Ever since a bunch of 1930s South Canterbury farmers first played on a frozen pond, ice hockey has had a presence in New Zealand. And while it may still be niche, its numbers are rapidly growing.
It’s 8.00am on a Sunday morning and I’m freezing my butt off at a sports arena in West Auckland. There’s an almost palpable feeling of excitement in the air as a machine on wheels –the Zamboni – works its way methodically around the rink, shaving off a thin layer of ice and laying down a smooth surface ready for action. With the blow of a whistle, 80+ girls and boys padded up to their eyeballs in protective equipment and oversized jumpers spill chaotically onto the ice, ready to play their little hearts out in games of ice hockey. The sport has always been pretty fringe here in Aotearoa, but it’s starting to gain momentum.
Ice hockey is famous for being the fastest game in the world, and because it’s a full-contact sport of body checking and high-speed collisions, it’s not for the faint hearted. The sport includes a veritable dictionary of aggressive terms like slashing, hooking, roughing and tripping, and has something of a reputation for the fights that are unofficially tolerated at a top level overseas. But old-school thuggery aside, it is a hugely thrilling game to watch and play … that is if you can keep track of the puck.
When I was raising a half-Canadian family in the frozen North where ice hockey is the national religion, the sport became a big part of our lives. We watched professional games, learnt to skate and eventually gave it a go on our neighbour’s backyard rink. While my hockey career was short-lived (due to injury and embarrassing lack of skill), my son Charlie took to it from the age of four, and our neighbourhood arena with its distinctive smell of ozone and sweat became our second home. On making the big move back home to New Zealand we assumed that Charlie’s hockey days were over, but on a whim I Googled “ice hockey Auckland” and was stoked to find the game actually existed back here.
A haka on skates
As it turns out, ice hockey has been played in New Zealand for over 80 years, after some sheep farmers in the South Island started playing on a frozen pond in the 1930s. There are over 2,000 players currently registered at all levels, from beginner to beer leagues to competitive, and we even have our own senior national teams who play internationally – the Ice Blacks and Ice Fernz. The men’s team even honours our country’s tradition of a pre-match haka, but on ice skates. During New Zealand’s first international competition in 1987 we were famously thrashed by Australia in a world record 58-0 loss, but though we may never make it to the Winter Olympics, the Ice Blacks have come a long way since then and are currently ranked 42nd in the world.
Where we do almost make it onto the podium is in the advancement of the sport — we’re actually ranked fourth in the world in growth among hockey-playing nations. With rugby on the decline, it seems less traditional disciplines are filling that gap and more and more New Zealanders are embracing the game both as players and spectators.
There has been a huge push in recent years by the New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation (NZIHF) to recruit young players, as getting kids on the ice from an early age will eventually make us more competitive on the world rink. Learn to Play runs year-round for ages five to late teens, and anyone is welcome to show up for a free trial. Because it requires an intense amount of protective gear – from a helmet with a face cage to a jock for the nether-regions – equipment is supplied so you don’t have to invest in the whole kit and caboodle. Once beginners master the art of skating, they move on to hockey skills, with the goal of eventually joining a league.
If being a spectator is more your thing, then consider hauling your ass to a game of the national men’s or women’s leagues. They really are an entertaining and affordable night out. I went to my first NZIHL game this year, and was surprised to find the arena packed with around 800 screaming fans and an electric atmosphere. The presentation definitely had a more amateur vibe than overseas, with no hotdog cannon or discordant organ riffs accompanying the game, but there were beers on tap, mascots revving up the crowd and some bloody exciting hockey being played.
Canadian Justin Daigle, whose aspirations of a pro hockey career were derailed by injury, has played for the West Auckland Admirals since he was “discovered” waiting tables here during his OE ten years ago. He and the other imports were pleasantly surprised by what they found. “When you think of a small warm-climate country like New Zealand, you wouldn’t expect there to be much of a hockey culture, but everyone is always really impressed by the quality and level of play.” Daigle was stoked to also land his dream job coaching in Auckland, and is one of the lucky few people in the country on the hockey payroll.
For the love of the game
One of the challenges of being a minority sport is that there’s very little money in the game. “It’s hard,” says Andy Mills, President of the NZIHF. “No one cares unless you’ve got an oval ball or a round ball and you’re on a court or field.” A jewellery maker by day, Mills is one of hundreds of volunteers who work tirelessly, donating up to 20 hours per week to make the sport they love thrive. When big tournaments like the recent Under-12 nationals in Christchurch come together, it makes all that slog worthwhile. “Seeing those young kids on the ice smiling and having fun, that’s what gets me up in the morning.”
With only ten rinks in the whole country, an ongoing barrier to growth is capacity. “Ice time” for players is already a precious commodity, and spectator games routinely sell out, with no room for more bums on seats despite a growing appetite for the game. But Mills is hoping to get municipal support and see more rinks built in the future. “For us to grow and have more success, we need more facilities, simple as that.”
In contrast to well-resourced Canada, ice hockey here is definitely rough around the edges, but delightfully so. As Daigle points out, without the megabucks and the lure of potentially lucrative careers in the NHL, there aren’t the overbearing parents killing the fun. “There’s less pressure put on the kids for competing and committing. It’s more about enjoying the sport for what it is, which is refreshing.” I personally love the low-key vibe, and think they have got the tone exactly right – coaches push the kids to challenge themselves but not at the expense of a good time.
Back at the Sunday morning game, amid the racket of banging boards and thwacking sticks I can hear a bunch of different languages and accents mixing in with our local twang. Many parents are expats from hockey-centric places like North America and Eastern Europe, but there are also a lot of Asian countries represented as it becomes more popular there. For new migrants, it’s a great way to stay connected with their culture, and being welcomed into this international family can also be a game changer on a social level. My Canuck husband, who often feels like a fish out of water in Aotearoa, leapt at the chance to coach our son’s team and finds himself right at home with his new hockey mates.
I wonder if there’s also something about the underdog mentality of a niche sport that binds this small community together and creates a sense of pride. There can be fierce competition on the ice and plenty of hooting and hollering from the stands, but when the buzzer sounds marking the end of a game, it really feels like hockey is the winner on the day.
Watch our trans-Tasman rivalry hit the ice when the Ice Blacks take on the Mighty Roos this weekend (November 4 , 5 and 6). Links to the livestream of each game can be found on the Ice Blacks Facebook Page on game day.