Melbourne Ice (Women)

The Melbourne Ice is an Australian amateur ice hockey team from Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 2005, the Ice have been a member of the Australian Women's Ice Hockey League (AWIHL) since inception in 2007. The Ice are based at the O'Brien Group Arena, located in the Docklands precinct of Melbourne. The team has won seven Joan McKowen trophies and are five time league premiers.
==History==
Founded in 2005, the Melbourne Dragons were one of four founding teams of the Australian Women's Ice Hockey League (AWIHL). The Dragons participated in the Showcase Series in 2005/06 and 2006/07 before the formal AWIHL started in 2007/08. The Dragons joined the new league along with the Adelaide Assassins, Brisbane Goannas and Sydney Sirens. 
In 2010, the Dragons entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Melbourne Ice Hockey Club, who operate the Australian Ice Hockey League men's team. The agreement saw the Ice buy into the club as a minority partner, with the Dragons retaining majority share. The Dragons re-branded to the Melbourne Ice Women and started trading under the name Melbourne Ice. The team also moved into the Olympic sized Henke Rink at the Melbourne Icehouse within the Docklands precinct of Melbourne.
In 2011, the team won its first national championship and trophy. The Ice defeated the Sydney Sirens in the final to clinch the title and their maiden Joan McKowen Trophy. The Melbourne Ice placed second in the league standings at the end of the regular season with eight wins from twelve matches. In the finals, the Ice came up against the Sydney Sirens in a two match series for the Joan McKowen Trophy. In game one, the Ice shutout the Sirens and secured a 1-0 victory. In game two, the Ice maintained the goal difference to win 2-1 in a shootout and claim the national championship and the Joan McKowen Trophy. 
The Ice became an AWIHL powerhouse in the 2010s. After their first title in 2011 the team went on to win another six championships and five premierships in the following eight years, including four straight premiership-championship doubles between 2013 and 2016. The last four Joan McKowen Trophy finals the Ice have contested, they have versed rivals Sydney Sirens. They have defeated the Sirens in every final match the two teams have faced each other. In 2019, the two teams met for the grand prize at the Adelaide IceArenA. The match was a tight affair with both teams locked at three-all with one minute left in regulation time. The Ice won the match and the trophy through a Bettina Meyers goal with 36.7 seconds left on the clock.
In 2019 the Melbourne Ice women were ranked 23rd in the Australasia Best Sporting Team (ABST) top twenty-five list. Produced by Platinum Asset Management and GAIN LINE Analytics, the list represents an analytical approach to measuring success in team sports in Australia and New Zealand within a rolling five year period.
==Season by season results==
Champions	Runners-up	Third Place
Melbourne Dragons all-time record	Melbourne Dragons all-time record	Melbourne Dragons all-time record	Melbourne Dragons all-time record	Melbourne Dragons all-time record	Melbourne Dragons all-time record	Melbourne Dragons all-time record	Melbourne Dragons all-time record	Melbourne Dragons all-time record	Melbourne Dragons all-time record	Melbourne Dragons all-time record	Melbourne Dragons all-time record	Melbourne Dragons all-time record	Melbourne Dragons all-time record	Melbourne Dragons all-time record	Melbourne Dragons all-time record	Melbourne Dragons all-time record	Melbourne Dragons all-time record
Season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Finals weekend 	Finals weekend 	Finals weekend 	Finals weekend 	Finals weekend 	Finals weekend 	Finals weekend 	Finals weekend 	
Season 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
2007/08 	Information not available 	Information not available 	Information not available 	Information not available 	Information not available 	Information not available 	Information not available 	Information not available 	Information not available 	Information not available 	Information not available 	Information not available 	Information not available 	Information not available 	Information not available 	Information not available 	
2008/09 	12 	– 	3 	9 	– 	– 	3 	4th 	2 	– 	2 	Fourth 	Lost 1-5 (Sirens) 	– 	Lost 0-3 (Goannas) 	– 	
2009/10 	14 	5 	2 	7 	– 	– 	12 	3rd 	1 	– 	1 	Semi-finalist 	Lost 4-3 (Sirens) 	– 	– 	– 	
Melbourne Ice all-time record 	Melbourne Ice all-time record 	Melbourne Ice all-time record 	Melbourne Ice all-time record 	Melbourne Ice all-time record 	Melbourne Ice all-time record 	Melbourne Ice all-time record 	Melbourne Ice all-time record 	Melbourne Ice all-time record 	Melbourne Ice all-time record 	Melbourne Ice all-time record 	Melbourne Ice all-time record 	Melbourne Ice all-time record 	Melbourne Ice all-time record 	Melbourne Ice all-time record 	Melbourne Ice all-time record 	Melbourne Ice all-time record 	Melbourne Ice all-time record
Season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Finals weekend 	Finals weekend 	Finals weekend 	Finals weekend 	Finals weekend 	Finals weekend 	Finals weekend 	Finals weekend 	
Season 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
2010/11 	12 	8 	– 	4 	– 	– 	24 	2nd 	2 	2 	– 	Champion 	Won 1-0 (Sirens) 	– 	– 	Won 2-1 (Sirens) 	
2011/12 	12 	7 	– 	5 	– 	– 	20 	2nd 	2 	1 	1 	Runner-up 	Won 7-3 (Adrenaline) 	– 	– 	Lost 5-7 (Adrenaline) 	
2012/13 	14 	12 	– 	2 	– 	– 	36 	1st 	2 	2 	– 	Champion 	Won 3-2 (Adrenaline) 	– 	– 	Won 3-2 (Adrenaline) 	
2013/14 	12 	10 	– 	1 	1 	– 	32 	1st 	2 	2 	– 	Champion 	Won 2-0 (Adrenaline) 	– 	– 	Won 2-0 (Adrenaline) 	
2014/15 	12 	10 	– 	– 	1 	1 	33 	1st 	2 	2 	– 	Champion 	Won 2-8 (Adrenaline) 	– 	– 	Won 6-0 (Sirens) 	
2015/16 	12 	8 	– 	2 	1 	1 	27 	1st 	3 	2 	1 	Champion 	Lost 2-8 (Sirens) 	Won 7-4 (Goannas) 	– 	Won 7-6 (SO) (Sirens) 	
2016/17 	12 	5 	– 	5 	1 	1 	18 	3rd 	2 	1 	1 	Third 	Lost 0-3 (Goannas) 	– 	Won 14-1 (Rush) 	– 	
2017/18 	12 	8 	– 	4 	– 	– 	24 	2nd 	2 	2 	– 	Champion 	Won 5-1 (Goannas) 	– 	– 	Won 4-2 (Sirens) 	
2018/19 	12 	10 	– 	1 	– 	1 	31 	1st 	2 	2 	– 	Champion 	Won 9-2 (Goannas) 	– 	– 	Won 4-3 (Sirens) 	
2019/20 	12 	7 	1 	3 	– 	1 	23 	3rd 	2 	1 	1 	Third 	Lost 2-4 (Rush) 	– 	Won 4-3 (Inferno) 	– 	
==Championships==
*Joan McKowen Trophy 
:Champions (7): 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019
: Runners-Up (1): 2012
*West Lakes Trophy (repurposed as league premiership trophy in 2010)
:Premiers (5): 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019
: Runners-Up (3): 2011, 2012, 2018
==Roster==
Current for the 2018–19 AWIHL season
 Melbourne Ice Roster
# 	Nat	Name	Pos	Age	Acquired
1 	 	 	G 	 	2015
3 	 	 	D 	 	2017
4 	 	 	D/F	 	2018
5 	 	 	D 	 	2013
6 	 	 	F 	 	2015
8 	 	 	D/F	 	2018
9 	 	 	F 	 	2015
11	 	 	D/F	 	2018
12	 	 	D 	 	2017
13	 	 	F 	 	2016
14	 	 	F 	 	2017
15	 	 	D/F	 	2017
16	 	 	G 	 	2015
17	 	 	F 	 	2013
18	 	 	F 	 	2017
20	 	 	D/F	 	2018
22	 	 	D 	 	2017
27	 	 	D 	 	2013
29	 	 	F 	 	2018
30	 	 	G 	 	2017
71	 	 	D/F	 	2018
77	 	 	F 	 	2015
91	 	(C) 	F 	 	2016
==Leaders==
===Captains===
Season 	Captains 	Captains 	Captains
Season 	Captain 	 	
2005-2007	Information not available	Information not available	Information not available
2008-09 	 	Lucy Parrington 	
2010 	Information not available	Information not available	Information not available
2011-12 	Shona Green 	Lucy Parrington 	Nicole Tritter
2012-13 	Shona Green 	Lucy Parrington 	Nicole Tritter
2013-14 	Shona Green 	Lucy Parrington 	Christine Cockerell
2014-15 	Shona Green 	Lucy Parrington 	Christine Cockerell
2015-16 	Shona Green 	Lucy Parrington 	Georgia Carson
2016-17 	Shona Green 	Georgia Carson 	Rylie Padjen
2018 	Information not available	Information not available	Information not available
2019–20 	Christina Julien 	 	
===Head coaches===
Season 	Head coach 	Head coach 	Head coach
Season 	One 	Two 	Three
2005-2009	Information not available	Information not available	Information not available
2010-11 	Lee Brown 	Tommy Powell 	
2011-12 	Lee Brown 	Tommy Powell 	
2013-2014	Information not available	Information not available	Information not available
2015-16 	Jeremy Muir 	 	
2016-17 	Jeremy Muir 	 	
2017-18 	Marcus Wong 	Mark Smith 	Brent Laver
2018-19 	Marcus Wong 	Mark Smith 	Laurie Piggot
2019-20 	Marcus Wong 	Mark Smith 	Laurie Piggot
==Identity==
===Name and colours===
Since 2010, the team have identified with the Melbourne Ice branding including the colours navy blue, crimson red and white. The colours are used in all aspects of the club including: uniforms, supporter merchandise, official media and digital design. Prior to 2010, when the team operated in the AWIHL as the Melbourne Dragons, the team identified with the colours indigo blue and white. The team has changed names once, in 2010 after the signing of the MoU between the Dragons and Ice. Since 2010 the team has identified as the Melbourne Ice.
Team name changes
#	Colours	Name 	From	To
1	 	Melbourne Dragons	2005	2009
2	 	Melbourne Ice 	2010	Current
===Facilities===
thumb|right|Entrance to O'Brien Icehouse
thumb|right|The Henke Rink inside the Icehouse, home of the Melbourne Ice
In 2010, after the Dragons re-branded to the Melbourne Ice, they moved into the newly completed $58m Melbourne Icehouse (Known as the O’Brien Icehouse for sponsorship reasons), located in the Docklands precinct of Melbourne. The Ice have played all their home matches from the 2010/11 AWIHL season onwards at the Icehouse. The Icehouse is the only twin ice-sheet facility in Australia. The hockey rink within the facility is named the Henke Rink, in honour of Geoffrey Henke AO. The Icehouse has an Olympic sized ice surface, café, bar, specialist winter sports gym, pro shop, corporate boxes and seating for 1,000 spectators as well as room for additional 500 standing attendance on match days.
Prior to 2010, for five years, the Ice, when they were the Dragons, were based in Oakleigh South, Monash in the wider Melbourne metropolitan area. Their home venue was the 300 capacity Olympic Ice Skating Centre (OISC), noted at the time for being a small rink, with its width two-thirds that of a regulation Olympic-sized rink.
Rink 	Location 	First	Last
Olympic Ice Skating Centre	Oakleigh South	2005 	2009
Melbourne Icehouse 	Docklands 	2010 	Current
==Broadcasting==
Online video streaming: Kayo Sports (2019 - Current) 
The Melbourne Ice are a part of the entire AWIHL broadcasting deal with Kayo Sports to show one weekly 'game of the week' match that includes 20 minutes of highlights with commentary and player interviews.
==See also==
*Ice Hockey Australia
*Joan McKowen Memorial Trophy
*Australian Ice Hockey League
*Australian Junior Ice Hockey League
*Jim Brown Trophy
*Goodall Cup
==References==
==External links==
*Australian Women's Hockey League official site
*Melbourne Ice official Site
Category:Women's ice hockey in Australia
Category:Established in 2005
Category:Ice hockey teams in Australia
Category:Women's ice hockey teams
Category:Australian Women's Ice Hockey League