Aussies waiting for the NHL in winter
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The sun has just set and tonight the temperatures will drop below freezing. There may even be snow on the ground tomorrow morning. You could be forgiven for thinking that the ideal evening pastime would be to get in the car, or in front of the TV and watch the NHL.
For those of us down here in Australia however, these cold winter months are the worse time of year for dedicated NHL hockey fans. The NHL starts in our Spring, just when the temperatures are warming up, and runs through to Autumn.
So what do hockey fans do down here during the winter months? For the die-hard hockey fans, Australia has the AIHL, Australian Ice Hockey League, which consists of 8 teams spread across the country. The amateur league is a far cry from the big lights of the NHL, but has a growing fan base from around Australia, and in fact, from around the world.
Over the last 4 seasons teams across the country have had import players from a wide range of leagues, including the QMJHL, LNAH, CIS, AHL and even the NHL. 2 big name players that have seen time in the Australian league are Steve McKenna (who played for the Adelaide Avalanche) and Rob Zamuner (Brisbane Blue Tongues).
The AIHL will be all over in the next few weeks, with the top 4 teams battling it out to take home the Goodall Cup (one of the oldest hockey trophies in the entire world!).
After that, Australian hockey fans will begin to get excited about he upcoming NHL season.Technorati
Tags: aihl, nhl, brisbane blue tongues, gold coast blue tongues, adelaide avalanche, ice hockey
Tags: adelaide avalanche, ahl, aihl, australian ice hockey league, brisbane blue tongues, cis, hockey, ice hockey, nahl, NHL, off-season, qmjhl, rob zamuner, steve mckenna, winter
