5:34 – Interview with Cam Green, BHL co-founder.
20:23 – Logan interviews a member of Les Castors (it may be Joe).
32:09 – Interview with Cam Belworthy, forward for the Wellington Seals, whom played their first competitive games as a hockey club at the tournament.
40:02 – The man with many hats in New Zealand’s ice hockey community, Justin Daigle makes his long awaited debut on the podcast to talk about the Holiday Classic and the those all-important beer runs.

The story of how the Seals came to be is a fine example of the Kiwi do-it-yourself attitude in action; and with over a hundred players now coming through their makeshift rink, this beer league hockey club is onto something special.

Their current home is Frosty Spot, an indoor ice skating rink in Lower Hutt. The setup for hockey practice is an interesting one that looks more like a game of pond hockey somehow popped up inside an industrial warehouse – but for a temporary solution, it works.

A year ago Rob Blitz, the owner of Frosty Spot, put forward the idea of having ice hockey in his rink and from there, numbers have steadily increased. It began with nine players, although none of them played goalie so the goals were flipped to create a smaller net and discourage players from shooting the puck high.

Combining word of mouth and social media, the club grew to around twenty, including a goalie, with Blitz padding up and learning how to play in-goal to fill the other net. For scrimmages the club splits up into different squads to play non-contact 3-on-3 hockey with substitutions.

Their biggest hockey night to date saw 46 players, including five goalies, show up to play.

From the photo above you might notice the boards are much lower than your typical hockey rink. To make it work, there is a special rule the Seals have in place to punish anyone that flips the puck out of the playing surface. It’s not two minutes for delay of game – instead the infringing player is required to do ten push-ups on the spot while play continues. Also, a new skater isn’t allowed to come off the bench and replace that player until they finish said push-ups.

Another quirk of this club, there is no Zamboni. The players groom the ice themselves by dry scraping and dumping the resulting snow into wheel barrows, this is followed up by applying a thin layer of water that must freeze before they continue. That snow then helps cool down the post-game beers that have become a tradition like many other beer league teams around the world.

Since a Zamboni is too large for the ice surface itself, Frosty Spot are currently exploring different ways to groom the ice more effectively. One such way is with a mower…that’s right, a modified lawn mower.

To help strengthen the team’s roster, assistant coach Zark Zeung recruited a few players from the Wellington Penguins inline hockey team.

Seals forward Cam Belworthy is one such recruit, who only took up the sport in May last year and has shown incredible dedication towards improving his game in such a short amount of time. Much like the Seals team itself, this tournament is a first for Belworthy and he’s excited to see what the future holds for the game in Wellington.

“Playing in this tournament means a lot to me, because it’s a sport I’ve been wanting to play since I was a kid watching the Mighty Ducks movies, so you could say it’s fulfilling a dream.

I’m super lucky to be a part of something that is practically unheard of in Wellington. I hope that this team is a catalyst of ice hockey being an established sport down here.” – Cam Belworthy.

After establishing a roster of players, the team needed to create an identity to set them apart for the Holiday Classic tournament.

Zeung spent many hours going over design concepts for uniforms and logos with the team. He provided Puck Yeah with some insight into the whole process and shared a few of those original concepts – click on each image for a closer look.

“Ideas were thrown around for a few weeks, designs were submitted by players. I had put forward a few that got a lot of feedback and from there on I progressed further with my concepts. Next was seeing what colour was available and changing the design. It went from removing the existing Beehive and Seal logo to adding something else that represents Windy Wellington.

The Vegas Golden Knights had a nice simple design and all I had to do was add our logo to it but switch up the colours so it’s slightly off. Being a Wellington team the gold helps and fits in with the logo. No one in the beer league choose grey so it made things easier. ” – Zark Zeung.

The logo itself is sharp and feels very much like a Wellington team even without the symbolic Beehive (the home to New Zealand’s government). The simple yet striking look works well for this particular hockey team. The tornado characterises the windy nature of Wellington – if you haven’t experienced a windy landing at Wellington airport, well you don’t want to – and the aggressive seal doesn’t fall into the trap that some hockey team logos do by being too cartoonish.

It’s fitting that the team’s uniform is modelled after the Vegas Golden Knights, the NHL’s latest expansion franchise. Who knows what the Wellington Seals could mean for the sport’s growth in the capital? With the extensive process of building the Wellington Ice Arena well under way – the latest public update stated they’re awaiting an estimate on construction costs – perhaps this is the beginning of the NZIHL’s sixth team for when the national league inevitably expands to include a third team in the North Island.

The Seals are writing a unique history for themselves and if the hockey club continues to attract more players, it’s highly likely that Wellington will send two teams to the 2018 Holiday Classic. If so, they might just prove to us all that New Zealand’s capital is the newest Hockeytown on the block.

Qualifying rounds for the inaugural Holiday Classic begin this week, with the puck dropping on the Seals’ first game at 7am Friday from the Botany Forum (Paradice Botany Downs). The main event takes place Saturday and Sunday with games spread across the Avondale Square Gardens (Paradice Avondale) and Botany. The full tournament schedule is available at the BHL website.

All photos supplied by Zark Zeung/Wellington Seals

Since all the rosters got a major reset for the 2017-18 season, Puck Yeah invited BHL President Cam Green to provide our readers with the lowdown on all the squads for ‘The Show: Season V’.

In the final preview of this six-part series, it’s Puck Yeah Podcast host Joe Durie’s team, Les Castors.

After raising the Cup in 2016, Les Castors entire franchise turned in its worst performance to date the following season. One year later, with a new GM and executive team installed, the Beavers look poised to make a return to the Finals.

Newly added captains Joe Durie and Ian Wannamaker have helped to revamp a roster that is now bursting at the seams with offensive explosiveness, extreme depth and features one of the premier goaltenders in the country with Csaba Kerco-Magos Jr.

Season 5 will also mark the return of BHL Co-Founder and Les Castors founder, Benji Potvin. Potvin returns after a two-year absence and will hope to get his name etched into the cup as a player for the first time.

Forwards:
Ian Wannamaker – Eric DeWit* – Frazer Ellis*
Benji Potvin – Matt Fuscic – Mike Dobbs
Sam Pillidge – Sean Abe – Darcy Keane

Defencemen:
Joe Durie – Richard Cowsill
Hamish Lewis – Matt Gaffikin*
Alain Giauque – Chris Grisdale

FHL Reserves
Darcy Keane, Alain Giauque

Goaltender:
Csaba Kersco-Magos Jr.

The Frontyard Hockey League is the official farm system for the BHL. Les Castors’ affiliate is Les Bucherons (yup, you’re right again with the pronunciation). View their roster here.

Note: Players marked with an asterisk are BHL rookies and can be sent down to the FHL without having to clear waivers.

BURNING QUESTION:
Can the Beavers overcome the high expectations and projections adapt to a bunch of changes to their roster and return to the Backyard Cup Finals?

ONE TO WATCH: Eric DeWit (Canada)
A candidate for BHL Rookie of the Year right out of the gate, DeWit will be tested this season to maintain his ridiculous point totals since entering Auckland’s SNC (Senior Non-Check) hockey world. If he can power through the Backyard with the same ease, the Beavers will again be a very dangerous team to play night in and night out.

THE FARM:
Improvement should be the easiest thing for Les Bucherons this season. The Lumberjacks 2017 Season was the stuff of nightmares for the club as they posted a miserable 1-11 regular season followed by a first-round playoff exit. Thankfully the new Beavers brass have taken care of their little brothers as well as themselves as the new look farm club features three top level SNC Players and even one of the New Zealand Ice Fernz in Jaime Jones. Newly minted co-captain in Curtis Crosswhite will tend to the netminding duties after several years serving in the BHL and FHL as a player.

Since all the rosters got a major reset for the 2017-18 season, Puck Yeah invited BHL President Cam Green to provide our readers with the lowdown on all the squads for ‘The Show: Season V’.

Next up in this six-part series, the Toe Dragons.

The Toe Dragons made a major overhaul of their roster this season after losing BHL 2-time MVP Justin Daigle in the 2017 Entry Draft. Somehow, the Dragons brass was able to not only improve but bolster their lineup despite the loss of such a significant contributor. The development of players like Wesley Binedell, Mike Harvey & Adam Laycock has benefited the Dragons and the addition of a few perennial BHL playmakers such as Ice Blacks Jordon Challis and Gareth McLiesh will only further their development moving forward.

Forwards:
Sam Kay – Jordan Challis  – Shaun Dickinson
Johnnie Andrews-Nye – Taylor Campbell – Adam Laycock
Taylor Campbell – Rob Morse – Willy Noy

Defencemen:
Alex Luggen* – Gareth McLeish*
Evan Terlesk – Karl Parker
Mike Harvey – Jordan Hills

FHL Reserves:
Mike Harvey, Jordan Hills

Goaltenders:
Greg Davis* – Shawn Henry*

The Frontyard Hockey League is the official farm system for the BHL. The Toe Dragons’ affiliate is the Tip Insects. View their roster here.

Note: Players marked with an asterisk are BHL rookies and can be sent down to the FHL without having to clear waivers.

BURNING QUESTION: 
After revamping three-quarters of last year’s roster in the draft, will it change their post-season fortunes and allow them to raise the silver chalice for the second time in four years?

ONE TO WATCH: Alex Luggen (Canada)
Luggen is a playmaker pure and simple and it was the Toe Dragons who benefitted when BHL Veteran Elliot Osbourne was forced to withdrawal from this season due to injury. GM Mike Harvey was quick to sign the BHL Free Agent following the draft. Alex will instantly become the newest version of a true quarterback of the Dragons’ attack.

ON THE FARM:
Familiar faces will adorn the Tip Insects roster in 2018.  The reunion will see eight roster spots filled by members of the 2014-15 Backyard Cup Championship team. The team will also have a large upgrade in net as Gregg Franco will find himself backstopping the club. Can comradery prevail and reignite the winning ways for the Toe Dragons affiliate? That remains to be seen.

Since all the rosters got a major reset for the 2017-18 season, Puck Yeah invited BHL President Cam Green to provide our readers with the lowdown on all the squads for ‘The Show: Season V’.

Next up in this six-part series, Les Pylones. The team that features a beaten-up Randy Marsh (of South Park fame) as their logo.

Skill and comradery is the Les Pylones formula for success. The red machine has been the team that always competes hard and enjoys playing as a unit. After landing perennial BHL Allstars Robbie Chamberlain and league MVP Tim McKay in the draft the Red Machine is poised to make a run to the finals for the 3rd time in five years.

Forwards:
Logan Gilliard*- Tim McKay – Robbie Chamberlain
Ivan Kitslitskiy – Shawn Cormier* – Vadim Novikov
Daren Spencer – Richard DeVere – Gary Goodall

Defencemen:
Russell Black – Dimitriy Chaykovskiy
Sean Fullan* – Phil Lyle
Rob Chidrawi* – Chris Jefferies

FHL Reserves:
Phil Lyle, Rob Chidrawi

Goaltender:
Tony Simmis

The Frontyard Hockey League is the official farm system for the BHL. Les Pylones’ affiliate is Les Cones. View their roster here.

Note: Players marked with an asterisk are BHL rookies and can be sent down to the FHL without having to clear waivers.

BURNING QUESTION: 
Can the Red Machine return to their post-season form from years past, retain some of that magic from last year’s postseason and become the first BHL team to claim two Backyard Cups?

ONE TO WATCH: Logan Gillard (Canada)
Gilly has been dominant in Auckland’s SNC (senior non-check) season since arriving in the country. Being paired with Chamberlain and McKay could prove to be a lethal recipe for opponents. If he can adjust his game to suit the BHL style, he has the hockey IQ and skill set to completely take over games.

ON THE FARM:
Les Cones received an overhaul and will be a much-improved team for the Frontyard’s second season. The retention of several core players to the squad and the addition of Rachel Park, Stu Sontier and goaltender Janet Kidd will be an integral part of the rebuild as the Les Pylones’ affiliate moves forward.

Since all the rosters got a major reset for the 2017-18 season, Puck Yeah invited BHL President Cam Green to provide our readers with the lowdown on all the squads for ‘The Show: Season V’.

Next up in this six-part series, the Iceholes.

The 2017 Backyard Cup Champion Iceholes will try to complete the seemingly impossible feat of defending a BHL Title in 2018. 4 Seasons, 4 New Champions. To help them get there will be a few new faces, including current and former New Zealand Ice Blacks KC Ball, Josh Hay & 2017 BHL Rookie of the Year, Blake Jackson.

Forwards:
Josh Hay* – Ritchie Hopkinson – Stephen Vlok*
KC Ball – Chase Koolen* – James Currey
Bryce Rouse – Brad Parsonson – Andy Richmond

Defencemen:
Steve Barati* – Blake Jackson
Eric Chung – Thomas Heather
Joel Jefferies – Joel Stirling

FHL Reserves:
Joel Jefferies    Andy Richmond

Goaltender:
Mikey Hopkinson

The Frontyard Hockey League is the official farm system for the BHL. The Iceholes’ affiliate is the Fishsticks. View their roster here.

BURNING QUESTION: 
Can the become the first BHL franchise to win a second Backyard Cup?

ONE TO WATCH: Chase Koolen (New Zealand)
After competing in the scouting scrimmages and demonstrating great playmaking ability and speed, Koolen made his presence felt in the preseason. The Iceholes have traditionally never had a clear cut No. 2 centre that can add to their high impact offence. Koolen could be that answer.

ON THE FARM:
The HYDE factor will most definitely have an impact here. Reigning FHL Top Defenceman Paul Hyde and daughters Lochlyn Hyde (2-time BHL Champion & 2017 FHL Goaltender of the Year) and returning BHL veteran Alex Hyde will help lead the Fishticks in 2018 as they shoot to land a spot in the Frontyard Finals.

Since all the rosters got a major reset for the 2017-18 season, Puck Yeah invited BHL President Cam Green to provide our readers with the lowdown on all the squads for ‘The Show: Season V’.

In part two of our six-part series, things gets a little cheesy – it’s Top Cheese.

The Top Cheese has always been viewed as a team with great depth and they continued their trend of drafting quality players this summer. The Cheese drafted a remarkable 13 rookies throughout the franchise including seven within their BHL squad.

After the exit of longtime team co-founder Ryan Langford, the Green Machine has been forced to start again from scratch and will start by restructuring their leadership team. Jeff Albert wears the ‘C’ for the club and will be joined by 3 alternates in 2018.

Forwards:
Andy Hart – Dylan Dickson* – Kieran Judge
Jared D’Amico* – Justin Daigle – Cam Green
Csaba Kersco-Magos – Tom Joseph –  Tyrell Peak*

Defencemen:
Cameron McLeod* – Jeff Albert
Blake Moyle* – Jack Hull*
Devin Fennell – Dwayne Maki

FHL Reserves:
Dwayne Maki, Tom Joseph

Goaltender:
Joel Rindelaub*

The Frontyard Hockey League is the official farm system for the BHL. Top Cheese’ affiliate is The Sauce. View their roster here.

Note: Players marked with an asterisk are BHL rookies and can be sent down to the FHL without having to clear waivers.

BURNING QUESTION: 
To no one’s surprise, Top Cheese selected Justin Daigle with the BHL franchise’s first ever first overall pick. That pick, matched with the strategy of drafting several ex-pats and first-year unknown players, Top Cheese made a total 11 roster changes from the previous version of the Cheeseheads that lost in the Conference Finals last season. Can the Cheese find a new identity in time to land their first BHL Championship?

ONE TO WATCH: Joel Rindelaub (USA)
After being taken with the 25th Overall Pick, Joel becomes just the second goaltender in the franchise’s history. A product of the NCAA’s Purdue University could prove to be the steal of the draft, should he be able to find his form early and often. Only time will tell.

ON THE FARM:
Winners of the inaugural FHL Season, The Sauce will look to repeat as champions in 2018. Armed with incredible depth up front and on the backend, the Top Cheese affiliate will look to goaltender Tabitha Crump to help lead a charge for a second title. Her performance may very well be the deciding factor in year two for the club.

Since all the rosters got a major reset for the 2017-18 season, Puck Yeah invited BHL President Cam Green to provide our readers with the lowdown on all the squads for ‘The Show: Season V’.

First up in this six-part series, Les Phoques. Yes – that’s how you pronounce it. The SFW team name is ‘The Seals’.

The Seals are filled with plenty of depth on the backend with several players capable of playing up front or on the point. Veteran leadership is also very apparent in Les Phoques’ lineup this season with several players possessing plenty of experiences at all levels of hockey here in New Zealand and overseas.

If skipper Aaron Somerville can get his troops working together, the Seals will make some noise again in March after coming up short in 2017.

Forwards:
Aaron Somerville  – Chris Van Poppel – Rob Moon
Braedyn Durbin* – Scott Henry – Damien Peters
Ryan Chadwick – Matt Harvey  – Stephen Pause*

Defencemen:
AJ Spiller – Jono Pol
Matty Roxborough – Glen Terlesk
Alex Bouwman – Leon Tabb

FHL Reserves:
Alex Bouwman, Leon Tabb

Goaltender:
Brad Hill

The Frontyard Hockey League is the official farm system for the BHL. Les Phoques’ affiliate is Les Coqs (yup, you’re right again with the pronunciation). View their roster here.

Note: Players marked with an asterisk are BHL rookies and can be sent down to the FHL without having to clear waivers.

BURNING QUESTION:
After building a roster over the previous four seasons that finally saw the Seals reach the final, they are now face with the league wide reset of the rosters and have to rebuild. Can they repeat the feat?

ONE TO WATCH: AJ Spiller (Canada)
The 5th overall pick in this year’s draft. Great hockey IQ and an even better guy. Responsible, deceptive speed, can play in any situation and blessed with soft hands. Arguably the top defender in 2017 NZIHL season, he helped in leading the West Auckland Admirals to their first Birgel Cup Finals appearance since 2010.

ON THE FARM:
Les Coqs were 11-1 in 2017 but fell a goal short of the perfect season by losing to The Sauce (Top Cheese’s FHL affiliate) in the longest game in BHL history. With several returning players and Gaston Bruneau backstopping the club, the Roosters look poised to reach the final in consecutive seasons.

0:00 – Introducing Josh Kretschmar and wondering whether the Swarm (of Botany) is a bee or a wasp?
2:14 – How hockey won Josh over as a new fan of the sport
4:49 – Becoming a suffering Vancouver Canucks fan
8:05 – EA’s NHL video game series
11:50 – Josh’s first live game experience
13:39 – Like son like father? Josh’s Dad gets hooked on hockey too
14:48 – Getting drafted and playing in the Frontyard Hockey League
15:37 – Josh scores a goal off his face playing Joe’s team in a BHL pre-season game
16:40 – The feeling of playing alongside or against your favourite NZIHL players during the BHL season
20:10 – How Josh got more involved with the Botany Swarm as a dedicated volunteer
23:12 – Poor internet killing NZIHL live streams and the possibility of improving
24:49 – What is on offer for NZIHL season ticket holders?
28:00 – How will the Vancouver Canucks fare in the 2017-18 NHL season
28:45 – Thoughts on the ADIDAS jerseys now that we’ve seen them in action during the NHL pre-season
32:37 – Josh’s favourite player to watch in the Vancouver Canucks
33:47 – Changes happening with the Botany Swarm going into the 2018 NZIHL season
36:54 – Easy ways to spread the word about hockey to get more New Zealanders hooked and more NHL video game chat to wrap things up

0:00 – Introducing Cam Green and Aaron Somerville from the BHL
1:30 – The BHL’s early days
4:39 – Expanding the BHL to include the FHL (Frontyard Hockey League)
5:13 – The guys get distracted by a random girl outside the studio
6:17 – How the expansion happened and partnering up with Camorra Hockey School
8:50 – Behind the scenes of the BHL Draft
10:43 – The goalie shootout video that went viral

14:20 – Designing the BHL jerseys
15:54 – Breaking down the team structure of the BHL/FHL
21:33 – The BHL Holiday Classic
26:50 – What’s going down at the 2017 BHL Draft
34:50 – Creating all the BHL teams into NHL17
35:38 – Doing in-game hosting & entertainment for the NZIHL’s West Auckland Admirals
37:00 – Pissing off the visiting teams with their in-game antics
38:25 – The creation of Rusty Anchor-Bottom, the Admirals mascot
40:15 – Adding the national anthem and developing the Admirals in-game presentation
44:44 – Can the NZIHL go bigger?
48:49 – The general lack of awareness of hockey’s existence in New Zealand
54:25 – Cam and Aaron’s early days of playing hockey in Canada
57:00 – Cam and Aaron turn the tables and ask the questions
58:03 – The passion of New Zealand sports fans
1:01:44 – Cam and Aaron’s favourite NHL teams
1:03:20 – Cam’s jersey collecting mission
1:05:48 – Allowing hockey players to show more of their personality in media interviews
1:07:20 – Speculating about what hockey will look at the next Winter Olympics
1:14:19 – Cam and Aaron’s favourite hockey movies
1:17:36 – Cam’s Dad has a special message for Joe
1:21:11 – Cam and Aaron hijack the ending for a line of dirty questioning