The Adelaide Rush is an Australian amateur ice hockey team from Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 2005 as the Adelaide Assassins, the Rush, who were also known as the Adrenaline for four years, have been a member of the Australian Women's Ice Hockey League (AWIHL) since inception in 2007. The Rush are based at the IceArenA in the central suburb of Thebarton in Adelaide. The team has won six Joan McKowen trophies and are two time league premiers.

Adelaide Rush
CityAustralia Adelaide, SA
LeagueAustralian Women's Ice Hockey League
Founded2005 (19 years ago) (2005)
Home arenaIceArenA
Colours(2005–2011)
     
(2011–2016)
       
(2016–present)
     
Head coachCanada Joey McDougall
CaptainAustralia Natasha Farrier
Websiteadelaiderush.com.au
Franchise history
2005–2011Adelaide Assassins
2011–2016Adelaide Adrenaline
2016–presentAdelaide Rush
Championships
Regular season titles2 (2010, 2012)
Joan McKowen trophy6 (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012)
Current season

History

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Pre-AWIHL

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The Adelaide Rush were founded in 2005 as the Adelaide Assassins.[1] The team joined the National Women's Program Showcase Series announced by Ice Hockey Australia in 2005.[2] The Showcase series would be an opportunity to build up to establishing a fully-fledged national women's league.[2] Adelaide competed in the two Showcase Series in 2006 and 2007.[3]

In early 2006, the Assassins appointed the Australian U18 national team assistant coach, Pier Martin, as their inaugural head coach for the 2006 Showcase Series.[4] Adelaide selected thirteen players in their first roster, including at least seven Australian internationals in Lucy Parrington, Jodie Walker, Serena Yu, Mel McLaren, Tash Farrier, Candice Mitchell and Tamra Jones.[4] The first Showcase began in February 2006 with five teams, Adelaide Assassins, Sydney Sirens, Brisbane Goannas, Canberra Ice Caps and Melbourne Flames.[5] Adelaide won the first Showcase Series, finishing top of the standings with 18 points from 12 games, defeating the Sirens by four points to the title.[5] In the second Showcase Series in 2006-07, the Assassins went undefeated to win the Showcase back-to-back. Adelaide was the first team to lift the West Lakes Trophy in 2007, which had been donated by Westlakes Trophies and Framing to the National Women's Program. The Assassins closest game in the second Showcase was a 6-4 victory over the Sydney Sirens on 11 February 2007.[6]

AWIHL

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The newly formed Australian Women's Ice Hockey League had its inaugural season in the 2007–08 season, where the Adelaide Assassins would again win the championship. At this time the championship trophy awarded to the winners of the finals was the West Lakes Trophy, made by Westlakes Trophies and Framing.[7]

On August 8, 2011, the Adelaide Assassins merged with the Adelaide Adrenaline ice hockey club. The move was made to increase the exposure of women's hockey in Australia with the help of associating with an already well known brand with which they could share resources with.[8]

Before the 2016 season began, the Adrenaline were re branded as Adelaide Rush.

Club identity

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Adelaide Assassins (2005-11)

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The Assassins were founded with a red, black and white colour scheme. The team's uniforms were prodomantly red with black and white horizontal stripes.[3] The team's logo followed the same colour scheme with Adelaide Assassins spelt out in full with a customised typeface. The logo featured a black bullet swooshing from the top left to the bottom right.[9][10]

Adelaide Adrenaline (2011-16)

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On 8 August 2011, the Adelaide Assassins merged with the Adelaide Adrenaline ice hockey organisation as part of the wider AWIHL and Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) policy for teams to merge or sign memorandum of understanding (MoU) agreements to better align to the two leagues and share resources.[8] This resulted in the Assassins adopting the Adrenaline logo, colour scheme and uniforms.[3] Shifting from predominantly red to dark blue with red, yellow and white secondary colours. The new logo consisted of a hockey puck with AA on the face and a hand breaking through clutching a hockey stick.[11]

Adelaide Rush (2016-present)

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On 12 July 2016, the Adelaide Adrenaline's men's and women's programs de-coupled, with the women's program becoming independent once more. The team updated its branding and name, adopting the name Adelaide Rush and new colour scheme of red and navy blue. The team uniforms would revert to predominantly red with a large blue horizontal blue stripe on the front. The new round 'badge' logo features a large red 'R' in its centre on a navy-blue background. This is surrounded by a red ring with navy blue trim with the team's name 'Adelaide Rush' and the year date '2016'.[12]

Season by season results

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Players

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Current roster

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Team roster for the 2024-25 AWIHL season.[13][14]

Adelaide Rush roster - 2023-24 AWIHL season
Active Roster Inactive Roster Coaching staff
Goaltenders
  •  1   Rebecca Kempe
  • 47   Amelia Knott
  • 30   Joanne Phillis
  • 37   Madison Smith

Defencemen

  • 24   Elana Holub
  • 33   Grace Kalambokas
  • 18   Candice Mitchell
  • 19   Marni Trapolino
  • 27   Maya Tupper (I)
  •  6   Tiffany Venning
  • 59   Kirsty Venus (I)
  • 44   Sarah Wise
Forwards
  • 12   Natalie Ayris
  • 20   Amber Bedell
  •  4   Torie Cybulski
  • 22   Natasha Farrier (C)
  • 49   Diana Glass
  •  8   Kelly Harris
  • 14   Madeline Langevin
  •  2   Jamie Lunn
  •  9   Kaitlyn Malthaner (A)
  • 34   Sierra Meroniuk (I)
  • 11   Reaghan Pietrowski (I)
  • 21   Kate Tihema (A)
  • --   Eleanor Bartter (NF)
  • --   Jasmine Chen (NF)
  • --   Anika Wegund (NF)
Head Coach
  •   Jeffrey Fode

Coaches

  •   Jeremy Friederich (AC)
  •   Tyler Boyle (DC)
  •   Jeremy Friederich (GC)



Legend
(C) Captain
(A) Alternate Captain
(I) Import player



Statistics
Locals: 20
Imports: 4

Last updated on: 2 December 2023
IHA IHNA

Leaders

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Captains

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The Rush have had six captains in the team's known history, including ten seasons with Candice Mitchell over two stints.[15]

Season Captain Alt Captain One Alt Captain Two
2006 Information not available
2006–07 Information not available
2007–08   Candice Mitchell
2008–09   Candice Mitchell
2009–10   Candice Mitchell
2010–11   Candice Mitchell
2011–12   Candice Mitchell
2012–13   Candice Mitchell
2013–14   Candice Mitchell   Bethanie Kavanagh   Sari Lehmann
2014–15   Candice Mitchell   Bethanie Kavanagh   Sari Lehmann
2015–16   Candice Mitchell   Bethanie Kavanagh   Kate Tihema
2016–17   Sari Lehmann   Kelly Harris   Kirsty Venus1
2017–18   Ashley Pelkey   Hannah Wright   Candice Mitchell
2018–19   Candice Mitchell
2019–20   Kirsty Venus
2022–23   Natalie Ayris
2023–24   Natasha Farrier   Kaitlyn Malthaner   Kate Tihema

References:[16]

1 In 2016–17, the Rush had three alternative captains, rather than the normal two, Tess Reynolds was the third alternative captain.

Head coaches

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The Rush have had seven head coaches in the team's known history, including Josef Rezek who had two stints as head coach.[17]

No. Name Term
1   Pier Martin 2006
2   John Botterill 2008–13
3   Josef Rezek 2013–16
4   Mitch Kelleher 2016–17
5   Josef Rezek 2017–18
6   Jamie Holland 2018–19
7   Hayden Crafter 2019–20
8   Joey McDougall 2022– 2023
9   Jeffrey Fode 2024

References:[4][18][19][20][21][22][23]

Broadcasting

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Current:

  • Sportscast Australia (2023 - present) - On 24 October 2023, the AWIHL signed an agreement with Sportscast Australia to stream the 2023-24 AWIHL season. Launched as AWIHL.TV, every game of the regular and post-season would be available live and on-demand for free, with no region-locks, through the AWIHl.TV website and YouTube.[24][25]

Former:

  • Clutch.TV (2022-23) - On 22 October 2022, the AWIHL announced a streaming partnership with Australian streaming provider Clutch.TV for worldwide streaming rights for the 2022-23 AWIHL season. Every game of the regular and post-season would be available live and on-demand for free on the Clutch streaming platform. This partnership came to an abrupt end in September 2023, ahead of the new AWIHL season, when Clutch Pty Ltd, who operates Clutch.TV, entered administration and ceased all operations.[26][27]
  • Kayo Sports (2018-22) – The AWIHL signed a broadcasting deal with Fox Sports in 2018 to stream on their Kayo Sports platform, a weekly 'game of the week' and 20-minutes highlight package with commentary and player interviews each round of the 2018-19 AWIHL season. This agreement was extended in the 2019-20 season, but was put on hold during the COVID-19 Pandemic, when the AWIHL had to cancel two consecutive seasons.[28][29]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "League History". Brisbane Goannas. 2011. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b "National Women's League Annual Report 2005" (PDF). Ice Hockey Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Kutsche, Frank (2012). "Australian Women's Ice Hockey League". Sticks & Stones Photography. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "Showcase Series Rosters". National Women's Program. Archived from the original on 26 August 2006. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b "2006 Showcase Series Results". National Women's Program. Archived from the original on 26 August 2006. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  6. ^ "2006-2007 Showcase Series Results". National Women's Program. Archived from the original on 11 November 2007. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Australian Women's Ice Hockey League (AWIHL)". home.pacific.net.au/~navillus. The National Women’s Program. 2009. Archived from the original on 12 January 2010. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  8. ^ a b Rozleja, Michael (26 September 2011). "Assassin's Look To a Brighter Future..." Australian Women's Ice Hockey League. The National Women’s Program. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  9. ^ "Original Adalaide Assassins Logo". National Women's Program. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Updated Adalaide Assassins Logo". National Women's Program. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Adelaide Adrenaline Logo". Adelaide Adrenaline. Archived from the original on 10 December 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  12. ^ Collins, Lee (12 July 2016). "Adelaide Adrenaline Women become the Adelaide Rush". icehockeynewsaustralia.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  13. ^ Collins, Lee (17 October 2023). "Adelaide Rush 2023–24 roster". icehockeynewsaustralia.com. Archived from the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  14. ^ "Adelaide Rush Ice Hockey - PLAYER STATISTICS". Ice Hockey Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  15. ^ "Adelaide Rush Captaincy History". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  16. ^ Carpenter, Ross. "Mitchell, Candice (1981 - )". Legends of Australian Ice. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Adelaide Rush Team Staff History". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  18. ^ Carpenter, Ross. "Botterill, John (1956 - )". Legends of Australian Ice. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  19. ^ "Adelaide Assassins Roster 2010-11". Pointstreak. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  20. ^ "Adelaide Adrenaline Roster 2011-12". Pointstreak. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  21. ^ "Adelaide Adrenaline Roster 2012-13". Pointstreak. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  22. ^ "Adelaide Adrenaline Roster 2013-14". Pointstreak. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  23. ^ "Adelaide Adrenaline Roster 2014-15". Pointstreak. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  24. ^ 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.
  25. ^ 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.
  26. ^ Collins, Lee (28 October 2022). "AWIHL signs streaming deal with Cluch". icehockeynewsaustralia.com. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  27. ^ 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.
  28. ^ Collins, Lee (23 December 2018). "AWIHL to be aired on Kayo Sports in 2019". icehockeynewsaustralia.com. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  29. ^ Collins, Lee (22 November 2019). "Kayo to stream AWIHL Game of the Wee". icehockeynewsaustralia.com. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
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