The Ice Wolves are an ice hockey club from Melbourne, Victoria. They participate in the recreational summer Victorian Ice Hockey League as well as enter teams in beer league competitions.

History

The Ice Wolves were first established in 2010, composed of players who had graduated from the Hockey School and Development League programs offered by the Medibank Icehouse in Docklands, Victoria.

Seeking the opportunity to play as a group in a more competitive setting, the players entered as a team for the 2010 Ice Hockey Victoria Summer League recreational competition. The original logo had input from brothers Nick and Phil Bakatsoulas who were also driving forces behind the original formation of the Ice Wolves, with Emma Poynton and Aaron Elson. The original name and logo originated from another club and were used with permission by the new group.

Early on the Ice Wolves had a relationship with the Melbourne Ice and Medibank Icehouse, sporting logos from both on their original blue jersey. This original blue colour scheme was chosen as it was not a colour currently used by the 6 Ice Hockey Victoria clubs that partook in the main Winter competition. The success of having participated in an Ice Hockey Victoria recreational season led the group to form a club and join competitive hockey in the winter season. The club would successfully enter the Ice Hockey Victoria winter competition for the 2011 season in the lowest non-checking division.

The following year, the decision was made for Ice Hockey Victoria to return to the original criteria for new clubs to enter a team into the winter competitive season, leaving the 6 club format for competition hockey and the Ice Wolves would be required to affiliate with one of the 6 existing ice hockey clubs in order to be able to submit a team. The club would seek affiliation with the Saints-Monarchs to return in the 2012 season but would never operate under their own Ice Wolves identity in winter competition again. By now, the membership of the group would increase and early coaches such as the AWIHL's Lucy Parrington and Michael Ting would continue to guide and develop the skill of the playing group. Melbourne Ice players Chris Wong and Marcus Wong were also key early coaches for the Ice Wolves. Parrington would be a very supportive mentor, having even worn a small early Ice Wolves patch on her pants during an AWIHL game with the Melbourne Ice as they defeated the Sydney Sirens 4 - 2 in 2015.

January 2012 saw a unique opportunity for the Ice Wolves to participate in an on-ice training session with former NHL defenseman, Rick Chartraw, who visited the Medibank Icehouse in Docklands and conducted training. Chartraw is noted as being the first American player to be drafted in the first round for the NHL.

The Ice Wolves playing group continued playing at a variety of levels in Ice Hockey Victoria recreational leagues and non-checking leagues, requiring affiliation with the Saints-Monarchs. They continued to focus on recruitment but this was a difficult task with no winter competition presence. By 2015 the club became financially independent of the Saints-Monarchs and were able to enter Summer recreational hockey as their own entity. In 2016 the club moved away from its previous image linked to the Melbourne Ice and a new logo and jersey was designed by Stuart Walker and produced by Ant Deboos of Rematch Athletic Supply Co. The pursuit for independent branding was inspired by previous relationships with Melbourne Ice and Medibank Icehouse no longer existing. The new colour scheme remained blue and is unique to the existing competition ice hockey clubs.

The Ice Wolves club continues to operate in Ice Hockey Victoria summer recreational hockey exclusively and recently engaged in a relationship with Melbourne Ice and O'Brien Icehouse to enter a team in the new Ice Hockey Victoria junior program.

Images