# Botany Swarm

The Botany Swarm is a semi-professional ice hockey team based in East Auckland, New Zealand. The team is a member of the New Zealand Ice Hockey League (NZIHL). The team was founded in 2005 as the South Auckland Swarm. Their name was changed prior to the 2007 season due to it being similar to one of the other teams and to better reflect the area in Auckland where their home rink is located (in the suburb of Botany Downs). They play their home games out of the Paradice Ice Skating Botany Rink known as The Hive.

## History
### 2017 Season

7 May 2017, the Swarm announced that after 11 seasons, head coach Andreas Kaißer has stepped down, and will be replaced by former Swarm alumnus Brandon Contratto. However for personal reasons Brandon was unable to commit to the role. Former assistant coach Jeff Boehme took the role of head coach for the 2017 season.
The Botany Swarm welcomed four new imports for the 2017 season: Petr Zítka from the Czech Republic, Ryan Widmar from Illinois, Maximilian Hadraschek from Germany and Alex Mitsionis from Ohio.

### 2018 Season

10 December 2017, the Swarm announced that Ian Wannamaker was appointed as the new head coach. Ian Wannamaker played for the Botany Swarm from 2007-2015 and represented New Zealand from 2010-2013, 2015.
23 December 2017, the Swarm announced that assistant coach of the Kelowna Rockets Travis Crickard was appointed as the new assistant coach.
The Botany Swarm welcomed four new imports for the 2018 season: Declan Weir an Irish Canadian, Harry Ferguson from Scotland, Colin Langham from Georgia and Lucas Bombardier from Vermont.
26 May 2018, Alexandr Polozov played his 100th game for the Botany Swarm against the Canterbury Red Devils.
9 June 2018, Jordan Challis played his 150th game for the Botany Swarm against the Dunedin Thunder.
21 July 2018, Logan Fraser played his 50th game for the Botany Swarm against the Dunedin Thunder.
5 August 2018, The Botany Swarm had their 200th NZIHL game.

### 2019 Season

22 February 2019, Travis Crickard appointed Botany Swarm General Manager/CEO.
24 February 2019, Joel Rindelaub appointed Botany Swarm Interim Assistant General Manager.
The Botany Swarm welcomed four new imports for the 2019 season: Andrea Ricca from Italy, Corey McEwen born in Cardiff and now living in Toronto, Corey Morgan from New Jersey and Daniel Iasenza from Montreal.
11 May 2019, Michelle Cox appointed Botany Swarm Head Coach.
9 June 2019, Andrew Hay played his 200th game for the Botany Swarm against the West Auckland Admirals.

### 2021 Season

The roster included goaltender Grace Harrison, one of only two women competing in the league.

## Season by season results

| Season | GP | W | OTW | T | OTL | L | GF | GA | PTS | Finish | Playoff |
| 2005 | 6 | 2 | – | 2 | – | 2 | 21 | 20 | 11 | 3rd | Did not qualify |
| 2006 | 6 | 5 | – | 0 | – | 1 | 25 | 17 | 15 | 1st | Lost final (Southern Stampede) |
| 2007 | 10 | 8 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 44 | 28 | 26 | 2nd | Won final (Canterbury Red Devils) |
| 2008 | 12 | 8 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 65 | 35 | 31 | 2nd | Won final (Canterbury Red Devils) |
| 2009 | 16 | 7 | – | 2 | – | 7 | 71 | 70 | 16 | 3rd | Did not qualify |
| 2010 | 16 | 10 | 1 | – | 2 | 3 | 76 | 50 | 34 | 1st | Won final (West Auckland Admirals) |
| 2011 | 16 | 12 | 0 | – | 1 | 3 | 94 | 44 | 37 | 1st | Won final (Southern Stampede) |
| 2012 | 16 | 3 | 0 | – | 2 | 11 | 45 | 82 | 11 | 5th | Did not qualify |
| 2013 | 16 | 7 | 2 | – | 4 | 3 | 110 | 77 | 30 | 3rd | Did not qualify |
| 2014 | 16 | 5 | 2 | – | 2 | 7 | 71 | 70 | 21 | 4th | Did not qualify |
| 2015 | 16 | 4 | 1 | – | 2 | 9 | 67 | 87 | 16 | 3rd | Did not qualify |
| 2016 | 16 | 6 | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | 63 | 73 | 20 | 4th | Did not qualify |
| 2017 | 16 | 4 | 1 | – | 2 | 9 | 53 | 95 | 16 | 4th | Did not qualify |
| 2018 | 16 | 5 | 0 | – | 1 | 10 | 59 | 86 | 16 | 4th | Did not qualify |
| 2019 | 16 | 10 | 0 | – | 1 | 5 | 81 | 49 | 31 | 2nd | Lost semifinal (West Auckland Admirals) |
| 2020 | 4 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 4 | 7 | 26 | 1 | 2nd | Playoffs not held |
| 2021 | 14 | 6 | 2 | – | 0 | 6 | 54 | 51 | 22 | – | Playoffs cancelled |

## Players
### Current roster

Team roster for the 2018 NZIHL Season
2018 NZIHL Botany Swarm Roster :
| # | Name | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace |
| 6 | Michael Attwell (A) | F | L | 32 | 2009 | Johannesburg, South Africa |
| 19 | KC Ball | F | R | 49 | 2005 | Mission, British Columbia, Canada |
| 2 | Matas Barakauskas | D | L | 33 | 2018 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| 32 | Barr Bialik | G | L | 21 | 2019 | Haifa, Israel |
| 22 | Jordan Challis (A) | F | R | 32 | 2007 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 9 | Eric Chung | D | R | 27 | 2019 | Takapuna, New Zealand |
| 5 | Edward Commons | D | R | 31 | 2019 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 24 | Logan Fraser | D | R | 26 | 2014 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 37 | Grace Harrison | G | L | 27 | 2015 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 13 | Andrew Hay (C) | D | R | 39 | 2005 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 21 | Joshua Hay | F | R | 35 | 2005 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 20 | Oliver Hay | D | R | 27 | 2013 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 26 | Thomas Heather | D | L | 27 | 2013 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 1 | Michael Hopkinson | G | L | 33 | 2013 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 11 | Richard Hopkinson | F | R | 32 | 2016 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 14 | Daniele Iasenza | F | R | 28 | 2019 | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| 18 | Kyle Jonsson | F | R | 28 | 2013 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 27 | Maxim Kaluzhny | F | R | 35 | 2015 | Vladivostok, Russia |
| 28 | Ondrej Kozak | F | R | 37 | 2014 | Rakovník, Czech Republic |
| 34 | Antony Logan | F | R | 21 | 2019 | Albany, New Zealand |
| 17 | Stephen Mawson | D | R | 33 | 2016 | Whangārei, New Zealand |
| 7 | Corey McEwen | F | R | 31 | 2019 | Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom |
| 33 | Jake McIntyre | F | R | 22 | 2019 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 4 | Corey Morgan | D | L | 28 | 2019 | Ridgewood, New Jersey, United States |
| 31 | Rick Parry | G | L | 36 | 2019 | Kauri, New Zealand |
| 10 | Aleksander Polozov | F | L | 38 | 2016 | Kohtla-Järve, Estonia |
| 30 | Maia Rata | G | L | 42 | 2018 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 15 | Mak Rawiri | D | R | 25 | 2019 | Manukau, New Zealand |
| 3 | Andrea Ricca | D | L | 35 | 2019 | Pinerolo, Italy |
| 29 | Joel Rindelaub | F | R | 37 | 2018 | St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States |
| 25 | Remy Sandoy | D | R | 31 | 2018 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 36 | Zac Snoad | F | R | 22 | 2019 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 23 | Leith Thompson | D | R | 38 | 2005 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 8 | Robin Vortanov | F | R | 27 | 2014 | Auckland, New Zealand |
| 35 | Ian Wannamaker | F | L | 43 | 2007 | Mississauga, Ontario, Canada |
| 12 | Sam Webb | F | L | 25 | 2019 | Auckland, New Zealand |

### Franchise scoring leaders

There are the top ten point scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NZIHL regular season.
| # | Player | Seasons | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1 | KC Ball | 2005-18 | F | 184 | 73 | 118 | 191 | 82 |
| 2 | Jordan Challis | 2007-18 | F | 157 | 64 | 81 | 145 | 383 |
| 3 | Alex Polosov | 2010-14, 2016-18 | F | 113 | 62 | 75 | 137 | 327 |
| 4 | Brandon Contratto | 2013-15 | F | 47 | 59 | 66 | 125 | 105 |
| 5 | Joshua Hay | 2005-13, 2017-18 | F | 119 | 54 | 55 | 109 | 343 |
| 6 | Michael Attwell | 2009-17 | F | 131 | 35 | 57 | 92 | 182 |
| 7 | Andrew Hay | 2005-18 | D | 190 | 18 | 64 | 82 | 243 |
| 8 | Ian Wannamaker | 2007-15 | D | 104 | 43 | 38 | 81 | 149 |
| 9 | Charlie Huber | 2005-11, 2015 | F | 73 | 40 | 41 | 81 | 52 |
| 10 | Lyle Idoine | 2005-12 | F | 90 | 28 | 45 | 73 | 302 |

### Franchise all-time most appearances

There are the top ten player who have made the most appearances in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NZIHL regular season.
| # | Player | Seasons | Pos | RS Games | PS Games |
| 1 | Andrew Hay | 2005-18 | D | 190 | 6 |
| 2 | KC Ball | 2005-18 | F | 184 | 3 |
| 3 | Jordan Challis | 2007-18 | F | 157 | 2 |
| 4 | Leith Thompson | 2005-18 | D | 142 | 2 |
| 5 | Michael Attwell | 2009-17 | F | 131 | 0 |
| 6 | Joshua Hay | 2005-13, 2017-18 | F | 119 | 3 |
| 7 | Alex Polosov | 2010-14, 2016-18 | F | 113 | 0 |
| 8 | Ian Wannamaker | 2007-15 | D | 104 | 4 |
| 9 | Samuel Boniface | 2007-10, 2012–13, 2015 | F | 98 | 2 |
| 10 | Lyle Idione | 2005-12 | F | 90 | 3 |

## Technical staff

Current as of 24 June 2019
2018 NZIHL Botany Swarm Staff :
| Position | Name |
| Head coach | Michelle Cox |
| Assistant coach | Corey McEwen |
| General Manager | Philippa Kaisser |
| Physiotherapist | Sankaran Duntellu |
| Team Staff | Michael Attwell |

## Leaders
### Team captains

| # | Name | From | To |
| 1 | Rene Aish | 4 June 2005 | 7 August 2005 |
| 2 | George Pilgrim | 9 June 2006 | 10 September 2006 |
| 3 | Andrew Hay | 26 May 2007 | Current |

### Head coaches

| # | Manager | From | To | Played | Won | Overtime Won | Tied | Overtime Lost | Lost | GF | GA | Win % |
| 1 | Andreas Kaisser | 4 June 2005 | 4 September 2011 | 88 | 55 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 19 | 421 | 278 | 70.27% |
| 2 | Philip Lyle | 9 June 2012 | 27 August 2012 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 53 | 96 | 20.37% |
| 3 | Andreas Kaisser | 25 May 2013 | 7 August 2016 | 64 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 28 | 311 | 307 | 44.79% |
| 4 | Jeff Boehme | 26 May 2017 | 6 August 2017 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 53 | 95 | 33.33% |
| 5 | Ian Wannamaker | 26 May 2018 | 10 October 2018 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 59 | 86 | 33.33% |