The Melbourne Dragons logo used between 2005 and 2010
Founded in 2005 as the Melbourne Fire, the Melbourne Dragons were one of four founding teams of the Australian Women's Ice Hockey League (AWIHL). The Dragons participated in the National Women's Program Showcase Series in 2006 and 2006/07 before the formal national league, the AWIHL, started in 2007/08. The Dragons joined the new league along with the Adelaide Assassins, Brisbane Goannas and Sydney Sirens.[1]
In 2010, the Dragons entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Melbourne Ice Hockey Club, who operate the Australian Ice Hockey League men's team. The agreement saw the Ice buy into the club as a minority partner, with the Dragons retaining majority share. The Dragons re-branded to the Melbourne Ice Women and started trading under the name Melbourne Ice.[2] The team also moved into the Olympic sized Henke Rink at the Melbourne Icehouse within the Docklands precinct of Melbourne.[3]
In 2011, the team won its first national championship and trophy. The Ice defeated the Sydney Sirens in the final to clinch the title and their maiden Joan McKowen Trophy. The Melbourne Ice placed second in the league standings at the end of the regular season with eight wins from twelve matches.[4] In the finals, the Ice came up against the Sydney Sirens in a two match series for the Joan McKowen Trophy. In game one, the Ice shutout the Sirens and secured a 1–0 victory. In game two, the Ice maintained the goal difference to win 2–1 in a shootout and claim the national championship and the Joan McKowen Trophy.[5][6]
The Ice became an AWIHL powerhouse in the 2010s.[7] After their first title in 2011 the team went on to win another six championships and five premierships in the following eight years, including four straight premiership-championship doubles between 2013 and 2016.[8] The last four Joan McKowen Trophy finals the Ice have contested, they have versed rivals Sydney Sirens. They have defeated the Sirens in every final match the two teams have faced each other. In 2019, the two teams met for the grand prize at the Adelaide IceArenA. The match was a tight affair with both teams locked at three-all with one minute left in regulation time. The Ice won the match and the trophy through a Bettina Meyers goal with 36.7 seconds left on the clock.[9]
In 2019, the Melbourne Ice women were ranked 23rd in the Australasia Best Sporting Team (ABST) top twenty-five list.[10] Produced by Platinum Asset Management and GAIN LINE Analytics, the list represents an analytical approach to measuring success in team sports in Australia and New Zealand within a rolling five-year period.[11]
Since 2010, the team have identified with the Melbourne Ice branding including the colours navy blue, crimson red and white. The colours are used in all aspects of the club including: uniforms, supporter merchandise, official media and digital design. Prior to 2010, when the team operated in the AWIHL as the Melbourne Dragons, the team identified with the colours indigo blue and white. The team has changed names once, in 2010 after the signing of the MoU between the Dragons and Ice. Since 2010 the team has identified as the Melbourne Ice.
Team name changes
#
Colours
Name
Period
1
Melbourne Dragons
2005–09
2
Melbourne Ice
2010–present
Facilities
Entrance to O'Brien IcehouseThe Henke Rink inside the Icehouse, home of the Melbourne Ice
In 2010, after the Dragons re-branded to the Melbourne Ice, they moved into the newly completed $58m Melbourne Icehouse (Known as the O’Brien Icehouse for sponsorship reasons), located in the Docklands precinct of Melbourne.[14] The Ice have played all their home matches from the 2010/11 AWIHL season onwards at the Icehouse.[15] The Icehouse is the only twin ice-sheet facility in Australia.[16] The hockey rink within the facility is named the Henke Rink, in honour of Geoffrey HenkeAO.[17] The Icehouse has an Olympic sized ice surface, café, bar, specialist winter sports gym, pro shop, corporate boxes and seating for 1,000 spectators as well as room for additional 500 standing attendance on match days.[18]
Prior to 2010, for five years, the Ice, when they were the Dragons, were based in Oakleigh South, Monash in the wider Melbourne metropolitan area.[19] Their home venue was the 300 capacity Olympic Ice Skating Centre (OISC), noted at the time for being a small rink, with its width two-thirds that of a regulation Olympic-sized rink.[19]
Sportscast Australia (2023 - present) - On 24 October 2023, the AWIHL signed an agreement with Sportscast Australia to stream the 2023-24 AWIHL season. Launched as AWIHL.TV, every game of the regular and post-season would be available live and on-demand for free, with no region-locks, through the AWIHl.TV website and YouTube.[20][21]
Former:
Clutch.TV (2022-23) - On 22 October 2022, the AWIHL announced a streaming partnership with Australian streaming provider Clutch.TV for worldwide streaming rights for the 2022-23 AWIHL season. Every game of the regular and post-season would be available live and on-demand for free on the Clutch streaming platform. This partnership came to an abrupt end in September 2023, ahead of the new AWIHL season, when Clutch Pty Ltd, who operates Clutch.TV, entered administration and ceased all operations.[22][23]
Kayo Sports (2018-22) – The AWIHL signed a broadcasting deal with Fox Sports in 2018 to stream on their Kayo Sports platform, a weekly 'game of the week' and 20-minutes highlight package with commentary and player interviews each round of the 2018-19 AWIHL season. This agreement was extended in the 2019–20 season, but was put on hold during the COVID-19 Pandemic, when the AWIHL had to cancel two consecutive seasons.[24][25]
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