Новозеландская хоккейная лига: история и развитие

The New Zealand Ice Hockey League (NZIHL) is New Zealand's top level ice hockey league. Established in 2005 by Guenther Birgel, the NZIHL is sanctioned by New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation (a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation). The NZIHL is an amateur league with players not paid to play. The NZIHL champion is awarded the Birgel Cup. The NZIHL is currently contested by six teams from three affiliated regions, including three teams from the North Island and three teams from the South Island. The most successful team in NZIHL history is the SkyCity Stampede, who have claimed eight NZIHL championships. The current champion, from 2023, is the SkyCity Stampede.

The New Zealand Ice Hockey League (NZIHL) was formed in 2005 to develop the sport of ice hockey in New Zealand by Guenther Birgel, and to give the top players in the country regular competitive hockey to improve the skill level of the game domestically and make New Zealand more competitive on the international stage. The league was setup with restrictions on import players (players born outside of New Zealand and Australia) to assist in the promotion of local players to help achieve its founding goals. Scheduling for NZIHL would fit into the Northern Hemisphere's ice hockey offseason, to enable a small amount of quality import players to help grow the sport and teach local players. The league was founded with four teams that included the Canterbury Red Devils, West Auckland Admirals, Southern Stampede and South Auckland Swarm. The maiden season ran for four rounds and twelve games followed by a best of three finals series in Dunedin. Southern Stampede finished top of the regular season standings, claiming the league premiership. The Stampede were joined by the Admirals in the finals series. Southern Stampede were crowned NZIHL champions and lifted the maiden NZIHL Trophy with a 2–0 clean sweep of the finals series. Simon Glass, from the Stampede, finished as the league's first top points scorer with 14 points and took out the league MVP award. Steven Reid, also of the Stampede, was named Finals MVP. These four teams covered three of four affiliated regions that make up the New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation, this being Auckland, Canterbury and Southern.

In 2008, the first expansion of the NZIHL took place. Dunedin Thunder was founded and admitted into the league. With the Thunder entering the league and basing itself in Dunedin, the Southern Stampede, who has been based in Dunedin, moved to Queenstown. Mako split home games between Paradice Avondale and Paradice Botany. In 2015, the Wellington Regional Multi Purpose Sports and Recreational Ice Arena Trust was incorporated with a view of planning, constructing and operating a 2,500 seat ice sports facility in the Wellington region. The project was estimated to cost $11 million, with the Trust looking to sign an agreement with the Wellington City Council for the land and then raise funding for the project through donations, fundraising and loans. However, as of 2023, no proposed ice rink project has been completed in Wellington despite the popularity of the temporary ice rinks in the city over the years.

With the NZIHL quality improving over the years, there has been talk of creating a combined Oceania competition that would see the New Zealand league merge with the Australian league, Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). In 2011 the AIHL Chairman Tyler Lovering confirmed talks had taken place with NZIHL General Manager Gunther Birgel regarding the prospect of New Zealand based teams joining the AIHL within the next three years. While no combined league has been subsequently established yet, in 2011 the Australian and New Zealand leagues did agree to set up the Trans Tasman Champions League. The first and only edition of the Champions League was played in Melbourne in 2012 with Botany Swarm, Southern Stampede, Newcastle North Stars and Melbourne Ice competing. The NZIHL teams failed to win a game in the tournament, and while the second edition was scheduled to be played in Queenstown in 2013, the tournament was cancelled and never contested again. In 2022, a new Australian based league was announced named the Pacific Hockey League (PHL). This new league identified expansion into New Zealand from its outset to create an Oceanian league connecting Australia and New Zealand. Rather than try and come to an agreement with the NZIHL and its member clubs, the PHL decided to establish a new team in Queenstown named the Queenstown Rush in 2022. It was intended that this new team would join the league in 2023, allowing sufficient lead time for the Rush to establish itself properly and get ready for competition. However, the Rush never got the opportunity to take part in the PHL, when in early 2023, the league announced it was ceasing operations. Also in 2022, the Australian and New Zealand federations jointly announced a new concept of an All Star match between the winners of the AIHL and NZIHL. It was the first time since the Champions League in 2012 that there was the prospect of the two leagues interacting with each other. The game would be scheduled after the completion of both league seasons in 2022.

As per 2022.

Season by season Championships and PremiershipsYearNZIHL ChampionshipsNZIHL Premierships Champions Score(s) Finalists Venue(s) Premiers Runners up 2005 Southern Stampede 2 1, 6 3 West Auckland Admirals Dunedin Southern Stampede West Auckland Admirals 2006 Southern Stampede 3 3, 5 4 South Auckland Swarm Botany Downs South Auckland Swarm Southern Stampede 2007 Botany Swarm 7 0 Canterbury Red Devils Christchurch Canterbury Red Devils Botany Swarm 2008 Botany Swarm 3 2 Canterbury Red Devils Christchurch Canterbury Red Devils Botany Swarm 2009 Canterbury Red Devils 5 4 Southern Stampede Christchurch Canterbury Red Devils Southern Stampede 2010 Botany Swarm 3 1 West Auckland Admirals Botany Downs Botany Swarm West Auckland Admirals 2011 Botany Swarm 5 3 Southern Stampede Botany Downs Botany Swarm Southern Stampede 2012 Canterbury Red Devils 6 5 (SO) Southern Stampede Queenstown Southern Stampede Canterbury Red Devils 2013 Canterbury Red Devils 7 3 Dunedin Thunder Dunedin Dunedin Thunder Canterbury Red Devils 2014 Canterbury Red Devils 4 3, 14 6 Dunedin Thunder Dunedin, Christchurch Canterbury Red Devils Dunedin Thunder 2015 Southern Stampede 3 5, 4 3, 4 3 Canterbury Red Devils Christchurch, Queenstown Southern Stampede Canterbury Red Devils 2016 Skycity Stampede 6 2, 7 1 Canterbury Red Devils Christchurch, Queenstown Skycity Stampede Canterbury Red Devils 2017 Skycity Stampede 5 2, 5 2 West Auckland Admirals Avondale, Queenstown Skycity Stampede West Auckland Admirals 2018 West Auckland Admirals 5 4 (OT), 2 1 Skycity Stampede Avondale, Queenstown Skycity Stampede West Auckland Admirals 2019 Skycity Stampede 8 4, 6 2 West Auckland Admirals Avondale, Queenstown Skycity Stampede Botany Swarm2020 21 seasons cancelled due to COVID 19 pandemic. The Birgel Cup was not awarded. Skycity Stampede and West Auckland Admirals won Northern and Southern Showdown tournaments in 2020. 2022 Skycity Stampede 4 3, 2 1 West Auckland Admirals Queenstown, Avondale West Auckland Admirals Skycity Stampede