2016–17 AJIHL season

The 2016–17 AJIHL season is the fifth season of the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League. It will run from 17 December 2016 until a yet to be determined date in 2017, with the formal structure of the league having been changed to incorporate 3 additional teams, each from a different state or territory. The AJIHL is the highest Australian national junior ice hockey competition.

2016–17 AJIHL season
LeagueAustralian Junior Ice Hockey League
SportIce hockey
Duration17 December 2016 – 2 April 2017
Number of teams6
Regular season
Top scorerRyan Foll
AJIHL Champions Trophy
ChampionsAdelaide Generals
  Runners-upPerth Sharks

League business

Ice Hockey Australia made the announcement that the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League would be expanding in the 2016–17 season. It planned to include teams from Queensland, South Australia and Australian Capital Territory into the regular season format after the previous season using a Tier 2 tournament for the 3 new teams. Due to cost of travel after adding 3 additional cities to the league, the season format was changed to a multiple weekend tournament format and the league was divided into 2 conferences. Two other issues faced at the beginning of the season were that there was no ice availability reserved in Melbourne, Victoria to schedule games for the Melbourne Glaciers and Adelaide was again experiencing issues with its main rink cooling system. With the first schedule originally announced and ready for December, the Canberra Junior Brave pulled out of the weekend and it is unknown if they would return later in 2017 in a future weekend tournament. With a shrinking junior talent pool in Melbourne, the Melbourne Whalers suspended operations for the 2016–17 season, leaving only the Melbourne Glaciers to participate. The Perth Pelicans would also suspend operations for the 2016–17 season, leaving the Perth Sharks as the only representation for junior talent in Western Australia.[1]

Exhibition Games

Exhibition games were planned for both the Sydney Sabres and the Sydney Wolf Pack to keep the teams active as neither team had any training sessions allocated for them to use. These games did not count as regular season games.

February

Game Date Time Away Score Home Location Attendance Recap
135 February 201717:00Sydney Sabres2 - 0Sydney Wolf PackPenrith Ice Palace-
1411 February 201717:00Sydney Wolf Pack4 - 3 (SO)Sydney SabresPenrith Ice Palace-
1512 February 201717:00Sydney Sabres1 - 2Sydney Wolf PackPenrith Ice Palace-

Regular season

The regular season began on 15 December 2016 and will run as a weekend style tournament format for 2017.

December

Game Date Time Away Score Home Location Attendance Recap
115 December 201619:15Sydney Sabres5 - 4Sydney Wolf PackPenrith Ice Palace-
216 December 201615:15Sydney Sabres1 - 9Brisbane BlitzPenrith Ice Palace-
317 December 201606:45Brisbane Blitz4 - 1Sydney Wolf PackPenrith Ice Palace-
417 December 201617:00Brisbane Blitz7 - 1Sydney SabresPenrith Ice Palace-
518 December 201607:30Sydney Wolf Pack6 - 5 (SO)Brisbane BlitzPenrith Ice Palace-
618 December 201617:00Sydney Wolf Pack5 - 2Sydney SabresPenrith Ice Palace-

January

Game Date Time Away Score Home Location Attendance Recap
726 January 201715:00Adelaide Generals10 - 2Melbourne GlaciersCockburn Ice Arena-
827 January 201711:15Melbourne Glaciers6 - 3Perth SharksCockburn Ice Arena-
927 January 201718:15Perth Sharks0 - 8Adelaide GeneralsCockburn Ice Arena-
1028 January 201711:15Adelaide Generals9 - 1Melbourne GlaciersCockburn Ice Arena-
1128 January 201714:00Melbourne Glaciers1 - 3Perth SharksCockburn Ice Arena-
1229 January 201707:00Perth Sharks4 - 5Adelaide GeneralsPerth Ice Arena-

March

Game Date Time Away Score Home Location Attendance Recap
1330 March 201717:45Sydney SabresAdelaide GeneralsIceArenA-
1430 March 201719:30Perth SharksBrisbane BlitzIceArenA-
1531 March 20177:15Melbourne GlaciersSydney SabresIceArenA-
1631 March 201710:45Sydney Wolf PackAdelaide GeneralsIceArenA-
1731 March 201712:30Brisbane BlitzMelbourne GlaciersIceArenA-
1831 March 201714:15Perth SharksSydney Wolf PackIceArenA-
1931 March 201717:45Brisbane BlitzAdelaide GeneralsIceArenA-

April

Game Date Time Away Score Home Location Attendance Recap
201 April 20176:00Sydney SabresPerth SharksIceArenA-
211 April 20177:45Sydney Wolf PackMelbourne GlaciersIceArenA-

Standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; SW = Shootout Wins; SL = Shootout losses; L = Losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GDF = Goal differential; PTS = Points

The regular season league standings are as follows:

Team GP W SW SL L GF GA GDF PTS
Adelaide Generals440003272512
Brisbane Blitz430102591610
Sydney Wolf Pack41102161605
Perth Sharks410031020-103
Melbourne Glaciers410031025-153
Sydney Sabres41003925-163

References

  1. "Glaciers Ready To Go for 2017". Ice Hockey Victoria. 7 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
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