Australia Australia is an Oceanian nation of the southern hemisphere , on the Pacific and Indian Oceans . It has a population of over 21 , 000 , 000 and its capital is Canberra . History . The beginnings . As is often the case with warm nations who experience little to no snowy winters , ice hockey remains a niche sport in Australia , where it is practiced and enjoyed by a small number of enthusiasts . Nevertheless , ice hockey enjoys a long and rich tradition in Australia . The history of ice hockey in Australia begins as far back in time as 1904 , when a group of enthusiasts decided to adapt field hockey so it can be played on ice in Adelaide , then Australia ' s lone city with an ice rink . Three of the participants later moved to Melbourne and introduced the game there . Melbournian youth enjoyed the game and in 1907 , they challenged American soldiers who had docked with their warship Baltimore near the end of the season . The locals challenged the Americans for a game , which the visitors gladly accepted . That match turned out to be the first organized ice hockey game in Australia - a first game with an international flavour . The Americans won the match in front of a capacity crowd . Much attention was given to the event in the press that day and the game became a regular activity at the Melbourne rink . A first hockey club was formed the following year , 1908 . Then , 1909 proved to be a very developmental year for hockey in Australia . A new rink opened in Victoria and four new clubs came to existance in the territory : the Glaciarium , the Beavers , the Brighton and the Melburnians . The latter two had restricted membership , as they were only open respectively to members of the Brighton field hockey club and to the members of the Old Boys of Melbourne Grammar . Field hockey sticks have also been replaced by real hockey sticks imported from Canada , and the tennis ball used was re4placed by real canadian puck s . This marked the need for new rules to be adopted , based on English bandy and on Canadian ice hockey . The resulting product was rather violent and despite the lack of modern protective equipment , the players still took the ice and player the game , with very little intervention from the " umpires " ( as the referee s were called , as they are in cricket ) except on the most violent hits . 1909 also marked the first Interstate Tournament in Australia , as the states of Victoria and New South Wales faced up . The latter team was the most inexperienced , but they still mananged to win the first game 1 - 0 on August 31st 1909 . Victoria however bounced back to win the other two games 1 - 0 and 6 - 1 . Victoria successfully defended its title the next year . In 1911 came a revolution called Jimmy Kendall . A Canadian , Kendall settled in Sydney and brought to New South Wales hockey a wind of change . Kendall possessed skills , speed and accuracy well above that of the average Australian players , which didn ' t fail to cause consternation among the Victorian players and selectors . World War I and beyond . It took longer for ice hockey than other sports to resume after World War I . Some rinks , like that in Sydney , had closed and took several years to reopen . When the Sydney rink reopened in 1920 , hockey activities in Melbourne quickened too . But the war had left the sport in a sorry state : records and equipments had disappeared , players had drifted away and there was not even a single copy of the rules left . Basically , all what had been done had to be restarted from scratch . Interstate activities resumed in 1921 . The few pre - war players still alive and able were drafted into a team . This team included one of the most important figures of Australian hockey , Ted Molony and John Goodall , inactive since 1913 , who was the donator in 1909 of the Goodall Cup . Jimmy Kendall was still there as well , and his coaching proved important in making New south Wales win the 1921 tournament . International . The Australian men ' s national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team for Australia . As of 2010 the Australian team are ranked 34th . The official nickname of Australia ' s national ice hockey team is the Mighty Roos . Some Australian national team players are expatriates of Canada and other hockey - playing nations , who have since become outright citizens of Australia or who hold dual citizenship . Australia ' s ice hockey team has participated in just one Winter Olympics : the 1960 Games in Squaw Valley , California . Australia lost both their games against powerhouses Czechoslovakia ( 18 - 1 ) and eventual gold medalists , the United States ( 12 - 1 ) . Australia has competed in the Division II World Championships since 2001 . As of 2007 they are coached by Steve McKenna , a former eight - year veteran of the National Hockey League . At the 2007 Division II World Championships , Australia won three games and lost one , finishing second in their group behind host nation South Korea and narrowly missing promotion to Division I . Australia hosted the 2008 IIHF World Championship Division II Group B , which was held in Newcastle , Australia . The Mighty Roos finished first and captured the gold medal by winning all five games and they have now have been promoted to Division I . Australian U20 and U18 teams also participate in the world championships , League . Australian Ice Hockey League Sources and references . http : / / www . iha . org . au / history . asp