Australian Junior Ice Hockey League

The Australian Junior Ice Hockey League (AJIHL) is an Australian junior ice hockey sanctioned by Ice Hockey Australia. Open to players 20 years of age or younger, the AJIHL has four teams based in the cities of Melbourne and Sydney. The league was formed in 2012 and its first season starting in the same year. The league runs from October to March.

History
The Australian Junior Ice Hockey League was first announced on 18 September 2012 by Ice Hockey Australia. The inaugural season will consist of four teams – Melbourne Blackhawks, Melbourne Red Wings, Sydney Lightning and the Sydney Maple Leafs, with teams being operated by their respective state governing body. The season is set to start on 20 October 2012 at the Medibank Icehouse in Melbourne and runs until March with the finals to be held on the 9th and 10 March. The Sydney based teams play their homes games at the Penrith Ice Palace in Penrith, New South Wales, while the Melbourne based teams play out of the Medibank Icehouse in Docklands, Victoria. The Sydney Maple Leafs won the inaugural AJIHL finals after beating the Melbourne Red Wings in a tie-breaking sudden overtime period after the teams leveled the two game series. The Maple Leafs had defeated the Sydney Lightning the week before in the Sydney semi-final, while the Red Wings won the Melbourne semi-final against the Blackhawks 7-3 to progress into the final.

In August 2013 it was announced that Ice Hockey Victoria were renaming the two Melbourne teams for the 2013-14 season. The Melbourne Blackhawks were renamed as the Melbourne Whalers, Melbourne Red Wings became the Melbourne Glaciers. The following month the Sydney Maple Leafs were renamed the Sydney Wolf Pack and the Sydney Lightning changed their name to the Sydney Sabres. The changes were made in response to the National Hockey Leagues concern about the AJIHL using their team names and logos, as well as an opportunity to create new history for the teams. In October 2013 the league expanded to six teams with two teams from Perth, the Sharks and the Pelicans, joining for the start of the 2013-14 season.

Champions

 * 2013 Sydney Maple Leafs