Sydney Sabres

Sydney Sabres
Sydney Sabres
City	Sydney, Australia
League	Australian Junior Ice Hockey League
Founded	18 September 2012
Home arena	Penrith Ice Palace
Owner(s)	New South Wales Ice Hockey Association
General manager	Paul Kelly
Head coach	Jason Kvisle
Captain	Daniel Pataky
Franchise history
2012–2013	Sydney Lightning
2013–present	Sydney Sabres
Championships
Regular season titles	1 (2014)
AJIHL Championships	3 (2014), (2016), (2019)
	Current season

The Sydney Sabres 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 Lightning were founded 18 September 2012 following the announcement by Ice Hockey Australia of the formation of the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League.^[1] The team is controlled by the New South Wales Ice Hockey Association.^[1] On 14 October 2012 it was announced that Jason Kvisle as coach for the 2012–13 AJIHL season with Jimmy Dufour as his assistant.^[2]

The Sydney Lightning played the first ever AJIHL game against the Melbourne Blackhawks at the Medibank Icehouse on 21 October 2012. The Lightning we defeated by the Blackhawks by a score of 5–3. ^[3]

The first goal ever scored in the AJIHL was by Daniel Pataky of the Sydney Lightning.^[3]

The first team in club history: For the 2012–13 AJIHL season^[2]^[4]

#	Name	Pos	Date of Birth	Acquired	Birthplace
7	Christian Elaya	F	19 August 1996	2012
3	Charles Frazer	D	22 August 1995	2012
8	Jesse Garcia	F	9 June 1994	2012
20	Rhett Kelly	G	29 June 1994	2012	Sydney, Australia
17	Jackson Knott	D	7 December 1994	2012
6	Jake Knott	F	21 June 1996	2012	Sydney, Australia
14	Casey Kubara	F	6 April 1996	2012	Sydney, Australia
19	Cian O'Reilly	F	5 June 1995	2012
5	Daniel Pataky	D	24 January 1996	2012	Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia
25	Harley Quinton-Jones	G	13 May 1995	2012
11	Yucca Reinecke	F	5 July 1995	2012	Johannesburg, South Africa
18	Hayden Sheard	F	5 March 1996	2012
9	Chris Shephard	F	24 May 1994	2012
1	Marco Tomasello	G	6 March 1992	2012	Sydney, Australia
4	Cameron Todd	F	21 July 1994	2012	Sydney, Australia
15	Martin Valdivia	D	21 April 1995	2012
12	Axel Winton	D	21 July 1994	2012	Sydney, Australia
16	Luke Zvonicek	F	30 August 1996	2012

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 Lightning were renamed the Sydney Sabres in September 2013.^[5]^[6] 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.^[7]

Logo and Uniform

2012–2013 Sydney Lightning

In their first year, and the inaugural AJIHL season, the Sydney Lightning wore a uniform that resembled the NHL namesake Tampa Bay Lightning. The jersey design and uniform bore close resemblance to the Tampa Bay Lightning design, with the AJIHL logo used for shoulder crests.^[8]

2013–present Sydney Sabres

Season by season results

Season	GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	PTS	Finish	Playoff
2012–13	14	5	3	0	6	45	41	21	3rd	Lost semi-final vs. Sydney Maple Leafs, 2–7

Players

Current roster

For the 2016–17 AJIHL season

#	Name	Pos	Date of Birth	Acquired
2	Jack Ransome			2016
3	Austin Matthews			2016
5	Hayden Savage			2016
6	Kory Sheridan	F	6 March 1999	2015
7	Charles Yole	D	9 February 1997	2015
8	Aiden Sillato	F	13 October 1999	2015
9	Liam Manwarring	F	11 March 1999	2015
10	Mohak Issar	F	29 October 1999	2015
11	James Barton			2016
12	Jayden Whitbread			2016
13	Joey Gunner			2016
15	Tim Russell	D	20 January 1997	2015
16	Branson Moore	D	20 January 1999	2015
17	Lachlan Good			2016
18	Joshua Kleipas	F	5 November 1998	2015
19	Nick Air	F	13 March 1998	2016
37	Nathan Moncrieff			2016
98	Ellesse Carini	F	4 December 1998	2014
1	Dale Tilsted	G	8 April 1999	2015

Captains

2013–14 Cameron Todd (C), Hayden Sheard (A), Casey Kubara (A)
2014–15 Daniel Pataky (C), Joshua Hansen (A), Chris Shepherd (A)
2015–16 Daniel Pataky (C)
2016–17
2017–18

Head coaches

The first Head Coach for the Sydney Lightning in the inaugural year for the AJIHL was Jason Kvisle.^[9]

2012–13 Jason Kvisle
2013–14 Jason Kvisle
2014–15 Jason Kvisle
2015–16 Jason Kvisle
2016–17 Jason Kvisle
2017–18 Jason Kvisle

References

^ ^a ^b Hewitt, Andrew (20 September 2012). "AJIHL Teams Announced". Hewitt Sports Network. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
^ ^a ^b Hewitt, Andrew (14 October 2012). "AJIHL rosters finalised". Hewitt Sports Network. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
^ ^a ^b Hewitt, Andrew. "Blackhawks Make Winning Start". Retrieved 17 September 2015.^{[dead link‍]}
^ "Sydney Lightning". Pointstreak Sports Technologies. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
^ "Formerly the Sydney Maple Leafs". Sydney Wolf Pack. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
^ "Coaches Welcome the Sydney Sabres". Sydney Sabres. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
^ "AJIHL National Junior League Kicks Off in Perth". Ice Hockey WA. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
^ Hewitt, Andrew. "Lightning and Red Wings Complete Round 3 Sweep". Archived from the original on 26 November 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
^ Hewitt, Andrew. "AJIHL Rosters Finalised". Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2015.

[201213TEAMINFO-1] Hewitt, Andrew (20 September 2012). "AJIHL Teams Announced". Hewitt Sports Network. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2012.

[TEAMHEWITTSPORTS-2] Hewitt, Andrew (14 October 2012). "AJIHL rosters finalised". Hewitt Sports Network. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2012.

[Wingssecure-3] Hewitt, Andrew. "Blackhawks Make Winning Start". Retrieved 17 September 2015.^{[dead link‍]}

[TEAMPOINTSTREAK-4] "Sydney Lightning". Pointstreak Sports Technologies. Retrieved 20 October 2012.

[SYDWPRENAMED-5] "Formerly the Sydney Maple Leafs". Sydney Wolf Pack. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.

[SYDSABRENAMED-6] "Coaches Welcome the Sydney Sabres". Sydney Sabres. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.

[PERTHTEAMS-7] "AJIHL National Junior League Kicks Off in Perth". Ice Hockey WA. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.

[1st_logo-8] Hewitt, Andrew. "Lightning and Red Wings Complete Round 3 Sweep". Archived from the original on 26 November 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2015.

[Rosters-9] Hewitt, Andrew. "AJIHL Rosters Finalised". Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2015.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]