palace
ColoursRed, black, silver and white        
General managerGabriel Robledo
Head coachCzech RepublicAustralia Vlad Rubes [1]
CaptainCanadaAustralia Michael Schlamp [2]
Franchise history
HistorySydney Bears
2000-2007
AIHL Bears
2007-2009
Sydney Bears
2010-present
Goodall Cup2 (2002, 2007)
V.I.P cup1 (2008)
UniformFile:SydneyBearsUniform.jpg
Current uniform
File:SydneyBearsUniform.jpg

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 played at the Sydney Ice Arena from the time of their inception through the end of the 2006 season. They moved to their new arena, Penrith Ice Palace, at the beginnig of the 2007 AIHL season.

Team history

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.[3]

2011 Season

The Bears commenced the 2011 season on April 16 with a home opener against the newest addition to the AIHL, The Mustangs. Bears rookie forward Lucian Hackett scored the first goal of the season on his debut. Other Bears players making their debut were Laurie Mock, and import Kurtis Dulle[4] . The Bears struggled to record a win in their first five games, however their roster was not yet at full strength. The Bears were missing goaltender Sheldon Baerg, forward Tony Demelinne who was representing Netherlands at the IIHF World Championship Division I[5], and defenceman Jordan Hale who was competing in the Royal Bank Cup with the Camrose Kodiaks [6].

With the 2011 Roster finally at full strength with the arrival and clearance of their import players, the Bears made their way to Melbourne. The Bears showed signs of improvement in their game against the Melbourne Ice, losing 3-4 to them in the shootout[7] . The Bears also lost import Jordan Hale to a season ending lower body injury. The Bears then went on to record their first win of the season against the The Mustangs in a thrilling 5-3 victory, with newly acquired import Tony Demelinne displaying some of his puck handling skills and recording 4 points during the game[8].

However The Bears game seemingly unravelled, experiencing huge losses to the Knights, BlueTongues and Ice. However bouncing back in June recording a win against the Newcastle North Stars, ending their wining streak and starting a 3 game win streak of their own. The month of June saw the Bears 3-2-0, and they reached a peak position of 7th in the standings.

Currently the Bears sit 8th in the ladder, with 12 points.

2011 Schedule and Results

  Win   Loss   OT Loss

2010–11 game log

Season-by-season record

Season GP W T1 OTW OTL L GF GF Pts Finish Playoffs
2002 15 12 1 - - 2 90 54 25 1 Won Goodall Cup final vs. Adelaide Avalanche)
2003 6 1 0 - - 5 23 34 2 5 Did not qualify
2004 29 8 6 1 4 10 68 71 31 3 Lost in Semifinals, 4-5 (West Sydney Ice Dogs)
2005 26 11 0 2 1 12 96 100 38 4 Lost in Semifinals, (Adelaide Avalanche)
2006 28 15 - 1 1 11 133 101 48 5 Did not qualify
2007 28 14 - 4 2 8 112 84 49* 4 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 1 Lost in Semifinal, 7-5 (Newcastle North Stars)
2009 24 1 - 3 0 20 66 140 9 7 Did not qualify
2010 25 12 - 9 1 3 41 83 92 3 Lost Semifinal, 1-2 (Melbourne Ice)
1 As of the 2006 AIHL season, all games will have a winner.
* The Bears were penalised 3 competition points for icing players that had not been officially cleared to play by the IIHF and IHA.

Championships

Goodall Cup: 2002, 2007
V.I.P. Cup: 2008

Players

Updated 27 June 2011 [9]

No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
2 Canada Jordan Hale Injured Reserve D/F L 34 2011 Lacombe, AB, Canada
3 Australia Steven Adams D R 45 2008 Adelaide, South Australia
5 Australia Daniel Spina D L 32 2009 Australia
6 Australia Nick Cleland D L 39 2010 Canberra, Australia
6 England Geoff O'Hara D R 45 2011 Bristol, England
8 Australia Jim Zvonicek F R 36 2009 Australia
12 Australia Lukas Manco D L 32 2008 Australia
16 Australia Michael Schlamp (C) F L 43 2006 Regina, SK, Canada
18 Canada Kurtis Dulle (A) D L 44 2011 Craik, SK, Canada
20 Czech Republic Vladimir Rubes F L 54 2000 Praha, Czech Republic
21 Netherlands Tony Demelinne F L 37 2011 Den Haag, Netherlands
19 Australia Brett Nelson-Bond (A) F R 41 2000 Australia
29 Australia Daniel Shaw F - 34 2008 Australia
33 Australia Scott Clemie F L 29 2009 Australia
37 Canada Sheldon Baerg G R 38 2011 Burnaby, BC, Canada
47 Canada Spencer Austin D L 32 2010 Hamilton, ON, Canada
55 Australia Gabe Robledo G L 38 2005 Australia
56 Canada Lucien Hackett F L 34 2010 Vancouver, BC, Canada
57 Australia Laurie Mock D R 41 2006 Australia
84 Australia Adrian Esposito RW R 39 2003 Sydney, Australia
88 Australia Joel McFadden F R 33 2007 Australia


Notable players


Franchise scoring leaders

Below are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history [10]

Note: GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; TP = Points; * = current Bears player

Player GP G A TP
Vladimir Rubes* 187 126 203 329
Vladan Stransky 137 100 149 249
Murray Wand 170 70 75 145
Roberto Franchini 85 42 53 95
Brett Nelson-Bond* 178 37 50 87
Michael Schlamp* 77 35 47 82
Andy Luhovy 46 31 40 71
Tomas Landa 25 20 42 62
Paul Shumak 162 32 29 61
Joshua Gribben 42 20 26 46

Current Staff

  • President – Wayne Hellyer
  • General Manager/Team Manager – Gabriel Robledo Snr
  • Assistant Team Manager - Robert Palmer
  • Head coach – Vladimir Rubes
  • Bench coach – Art Shaw
  • Secretary – Bronwyn McFadden & Neil McFadden
  • Treasurer – Marlon Jayawardene & Lorelle Cross
  • Game Day Ticketing - Bronwyn McFadden & Keri Spina
  • Time Keepers – Marichu Liddicoat & Warwick Griffith
  • Announcing - Wayne Hellyer & Debbie Clemie
  • Game Day Organiser - Jennifer Scott & Rachel Tanit

Arena

Home games are played at the Penrith Ice Palace in Penrith, on the western outskirts of Sydney, New South Wales. The team previously played at the Sydney Ice Arena in Baulkham Hills, but announced they would move to Penrith for the 2007 AIHL season.

References

  1. ^ "Sydney Bears on Elite Prospects". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  2. ^ Roach, Christian. "Bears tame Mustangs for 3rd win". Sydney Bears Official Site. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  3. ^ "2010 AIHL Regular Season". Australian Ice Hockey League. Retrieved 2010-04-30. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Buck wild night for The Bears". Game Recap 16th April 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  5. ^ "Netherlands Entry List 2011" (PDF). Entry List By Team 2011. IIHF World Championship DIV I Group A. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  6. ^ Corbett, Graeme. "Snakes strive for RBC record book".
  7. ^ Australian Ice Hockey League. "Boxscores: May 14th 2011 - Sydney Bears vs Melbourne Ice". Australian Ice Hockey League Boxscores. AIHL.
  8. ^ Nelson-Bond, Brett. "Bears Run Over Mustangs for Win". Game Recaps.
  9. ^ "2011 Sydney Bears Roster". Sydney Bears Official Roster.
  10. ^ "Franchise All-Time Points". Elite Hockey Prospects.


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