Sport Ice hockey No. of teams 3 Most recent
champion(s) Sydney Bears | Founded 2007 Country Australia Most titles Sydney Bears (3) | |
The Wilson Cup is an ice hockey trophy competition which is set up as a pre-season tournament to the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It is contested between the three New South Wales based AIHL clubs, the Newcastle North Stars, Sydney Bear and Sydney Ice Dogs. The current holders of the Cup are the Sydney Bears who won their third title in 2016.
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History
The Wilson Cup tournament was first played in 2007. It was contested between four teams from the Australian Ice Hockey League – West Sydney Ice Dogs, Newcastle North Stars, the Bears, and the Central Coast Rhinos. The Wilson Cup was donated on behalf of John and Carol Wilson who have been a major figure in Australian ice hockey and were the previous owners of the Blacktown Ice Arena, were the championship was started. It is a round-robin event with each team playing a home and away game against the other, which is then followed by a playoff until the final. The 2007 tournament was won by the AIHL Bears. The 2008 competition was again won by the AIHL Bears beating the West Sydney Ice Dogs 6–4 in the final. Before the start of the 2009 event the Central Coast Rhinos dropped out of the AIHL, they however competed in the 2009 Wilson Cup, winning the final 4–3 in a shootout against the West Sydney Ice Dogs. In February 2014 it was announced was being revived and would feature the Newcastle North Stars, Sydney Bears and the Sydney Ice Dogs. The tournament featured a round robin of the three teams and finishes with a final between the top two placed teams, starting on 16 March and finishing on 5 April. In the opening game of the Wilson Cup the North Stars defeated the Bears 4-3 in a shootout. The North Stars however lost game two to the Ice Dogs 5-4 in a shootout. In the last game of the round robin the Ice Dogs defeated the Sydney Bears 8-1 and they finished first in the standings. The Ice Dogs were drawn against the North Stars in the final who finished the round robin in second place. The Ice Dogs defeated the North Stars 4-2, winning their first Wilson Cup title. The 2015 edition of the tournament was announced in March 2015 and again featured all three New South Wales-based AIHL clubs. The number of games was increased from four to seven with a double round-robin being held before a final between the two top ranked teams. The Sydney Bears finished first in the round robin, winning three of their four games, and were drawn against the Newcastle North Stars in the final. The North Stars won the final 4-3, claiming their first title. The 2016 Wilson Cup featured an unchanged format from the prior year and ran from 19 March to 16 April 2016. The Sydney Bears finished first in the round robin stage for the second year in a row with three wins from four games. Defending champions the Newcastle North Stars finished last after losing all four of their games, including one which had to be forfeited due to a scheduling conflict with their East Coast Super League club. The Bears defeated the Sydney Ice Dogs 3–1 in the final at the Penrith Ice Palace.