2023–24 AWIHL season
LeagueAustralian Women's Ice Hockey League
SportIce hockey
Duration28 October 2023 – 10 March 2024
Regular season
Joan McKowen Memorial Trophy

The 2023–24 AWIHL season is the 15th season of the Australian Women's Ice Hockey League (AWIHL). It ran from 28 October 2023 until 10 March 2024. Five teams competed in 40 regular season games followed by 4 playoff games, making up the AWIHL Finals weekend.

Teams

In 2023–24 the AWIHL had five teams from five Australian state capital cities competing, stretching east to west of the continent.[1]

2023–24 AWIHL teams
TeamCityArenaHead CoachCaptain
Adelaide RushSouth Australia AdelaideIceArenACanada Joey MacDougallAustralia Natasha Farrier
Brisbane LightningQueensland BrisbaneBoondall IceworldAustralia Matthew MeyerCanada Christina Badgley
Melbourne IceVictoria (state) MelbourneO'Brien IcehouseAustralia Curtis KloosterAustralia Georgia Moore
Perth InfernoWestern Australia PerthCockburn Ice ArenaAustralia Graham HydeUnited States Chrystina Acker
Sydney SirensNew South Wales SydneyMacquarie Ice RinkAustralia Gabriel RobledoCanada Sarah Edney
Exhibition teams
Melbourne DucksVictoria (state) MelbourneIceHQAustralia Jeremy MuirAustralia Lucy Parrington

League Business

Ahead of the 2023–24 season, IceHQ's Melbourne Ducks announced their bid to join the AWIHL.[2] The official AWIHL gameday schedule was released in early September 2023.[3] The season structure was amended from 2022 to 2023, with each team now playing eight home and eight away games for a total of sixteen games over the regular season. An increase from the previous six home and away games.[4] The trophy for the Premiership, winners of the regular season, was also amended in 2023. The Gower Memorial Shield replaced the previous Premiers trophy, the Stephanie Boxall Trophy.[5] In late September, the AWIHL broadcast partner, Clutch.TV, went into administration and ceased all operations.[6] The league was left little time to look for a new broadcaster for season 2023–24. On 24 October, the AWIHL announced a deal with Sportscast Australia to become the league's new broadcast partner for season 2023–24.[7] A few days later the AWIHL and Sportscast Australia launched AWIHL.TV to deliver region-unlocked live and on-demand streaming of all regular season and finals games on a custom built website and YouTube.[8]

Exhibition games

To support the Melbourne Ducks application to join the league, the AWIHL approved the team to setup an exhibition series against existing AWIHL teams, including the Sydney Sirens, Melbourne Ice and Adelaide Rush, during season 2023–24.[9] The Sydney Sirens also arranged a pre-season exhibition against a select team from their sponsor Wayward Brewing Co.[10]

2023-24 AWIHL exhibition games
Date Time Away Score Home Location Recap
14 October 202316:30Wayward Sons1–3Sydney SirensMacquarie Ice RinkRef
20 October 202319:00Melbourne Ice15–0Melbourne DucksiceHQRef
21 October 202318:30Melbourne Ice14–0Melbourne DucksiceHQRef
9 December 202319:30Sydney SirensX–XMelbourne DucksiceHQRef
10 December 202316:00Sydney SirensX–XMelbourne DucksiceHQRef

Regular season

Fixtures & results

Running between 28 October 2023 and 25 February 2024, the AWIHL regular season consisted of 40 games in total, with teams playing 16 games each.[3]

October

October
Game # Date Time Away Score Home Location Recap
128 October 202316:30Melbourne Ice6–5Sydney SirensMacquarie Ice Rink
228 October 202317:00Adelaide Rush6–5 (OT)Brisbane LightningBoondall Iceworld
329 October 202308:15Melbourne Ice6–3Sydney SirensMacquarie Ice Rink
429 October 202315:30Adelaide Rush2–6Brisbane LightningBoondall Iceworld

November

November
Game # Date Time Away Score Home Location Recap
54 November 202316:00Perth Inferno5–4Melbourne IceiceHQ
65 November 202314:30Perth Inferno1–6Melbourne IceiceHQ
711 November 202313:45Sydney Sirens4–5Adelaide RushIceArenA
811 November 202320:00Melbourne Ice9–5Brisbane LightningBoondall Iceworld
912 November 202310:00Sydney Sirens4–6Adelaide RushIceArenA
1012 November 202315:30Melbourne Ice5–7Brisbane LightningBoondall Iceworld

December

December
Game # Date Time Away Score Home Location Recap
112 December 202316:30Adelaide Rush3–2Sydney SirensMacquarie Ice Rink
122 December 202317:00Perth Inferno9–0Brisbane LightningBoondall Iceworld
133 December 202308:15Adelaide Rush7–1Sydney SirensMacquarie Ice Rink
143 December 202315:30Perth Inferno4–3 (OT)Brisbane LightningBoondall Iceworld
159 December 202316:30Brisbane LightningX–XPerth InfernoCockburn Ice Arena[LINK]
1610 December 202310:30Brisbane LightningX–XPerth InfernoCockburn Ice Arena[LINK]
1716 December 202316:00Perth InfernoX–XAdelaide RushIceArenA[LINK]
1816 December 202316:45Sydney SirensX–XMelbourne IceMacquarie Ice Rink[LINK]
1917 December 202310:00Perth InfernoX–XAdelaide RushIceArenA[LINK]
2017 December 202313:45Sydney SirensX–XMelbourne IceMacquarie Ice Rink[LINK]

January

January
Game # Date Time Away Score Home Location Recap
2113 January 202416:30Melbourne IceX–XPerth InfernoCockburn Ice Arena[LINK]
2214 January 202410:30Melbourne IceX–XPerth InfernoCockburn Ice Arena[LINK]
2320 January 202416:00Brisbane LightningX–XAdelaide RushIceArenA[LINK]
2421 January 202410:00Brisbane LightningX–XAdelaide RushIceArenA[LINK]
2527 January 202416:30Sydney SirensX–XPerth InfernoCockburn Ice Arena[LINK]
2627 January 202416:45Adelaide RushX–XMelbourne IceO’Brien Icehouse[LINK]
2728 January 202410:30Sydney SirensX–XPerth InfernoCockburn Ice Arena[LINK]
2828 January 202413:45Adelaide RushX–XMelbourne IceO’Brien Icehouse[LINK]

February

February
Game # Date Time Away Score Home Location Recap
293 February 202417:00Sydney SirensX–XBrisbane LightningBoondall Iceworld[LINK]
304 February 202415:30Sydney SirensX–XBrisbane LightningBoondall Iceworld[LINK]
3110 February 202416:00Melbourne IceX–XAdelaide RushIceArenA[LINK]
3210 February 202416:30Brisbane LightningX–XSydney SirensMacquarie Ice Rink[LINK]
3311 February 202408:15Brisbane LightningX–XSydney SirensMacquarie Ice Rink[LINK]
3411 February 202410:00Melbourne IceX–XAdelaide RushIceArenA[LINK]
3517 February 202416:30Perth InfernoX–XSydney SirensMacquarie Ice Rink[LINK]
3618 February 202408:15Perth InfernoX–XSydney SirensMacquarie Ice Rink[LINK]
3724 February 202416:30Adelaide RushX–XPerth InfernoCockburn Ice Arena[LINK]
3824 February 202416:45Brisbane LightningX–XMelbourne IceO’Brien Icehouse[LINK]
3925 February 202410:30Adelaide RushX–XPerth InfernoCockburn Ice Arena[LINK]
4025 February 202413:45Brisbane LightningX–XMelbourne IceO’Brien Icehouse[LINK]

Key:

WinnerDraw

Standings

Pos Team Pld W OTW D OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Adelaide Rush 6 4 1 0 0 1 29 22 +7 14 2024 Joan McKowen Finals
2 Melbourne Ice 6 4 0 0 0 2 36 26 +10 12
3 Brisbane Lightning 6 2 0 0 2 2 26 35 −9 8
4 Perth Inferno 4 2 1 0 0 1 19 13 +6 8
5 Sydney Sirens 6 0 0 0 0 6 19 33 −14 0
Updated to match(es) played on 3 December 2023. Source: AWIHL Elite Prospects
Rules for classification:
Tie-break: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
Points: 3 points for regulation win; 2 points for OT or SO win; 1 point for OT or SO loss or tie/draw; 0 points for regulation loss


Joan McKowen playoffs

The top four teams in the AWIHL regular season qualify for the Joan McKowen Memorial Trophy playoffs. The playoffs is held on a single weekend and uses Australian conventions of being called Finals. The playoff system used by the AWIHL is a four team single game semi-finals and grand final system where the semi-final winners progress to the grand final and the losers playoff for third place. Semi-finals are played on the Saturday and the third place playoff and grand final is played on the Sunday.[11] The prize for being crowned AWIHL Champions for winning the grand final is the Joan McKowen Memorial Trophy.[12]


 
Semi-finalsJoan McKowen Final
 
      
 
9 March - Melbourne
 
 
4thX
 
10 March - Melbourne
 
1stX
 
Winner semi-final 1X
 
9 March - Melbourne
 
Winner semi-final 2X
 
3rdX
 
 
2ndX
 
Third place
 
 

10 March - Melbourne
 
 
Loser semi-final 1X
 
 
Loser semi-final 2X

Semi-finals

9 March 2024
XX:XX		1stX–X
(X–X, X–X, X–X)		4thO’Brien Icehouse
9 March 2024
XX:XX		2ndX–X
(X–X, X–X, X–X)		3rdO’Brien Icehouse

Third place playoff

10 March 2024
XX:XX		Loser Semi-final 1X–X
(X–X, X–X, X–X)		Loser Semi-final 2O’Brien Icehouse

Final

10 March 2024
XX:XX		Winner Semi-final 1X–X
(X–X, X–X, X–X)		Winner Semi-final 2O’Brien Icehouse


Gold Silver Bronze
ChampionRunner-upThird place

References

  1. ↑ "2023-24 AWIHL season". icehockeynewsaustralia.com. Archived from the original on 6 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  2. ↑ Collins, Lee (7 March 2023). "Melbourne Ducks apply to enter the AWIHL". icehockeynewsaustralia.com. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  3. 1 2 Collins, Lee (8 September 2023). "2023–24 AWIHL season schedule released". icehockeynewsaustralia.com. Archived from the original on 6 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  4. ↑ Collins, Lee (23 August 2023). "AWIHL extends regular season to 40 games for 2023–24". icehockeynewsaustralia.com. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "Australian Women's Ice Hockey League (AWIHL) Regulations 2023" (PDF). Ice Hockey Australia. September 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  6. ↑ Poletti, Steve (28 September 2023). "Cluch TV enters administration, sporting organisations left scrambling". theinnersanctum.com.au. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  7. ↑ Collins, Lee (24 October 2023). "AWIHL signs streaming deal with Sportscast Australia". icehockeynewsaustralia.com. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  8. ↑ Collins, Lee (27 October 2023). "AWIHL.TV launched ahead of 2023–24 season". icehockeynewsaustralia.com. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  9. ↑ Goodenough, Gordon (5 December 2023). "Getting the Ducks in a row - Melbourne's bid for an AWIHL team". hockeyhypeaustralia.com.au. Archived from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  10. ↑ Collins, Lee (12 October 2023). "Sydney Sirens to play Wayward Sons in exhibition game". icehockeynewsaustralia.com. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "Australian Women's Ice Hockey League (AWIHL) Regulations" (PDF). Ice Hockey Australia. 1 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  12. ↑ "Joan Mckowen Memorial Cup". Ice Hockey Australia. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
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