Australian Junior Ice Hockey League
Current season, competition or edition: 2016–17 AJIHL season
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| Sport | Ice Hockey |
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| Founded | September 18, 2012 |
| Inaugural season | 2012 |
| Owner(s) | Ice Hockey Australia |
| No. of teams | 6 |
| Country | Australia |
| Most recent champion(s) |
Adelaide Generals |
| Official website | http://www.iha.org.au/ajihl |
The Australian Junior Ice Hockey League (AJIHL) is an Australian junior ice hockey league sanctioned by Ice Hockey Australia. The league is open to players 20 years of age or younger and is a national competition competing during the summer season in Australia. The league was formed in 2012 and its first season starting in the same year with the commencement of the 2012 AJIHL season which ran from October 20, 2012 to March 17, 2013. The AJIHL season runs from October to March.
The AJIHL currently has six teams based in the cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.
The Australian Junior Ice Hockey League was first announced on September 18, 2012 by Ice Hockey Australia. The inaugural season consisted of four teams – Melbourne Blackhawks, Melbourne Red Wings, Sydney Lightning and the Sydney Maple Leafs, with teams being operated by their respective state governing body. The first season started on October 20, 2012 at the Medibank Icehouse in Melbourne and ran until March 2013 with the finals to be held on the 9 and 10 March 2013.
The Sydney Maple Leafs won the inaugural AJIHL finals after beating the Melbourne Red Wings in a tie-breaking sudden overtime period after the teams leveled the two game series. The Maple Leafs had defeated the Sydney Lightning the week before in the Sydney semi-final, while the Red Wings won the Melbourne semi-final against the Blackhawks 7–3 to progress into the final.
On August 22, 2013 it was announced that Ice Hockey Victoria were renaming the two Melbourne teams for the 2013–14 season. The Melbourne Blackhawks were renamed as the Melbourne Whalers and the Melbourne Red Wings became the Melbourne Glaciers.
The following month the Sydney Maple Leafs were renamed the Sydney Wolf Pack and the Sydney Lightning changed their name to the Sydney Sabres. The changes were made in response to the National Hockey Leagues concern about the AJIHL using their team names and logos, as well as an opportunity to create new history for the teams.
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