HockeyPulse

Australia has Ice Hockey. Better yet, Australia celebrates 100 years of the refrigerated version of hockey next year. The showcase event for ice hockey in Australia is the annual Australian Ice Hockey League finals, where teams play to claim the historic Goodall Cup.

From those original clubs formed in Melbourne and Sydney in 1908, sprang a long-lived rivalry in sport that few have had the pleasure to experience. After their second year of club competition, around this time of year in 1909, two state teams were formed and they Sydney crew caught a train from New South Wales to Melbourne Victoria. A hockey player named John Goodall generously donated a large pewter cup to serve as a trophy between the two originating states in the first national tournament of ice hockey in Australia.

Two years later, with ex-Montreal Canadiens rookie Jimmy Kendall in the side, New South Wales won John Goodall's trophy from the Victorian captain's grasp and took it back to Sydney.

One could say, that the late semi-final this Saturday at Penrith represents that rivalry from 98 years ago, a battle between Kendall's Newcastle team, versus Goodall's Melbourne team. Although Newcastle had no rink until much later in the 1900's, Kendall was only too happy to make the 4+ hour commute by steam loco between the two cities to play the game he loved. John Goodall's love of the sport was no less, he became the first President of the Ice Hockey Association of Victoria.

The early semi final between the Adelaide Avalanche and the Penrith Bears signifies the expansion and success of the league since those early years. The first Bears team in the Sydney Basin was a team of star imports brought over from North America, to promote the new Ice Palais rink in Sydney, and the sport of ice hockey. Although the first recorded rink was in Adelaide, it wasn't until the 50's/60's that South Australia entered the annals of Australian Ice Hockey History. For the past 20 years, the South Australians have been a driving force in the sport across Australia.

Finally there is the Penrith Ice Palace. Completed in 2001, it is modern, accessible, and a perfect location to advertise the growing profile of hockey in Australia. Penrith itself is a new market for the sport, and there is no better way to introduce the sport than to see it at it's best, with the nation's four best teams matching up to play for the world's third oldest hockey trophy.

One of these four teams will earn the honour of their names engraved into it's pewter plates. See it for yourself at the Ice Palace (02 4733 2611), or catch it online via AIHL Webcast Partners www.sportsandentertainment.com.au, where the games are available for live subscription purchase as one of their podcasts.

Witness history, love the hockey.