Sydney Wolf Pack


The Sydney Wolf Pack are an Australian junior ice hockey team based in Sydney playing in the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League. They represent one of the two junior ice hockey teams from New South Wales currently playing in the AJIHL, which is the most elite level for ice hockey at a national level for ages between 16–20 years old.

Team history

AJIHL

The Sydney Maple Leafs were founded 18 September 2012 following the announcement by Ice Hockey Australia of the formation of the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League. The team is controlled by the New South Wales Ice Hockey Association. On 14 October 2012 it was announced that Sydney Bears player Steven Adams and Paul Kelly had signed on as coaches for the 2012–13 AJIHL season.
The first team in club history:
For the 2012–13 AJIHL season
#NatNamePosDate of BirthAcquiredBirthplace
19F2012Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia
17D2012Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
18F2012
6F2012
20G2012
1G2012
13F2012Scunthorpe, England, United Kingdom
9D2012Sydney, Australia
12F2012Sydney, Australia
25G2012
5F2012
11F2012
16F2012Wombarra, New South Wales, Australia
15F2012Gosford, New South Wales, Australia
3D2012
7D2012
2F2012
8D2012
10F2012

AJIHL expansion

The follow up season in the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League saw a lot of change via expansion and renaming of its existing teams. The Sydney Maple Leafs were renamed the Sydney Wolf Pack in September 2013. The changes were made in response to the National Hockey Leagues concern about the AJIHL using their team names and logos but also recognised the opportunity to create a new history for the teams through creating their own identity. In October 2013 the league expanded to six teams with two teams from Perth, the Sharks and the Pelicans, joining for the start of the 2013–14 season.

Logo and uniform

2012–2013 Sydney Maple Leafs

In their first year, and the inaugural AJIHL season, the Sydney Maple Leafs wore a uniform that resembled the NHL namesake Toronto Maple Leafs. The key difference with the logo design was the exclusion of the word Toronto within the leaf emblem. The jersey design and uniform otherwise bore close resemblance to the Toronto Maple Leaf design, with the AJIHL logo used for shoulder crests.

2013–present Sydney Wolf Pack

Season by season results

2012 – 2013

In the inaugural season of the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League, the Sydney Wolf Pack began as the Sydney Maple Leafs. The beginning of the regular season saw the team not winning a game with the closest contest being an overtime loss to the Sydney Lightning. The Sydney Maple Leafs would record their first win as a club on 8 December 2012 against the Sydney Lightning in a 2–1 victory. Both goals scored in this historic win were scored by forward Dexter Crowe in the 2nd period about 5 minutes apart.
After starting off without a win, the Sydney Maple Leafs would go on to win 4 out of their last 6 games, one of which was in overtime.
In the post season finals, the Sydney Maple Leafs would continue their improved from by defeating the Sydney Lightning by a convincing 7–2 scoreline in the semi-finals. The finals series would be against the Melbourne Red Wings in a best of 3 format. The Sydney Maple Leafs won the series 2–1 after winning the final game of the series 1–0 from a first period goal by forward Scott Clemie.
SeasonFinish
2012–13144002082434523rd

FinalsFinish
2013 Finals43101249AJIHL Champions

2013 – 2014

The follow up season in the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League saw a lot of change via expansion and renaming of its existing teams. The Sydney Maple Leafs were renamed the Sydney Wolf Pack in September 2013. The changes were made in response to the National Hockey Leagues concern about the AJIHL using their team names and logos but also recognised the opportunity to create a new history for the teams through creating their own identity. In October 2013 the league expanded to six teams with two teams from Perth, the Sharks and the Pelicans, joining for the start of the 2013–14 season.
The finals format of a best of 3 was discontinued and the league adopted a gold-silver-bronze format which saw the 4th place Sydney Wolf Pack miss out on post season competition.
SeasonFinish
2013–14156010172145494th

FinalsFinish
2014 Finals0000000Did not play

2014 – 2015

FinalsFinish
2015 Finals2210087AJIHL Champions

Players

Current roster

For the 2016–17 AJIHL season
#NatNamePosDate of BirthAcquiredBirthplace
2F2016-
4F2016-
5F2015-
6F2015-
7F2015-
8D2016-
9F2016Calgary, Alberta, Canada
11D2015-
12D2016-
13F2016-
14D2015-
15D2015-
16F2016-
17F2014-
18D2016-
19D2016-
37F2013-
1G2016-

Captains

The first Head Coach for the Sydney Maple Leafs in the inaugural year for the AJIHL was Steven Adams.