There is perhaps no name more familiar than Paris Heyd when talking about New Zealand Ice Hockey. The Ice Blacks veteran is a consummate servant of the game in this country, and perhaps one of the hottest hockey talents we have. He’s been a part of two championship-winning NZIHL teams – the Southern Stampede and […]

Ice hockey in Wellington has finally become reality! With a new full sized rink, a growing community and a few tournaments under their belt things are looking up for ice hockey in the windy city. Centre Ice interviewed Luke Turner, a vital member to Wellington’s growth, to get an insight into what’s been happening in the

“Ice hockey is not a game, it’s a lifestyle.”   Those are the words of current Ice Blacks coach Anatoly Khorozov – a name familiar to many within New Zealand ice hockey. He’s dedicated his life to the sport he loves, often moving himself and his family from country to country in order to continue

Some call it fate, others call it chance. Whatever the analogy, the odds of Travis Crickard coming to New Zealand were pretty low five years ago. But thanks to a book, and a good ol’ Kiwi friend, Travis made the trip out at the beginning of the year for a special purpose – to spend

It’s hard to like referees sometimes. As much as we tell ourselves “they’re volunteers,” “they’re not perfect,” or “it’s just a game,” we can still find ourselves incessantly unsatisfied with the performance of a referee. We can’t stand them, but at the same time, we can’t ever imagine being them. So we fall into a

Bill Bartlett is as Canadian as they come – at least that’s how it seems. He’s always popping up at his local Auckland rinks, he’s always showing his passion for hockey, and of course, he’s got that North American twang. So you might be surprised to know, at 61, Bill’s only been playing hockey for

Jake Ratcliffe is set to make history when he heads over to the United States in August to play NCAA ice hockey. He’ll be the first Kiwi-born male to play college-level hockey, joining female goalie Grace Harrison  – currently at St Lawrence University in New York. But you’ve probably heard of him before. Indeed, the

Ignore the glaring inaccuracy of our 90s kids film reference for a second. Yes, we get it. A kiwi and a duck… it sounds like the intro of a bad pub joke. But like our favourite 10-year-old hockey prodigies, for Kiwis, hockey has always been about one thing – playing with your mates. Whether it’s

As the end of the summer rolls around and everyone is looking forward to the Ice Hockey season starting up again, there is a group of elite Womens Ice Hockey players in New Zealand in the most important time of the hockey calendar. The New Zealand Ice Fernz are heading to Valdemoro in Spain for

Now that most of the New Zealand Ice Hockey Season has been and gone (Mostly) and summer leagues are starting up we thought we would take some time to choose our NZIHL starting line-up for the 2017 season. Forwards: Adrian Toth – West Auckland Admirals Adrian lead the league this year in points, assists and plus

Early in September the Australian National Ice Hockey team will travel to Queenstown to play our Ice Blacks in a 3 game series dubbed the 2017 Audi Quattro Winter Games Trans-Tasman Challenge. The New Zealand Ice Blacks are coming off a strong campaign earlier this year in which they finished 2nd to a strong Chinese team,