Aussie Ice Hockey team prepare for World Champs

Mighty Roos chase gold and promotion to Division I

In the shadow of the Winter Olympics in Turin which saw the super-powers such as Canada, Sweden and the USA fighting for the gold medal, Australia’s Ice Hockey team, the ‘Mighty Roos’, are about to embark on their own journey for gold.

Currently ranked 33rd in the world, the Mighty Roos are approaching their World Championship campaign in April, where they will compete against five other nations in the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) Division II. As the structure of the championship group system stands, winning this tournament would see them promoted into Division I, the level below where the world powers play.

The importance of advancing to Division I cannot be understated, as it means taking an important step towards pre-Olympic qualification for 2010.

“Advancing to Division I would be a significant history making effort and one that has never been achieved in Ice Hockey Australia history,” says IHA president Don Rurak. “Entering Division I means Australia will be five teams away from being one of the top 16 teams in the world.”

The Mighty Roos were desperately unlucky to miss out on a Division I berth at the 2005 tournament, finishing runner-up because of a controversial and heart-breaking one goal loss to host nation Croatia. With no time left on the clock, the referee allowed a goal to Croatia that appeared to go in after the final siren, giving the home side a 3-2 win.

This was Australia’s best result since winning in 1987, when we hosted the tournament in Perth.

This year’s event will be hosted by New Zealand and will comprise teams from Korea, China and Mexico along with our trans-Tasman neighbours. Australia is expected to be the best team at the tournament with the biggest challenge likely to be China, who were demoted to Division II after finishing last in their Division I pool in 2005.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about the performance of the team is that it is made almost entirely of Australian born and raised players, and most importantly all of them play in the expanded Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). The once fledgling league which incorporated only the southern cities is now an internationally recognised eight team competition that is attracting higher profile imports every year.

The 2006 season gets under way in late April, and will be the second season for the two expansion franchises, the Brisbane Blue Tongues and the Central Coast Rhinos, joining the Sydney Bears, Newcastle North Stars, Adelaide Avalanche, Melbourne Ice, Canberra Knights and the West Sydney Ice Dogs.

The team convened this week for a seven day training camp in Newcastle to prepare for the tournament which opens on April 3rd against Korea. The players will need to focus and work hard on their fitness as they are at the disadvantage of being at the end of their off-season, rather than coming straight from league competition.

“We have representatives from all the AIHL teams within the squad, with the exception of the Central Coast,” says Aussie defenseman and Brisbane Blue Tongues captain Don Burke.

“Our goal is to win gold and we feel we have a really good chance. The biggest threat looks like China who are developing a strong hockey program that seems to be progressing well” With all the Mighty Roos being amateur athletes, players have to work on their own off-season training programs.

“I like to ride to work to keep up my fitness,” says Burke. “I find that swimming also helps for me but it’s hard to find time around work and family commitments for a lot of the guys.”

The pain of last year’s tournament is fresh in the mind of Burke and the other players and should motivate them to a historic gold medal. “Last year certainly hurt, and we really want to make up for it this year in New Zealand.”

Information on the tournament and all the score updates can be found on the official IIHF website at www.iihf.com as well as at the official IHA site at www.iha.org.au.

Also you can keep up with team news on Don Burke’s World Championship blog which will be updated throughout the tournament at www.brisbanebluetongues.com.au.

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