Newcastle North Stars

he Newcastle Northstars (formally Newcastle North Stars) is an Australian semi-professional ice hockey team from Newcastle, New South Wales. The Northstars are a member of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL), joining as an expansion team in 2002. The team is based at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Warners Bay, a suburb of Lake Macquarie, 15 kilometres south-west of Newcastle. The Northstars are affiliated with the ice hockey club of the same name. The team have won six Goodall Cups and five H Newman Reid Trophies, making them the most successful team in AIHL history.
== History ==
===1977–2001 (Pre-AIHL)===
Ice hockey started in the city of Newcastle in 1960 at the old boxing stadium where Marketown is now situated.
Originally the Newcastle Red Wings, the Red Wings were part of national leagues of the time. Due to instability there were several variations of these leagues. The Red Wings became the North Stars in 1978 and were leading the national 'Super League' at the time when the Newcastle ice rink went into liquidation in late 1982.
Some players then retired, while others went on to play for teams in Sydney or join inline hockey teams that started in the 1990s in Newcastle. A Newcastle North Stars in-line hockey team was formed including former members of the defunct Wharf Road team.
In 2000 the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium (a.k.a. HISS) opened at 230 Macquarie Road, Warners Bay. The Lake Macquarie suburb, only 15 km from the city, proved an ideal location for the new rink. The rink opened with former North Stars player/coach Garry Doré as general manager.
A local committee was established and the Newcastle Northstars Ice Hockey Club was registered in 2001. The team mostly consisted of Canadian expatriates along with four talented local-born players contested the New South Wales Senior B championship. The Senior B North Stars went on to win the state Senior B Championship for 2001.
Later in 2001 the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium hosted the Goodall Cup tournament. The Goodall Cup is Australia's senior men's national tournament, contested since 1909. Utilising the experience from running the tournament and gaining assistance from existing AIHL teams, rink general manager Garry Doré began building a team ready for the Australian Ice Hockey League. Canadian expatriate Don Champagne was recruited to be coach, and local hockey enthusiast Peter Lambert was recruited as Team Manager.
===2002–2006===
The Newcastle Northstars entered the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) as the North Stars in 2002. They were a part of the league's expansion that saw the league double in size from three teams to six. The Northstars joined the league along with the Melbourne Ice and Western Sydney Ice Dogs.
Don Champagne was appointed the inaugural Northstars AIHL head coach while Bill Jones was named foundation captain. Due to a lack of local talent in the first season, the league allowed the Northstars to find players in Sydney and evenly split their roster between locals and imports. Newcastle assembled a roster for 2002 with nine Canadians expats and eight locals.
The 2002 season produced highs and lows for the Novocastrians. Newcastle's first ever match in the AIHL was at home at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium on 4 May 2002 against the Western Sydney Ice Dogs. The Northstars lost the match 3–7. Newcastle's first AIHL victory and shutout came on 19 May 2002 when they defeated the Canberra Knights 4–0. The Northstars finished the season in fourth place with six wins and ten losses. Canadian forward, Brett Hillier, finished the season as the Northstars top points scorers with 34 points.
In 2003, Newcastle appointed their first coaching director. Former Denmark and Canadian national team coach, Rob Barnes was appointed to the position by the Northstars. Barnes made an immediate impact in Newcastle with the Northstars finishing second in the league table in the 2003 season. The Northstars then won their very first AIHL era trophy in 2003. The Novocastrians defeated the Ice Dogs 4–1 in the AIHL final to claim the Goodall Cup.
The Northstars backed up this success in 2004 by finishing top of the league table having only lost one match all season and claimed the team's first premiership and V.I.P. Cup. Success continued in 2005 and 2006 with the Northstars claiming back-to-back Goodall Cups with victories over rivals Adelaide Avalanche in the final in both seasons.
===2007–2016===
The decade between 2007 and 2016 saw the Northstars continue their strong position within the league, establishing a winning tradition within the team culture. Newcastle throughout this period of time, claimed league premiers and the H Newman Reid Trophy, four times by finishing top of the league standings in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2015. The team reached the Goodall Cup final eight times, claiming three Goodall Cups in 2008, 2015 and 2016. The Northstars also found success for the first time in the NSW Wilson Cup, lifting the trophy in 2015. The Northstars set a few team records in 2015 with their highest ever points total in a season (63), highest goals scored in a season (152) and highest goals difference (+69). Canadian import, Geordie Wudrick also set league records for highest points in a season, 91 points at a rate of 3.25 per game and most goals in a season, 44 goals. At the conclusion of the 2016 season, for the time, the team had become the most successful franchise in AIHL history.
===2017–present===
April 2017, prior to the start of the 2017 season, the team announced a minor change to their name. They changed their name from the North Stars to the Northstars. The re-brand was completed to align to the team with the New South Wales registered club, the Newcastle Northstars Ice Hockey Club.
2017 marked a shift in fortunes for the team. After only missing out on finals twice in the previous fifteen years, the Northstars not only failed to qualify for finals but finished their lowest ever position in the league, seventh. Ten wins from twenty eight matches with a negative twenty seven goal difference did not make for good reading. Head coach, Andrew Petrie, decided to step down from his position at the conclusion of the season.
2018 saw an improvement in the Northstars with thirteen wins in the season and a fifth-place finish under the leadership of stand-in coaching trio, Joey Theriault, Ray Sheffield and Garry Doré. However, it was still not good enough to see them qualify for the finals weekend in Melbourne and for the first time in the team's history they failed to qualify for finals back-to-back.
2019, the Northstars hired a new head coach in former Northstars player, John Kennedy Jnr. This was the American Aussie's first head coaching positioning since retiring as a player. The team recruited well with a number of quality imports joining from overseas. Leading the way for the team in 2019 was Canadian import Sammy Banga who finished third top points scorer in the league with sixty-six points. The Northstars saw great improvement over the previous two seasons under the guidance of John Kennedy. They finished the season runners-up in the league standings and qualified for the finals which were played in Newcastle for the first time in seven years. Unfortunately for the Northstars, they were defeated 2-3 by the Perth Thunder in the semi-finals in front of a boisterous home crowd.
==Season-by-season results==
Newcastle Northstars all-time record	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record 	Newcastle Northstars all-time record
Season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Regular season 	Finals 	Finals 	Finals 	Finals 	Finals 	Finals 	Finals 	Finals 	Finals 	Wilson Cup 	Top points scorer 	Top points scorer
Season 	P 	W 	T 	L 	OW 	OL 	GF 	GA 	GD 	Pts 	Finish 	P 	W 	L 	GF 	GA 	Result 	Semi Final 	Preliminary Final 	Goodall Cup Final 	Wilson Cup 	Name 	Points
2002 	20 	6 	– 	14 	– 	– 	79 	121 	-42 	12 	4th 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	Brett Hillier 	34
20031 	19 	14 	– 	5 	– 	– 	101 	76 	+25 	28 	2nd 	2 	2 	– 	11 	5 	Champion 	Won 7-4 (Bears) 	– 	Won 4-1 (Ice Dogs) 	– 	Pavel Shtefan 	19
2004 	20 	15 	2 	1 	2 	– 	93 	50 	+43 	51 	1st 	2 	1 	1 	4 	5 	Runner-up 	Won 3-2 (2OT) (Avalanche) 	– 	Lost 1-3 (Ice Dogs) 	– 	Sean Starke 	38
2005 	26 	14 	2 	5 	1 	4 	121 	80 	+41 	50 	2nd 	2 	2 	– 	8 	3 	Champion 	Won 5-2 (Ice Dogs) 	– 	Won 3-1 (Avalanche) 	– 	Francis Walker 	54
2006 	28 	16 	– 	11 	– 	1 	138 	89 	+49 	49 	4th 	2 	2 	– 	10 	1 	Champion 	Won 6-1 (Ice) 	– 	Won 4-0 (Avalanche) 	– 	Marcel Kars 	66
2007 	28 	13 	– 	6 	4 	5 	106 	87 	+19 	52 	3rd 	2 	1 	1 	8 	6 	Runner-up 	Won 6-3 (Ice) 	– 	Lost 2-3 (OT) (Bears) 	 	Brad Wanchulak 	69
2008 	28 	15 	– 	7 	2 	4 	150 	97 	+53 	53 	4th 	2 	2 	– 	11 	6 	Champion 	Won 7-5 (Bears) 	– 	Won 4-1 (Ice Dogs) 	 	Mickey Gilchrist 	67
2009 	24 	17 	– 	5 	2 	– 	122 	85 	+37 	55 	1st 	2 	1 	1 	7 	6 	Runner-up 	Won 5-3 (Blue Tongues) 	– 	Lost 2-3 (OT) (Adrenaline) 	 	Éric Lafrenière 	56
2010 	24 	14 	– 	2 	7 	1 	131 	74 	+57 	57 	1st 	1 	– 	1 	6 	7 	Semi-finalist 	Lost 6-7 (Adrenaline) 	– 	– 	– 	Brian Bales 	81
2011 	28 	18 	– 	6 	1 	3 	132 	106 	+26 	59 	2nd 	2 	1 	1 	7 	5 	Runner-up 	Won 5-2 (Ice Dogs) 	– 	Lost 2-3 (Ice) 	– 	Peter Cartwright 	75
2012 	24 	16 	– 	6 	2 	– 	120 	78 	+42 	52 	1st, Bauer 	2 	1 	1 	8 	8 	Runner-up 	Won 5-4 (Adrenaline) 	– 	Lost 3-4 (Ice) 	– 	Jeremy Boyer 	58
2013 	28 	17 	– 	7 	3 	1 	132 	75 	+57 	58 	2nd 	2 	1 	1 	9 	7 	Runner-up 	Won 6-1 (Thunder) 	– 	Lost 3-6 (Ice Dogs) 	– 	Jeff Martens 	67
2014 	28 	11 	– 	15 	– 	2 	87 	106 	-19 	35 	6th 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	Runner-up 	Chris Wilson 	49
2015 	28 	19 	– 	4 	1 	4 	152 	83 	+69 	63 	1st 	2 	2 	– 	7 	5 	Champion 	Won 4-3 (Brave) 	– 	Won 3-2 (Ice) 	Winner 	Geordie Wudrick 	91
2016 	28 	15 	– 	7 	1 	5 	105 	74 	+31 	52 	3rd 	2 	2 	– 	5 	3 	Champion 	Won 3-2 (OT) (Thunder) 	– 	Won 3-2 (Brave) 	 	Connor McLaughlin 	61
2017 	28 	7 	– 	15 	3 	3 	97 	124 	-27 	30 	7th 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	Joe Harcharik 	44
2018 	28 	9 	– 	11 	4 	4 	106 	119 	-13 	39 	5th 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	Joe Harcharik 	37
2019 	28 	16 	– 	9 	3 	0 	127 	89 	+38 	54 	2nd 	1 	0 	1 	2 	3 	Semi-finalist 	Lost 2-3 (Thunder) 	– 	– 	– 	Sammy Banga 	66
2020 	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested
2021 	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested	2020 and 2021 AIHL seasons were cancelled and not contested
2022 	20 	15 	– 	3 	– 	2 	112 	74 	+38 	47 	2nd 	3 	1 	2 	7 	12 	Runner-up 	Lost 1-6 (Brave) 	Won 4-3 (OT) (Bears) 	Lost 2-3 (Brave) 	– 	Francis Drolet 	45
2023 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	– 	
Totals 	485 	267 	4 	139 	36 	39 	2211 	1687 	+524 	 	 	29 	19 	10 	110 	82 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
:1 2003 AIHL season statistics are incomplete. No one source has all the information and the AIHL has not published official statistics on www.theaihl.com.
Champions	Runners-up	Third place
==Championships==
*Goodall Cup 
: Champions (6): 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2015, 2016
: Runners-Up (7): 2004, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2022 
*H Newman Reid Trophy (2008-Current)
: Premiers (4): 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015
: Runners-Up (4): 2011, 2013, 2019, 2022
*V.I.P. Cup (2004–07)*
: Premiers (1): 2004
: Runners-Up (2): 2003, 2005
*Wilson Cup
: Winners (1): 2015
: Runners-Up (1): 2014
*Bauer Conference
: Winners (1): 2012
:* This list also includes Premierships prior to the first trophy, V.I.P. Cup, for Premiers in 2004.
==External links==
* Official Website: Newcastle North Stars
* AIHL Website: Australian Ice Hockey League
Category:Ice hockey teams in Australia