2022 NZWIHL season

2022 NZWIHL season
LeagueNew Zealand Women's Ice Hockey League
SportIce hockey
Duration12 August 2022 – 25 September 2022
Regular season
PremiersWakatipu Wild
Season MVPLova Holmqvist
(Wakatipu Wild)
Top scorerKellye Nelson (19 points)
(Wakatipu Wild)
NZWIHL Finals
ChampionsWakatipu Wild
(1st title)
  Runners-upCanterbury Inferno
NZWIHL seasons
← 2021
2023 →

The 2023 NZWIHL season is the ninth season of the New Zealand Women's Ice Hockey League (NZWIHL). It ran from 12 August 2022 until 25 September 2022. Four teams competed in 12 regular season games followed by 4 playoff games, making up the NZWIHL Finals weekend. The Wakatipu Wild claimed the double by winning both the premiership title for finishing top of the regular season standings and the championship title by winning the grand final. Canterbury Inferno finished runner-up to both titles and the Dunedin Thunder claimed the wooden spoon.

Teams

In 2022 the NZWIHL had four teams, consisting of one from the North Island and three from the South Island.[1][2]

2022 NZWIHL teams
Team City Arena Head coach Captain
Auckland Steel Auckland Paradice Avondale France Jeff Boehme New Zealand Helen Murray
Canterbury Inferno Christchurch Christchurch Alpine Ice Centre New Zealand Matthew Sandford New Zealand Bridie Gibbings
Dunedin Thunder Dunedin Dunedin Dunedin Ice Stadium United States Barrett Wilson New Zealand Abbey Heale
Wakatipu Wild Otago Queenstown Queenstown Ice Arena Canada Colin McIntosh United States Kellye Nelson

League Business

The league was on the agenda at the New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation (NZIHF) annual general meeting (AGM) in February and November 2022. The NZIHF confirmed they had underwritten team travel expenses in 2022 in order to ensure the 2022 season could be played, given the disruption and early end to the 2021 season.[3] The league had been focusing on improving social media delivery for 2022. The updated league events manual was released in July 2022, ahead of the season commencing.[4]

Regular season

Running between 12 August 2022 until 18 September 2022, the NZWIHL regular season consisted of 12 games in total, with each team playing six games.[5]

Fixtures & results

2022 regular season
Game # Date Time Home Score Away Location Recap
1 12 August 2022 18:45 Wakatipu Wild 5–0 Canterbury Inferno Queenstown Ice Arena [1]
2 13 August 2022 15:30 Dunedin Thunder 5–7 Auckland Steel Dunedin Ice Stadium [2]
3 13 August 2022 18:45 Wakatipu Wild 1–2 (OT) Canterbury Inferno Queenstown Ice Arena [3]
4 14 August 2022 10:00 Dunedin Thunder 4–7 Auckland Steel Dunedin Ice Stadium [4]
5 3 September 2022 16:30 Canterbury Inferno 4–0 Dunedin Thunder Alpine Ice Centre [5]
6 3 September 2022 16:30 Auckland Steel 0–3 Wakatipu Wild Paradice Avondale [6]
7 4 September 2022 16:30 Canterbury Inferno 2–0 Dunedin Thunder Alpine Ice Centre [7]
8 4 September 2022 16:30 Auckland Steel 3–6 Wakatipu Wild Paradice Avondale [8]
9 16 September 2022 18:45 Wakatipu Wild 15–1 Dunedin Thunder Queenstown Ice Arena [9]
10 17 September 2022 16:30 Canterbury Inferno 7–5 Auckland Steel Alpine Ice Centre [10]
11 17 September 2022 18:45 Wakatipu Wild 3–1 Dunedin Thunder Queenstown Ice Arena [11]
12 18 September 2022 16:30 Canterbury Inferno 1–5 Auckland Steel Alpine Ice Centre [12]

Key:

Winner Draw

Standings

Pos Team Pld W OTW D OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Wakatipu Wild (P, C) 6 5 0 0 1 0 33 7 +26 16 2023 NZWIHL Finals
2 Canterbury Inferno 6 3 1 0 0 2 16 16 0 11
3 Auckland Steel 6 3 0 0 0 3 27 26 +1 9
4 Dunedin Thunder 6 0 0 0 0 6 11 38 −27 0
Source: NZWIHL Elite Prospects
Rules for classification:
Tie-break: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
Points: 3 points for regulation win; 2 points for OT or SO win; 1 point for OT or SO loss or tie/draw; 0 points for regulation loss
(C) Champion; (P) Premiers

Player stats

The season's league leader statistics for skaters and goaltenders.[6][7][8]

Points
No. Name Pos PTS
1 United States Kellye Nelson Fwd 19
2 New Zealand Jasmine Horner-Pascoe Fwd 18
3 Sweden Lova Holmqvist Fwd 16
4 New Zealand Anjali Mulari Fwd 11
5 New Zealand Gina Davis Fwd 9
Penalty minutes
No. Name Pos PIM
1 New Zealand Jamieson Taute Def 16
2 Canada Emma Ahvennie Fwd 14
3 New Zealand Rosie Harris Fwd 12
4 New Zealand Bridie Gibbings Fwd 12
5 New Zealand Gabrielle Mills Fwd 12
Save percentage
No. Name Pos SV%
1 Canada Sierra Morgulis Gk .938
2 New Zealand Jordan Wichman Gk .916
3 New Zealand Lochlyn Hyde Gk .888
4 New Zealand Justine Berry Gk .887
5 New Zealand Maddy Fox Gk .864

Season awards

Below lists the 2022 NZWIHL season award winners.[9]

Award Name Team
Most Valuable Player Sweden Lova Holmqvist Wakatipu Wild
U18 Most Valuable Player New Zealand Caitlin Hollyer Wakatipu Wild
Best Forward New Zealand Jasmine Horner-Pascoe Auckland Steel
Best Defence New Zealand Jaime Jones Auckland Steel
Best Goaltender Canada Sierra Morgulis Canterbury Inferno
Sports Person of the Year New Zealand Abbey Heale Dunedin Thunder

NZWIHL playoffs

The top four teams in the NZWIHL regular season qualify for the NZWIHL playoffs. The playoffs is held on a single weekend and uses New Zealand conventions of being called Finals. The playoff system used by the NZWIHL is a four team single game semi-finals and grand final system where the semi-final winners progress to the grand final and the losers playoff for third place. Semi-finals are played on the Saturday and the third place playoff and grand final is played on the Sunday. Th winner of the grand final is awarded a trophy and the top three teams are awarded gold, silver and bronze medals at the conclusion of the grand final. The NZWIHL also uses this time to announce team and league season awards.[4]

In 2022, all four teams in the league qualified for the finals weekend. The event was held on the weekend of 24 and 25 September 2022 in host city Dunedin at Dunedin Ice Stadium.[5] On day one, first placed Wakatipu Wild played fourth placed Dunedin Thunder in the first semi-final game and won comfortably.[10] Second placed Canterbury Inferno ensured the top two seeds progressed to the grand final with a five goals to two victory over the Auckland Steel in semi-final two.[11] On Day two of the Finals weekend, Auckland played hosts Dunedin for the bronze medal. Both teams made a number of changes including goaltenders and it was the Steel who defeated the Thunder and claimed bronze.[12] In the grand final, the Wild successfully shutout the Inferno to claim their first ever NZWIHL championship title in their second full season since their formation in 2020.[13][14]

 
Semi-finalsGrand Final
 
      
 
24 September - Dunedin
 
 
Wakatipu Wild7
 
25 September - Dunedin
 
Dunedin Thunder2
 
Wakatipu Wild2
 
24 September - Dunedin
 
Canterbury Inferno0
 
Canterbury Inferno5
 
 
Auckland Steel2
 
Third place
 
 

25 September - Dunedin
 
 
Auckland Steel5
 
 
Dunedin Thunder4

Semi-finals

24 September 2022
15:30		Wakatipu Wild7–2
(3–1, 4–0, 0–1)		Dunedin ThunderDunedin Ice Stadium
Game reference
New Zealand Lilly ForbesGoaliesNew Zealand Maddy FoxReferee:
Ashleigh Davidson
Linesmen:
Aaron Chisholm
Sonya Texley
2 minPenalties4 min
32Shots19
24 September 2022
18:15		Canterbury Inferno5–2
(2–0, 0–2, 3–0)		Auckland SteelDunedin Ice Stadium
Game reference
Canada Sierra MorgulisGoaliesNew Zealand Lochlyn HydeReferee:
Tania Bermudez
Linesmen:
Ashleigh Davidson
Gigi Hollyer
8 minPenalties8 min
36Shots18

Third place playoff

25 September 2022
07:15		Auckland Steel5–4
(0–1, 3–1, 2–2)		Dunedin ThunderDunedin Ice Stadium
Game reference
New Zealand Zadia PaulseGoaliesNew Zealand Ashley DickinsonReferee:
Tania Bermudez
Linesmen:
Gigi Hollyer
Kyle Matthews
0–1Heale.C – (Linton)
0–2Cross – (Keenan)
(unassisted) – Neville-Lamb1–2
(Hansen) – Murray2–2
(Taute) – Mulari3–2
(Neville-Lamb) – Murray4–2
4–3Heale.C – (Cross)
(unassisted) – Mulari5–3
5–4Heale.A – (Heale.C)
6 minPenalties6 min
39Shots21

Final

25 September 2022
10:00		Wakatipu Wild2–0
(1–0, 0–0, 1–0)		Canterbury InfernoDunedin Ice Stadium
Game reference
New Zealand Lilly ForbesGoaliesCanada Sierra MorgulisReferee:
Ashleigh Davidson
Linesmen:
Aaron Chisholm
Sonya Texley
(unassisted) – Davis1–0
(Nelson, Davis) – Holmqvist2–0
6 minPenalties6 min
27Shots22


Gold Silver Bronze
Otago Wakatipu Wild Christchurch Canterbury Inferno Auckland Auckland Steel

References

  1. ^ "2022 New Zealand Women Ice Hockey League". New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  2. ^ "New Zealand Women's Ice Hockey League 2021-2022". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  3. ^ "New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation Policies & Documents". New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  4. ^ a b Cox, Michelle (11 July 2022). "New Zealand Women's Ice Hockey League Events Manual 2022". New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  5. ^ a b "NZWIHL Schedule and Results Season 2022". New Zealand Ice Hockey League. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  6. ^ "2022 NZWIHL Scoring Leaders" (PDF). New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation. 20 September 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  7. ^ "2022 NZWIHL Most Penalised Players" (PDF). New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation. 19 September 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  8. ^ "2022 NZWIHL Goalkeepers" (PDF). New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation. 19 September 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  9. ^ "NZWIHL 2022 - Gold Final - Wakatipu Wild vs. Canterbury Inferno - 25th September 2022". New Zealand Women's Ice Hockey League. 25 September 2022. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  10. ^ "NZWIHL SEMIFINALS GAME 1" (PDF). New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation. 24 September 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  11. ^ "NZWIHL SEMIFINALS GAME 2" (PDF). New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation. 24 September 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  12. ^ "2022 Season Recap". New Zealand Women's Ice Hockey League. 14 October 2022. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  13. ^ Wormald, Lucy (29 September 2022). "Wild makes history". Mountain Scene. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  14. ^ Meikle, Hayden (26 September 2022). "Wild wins league trophy for first time". Otago Daily Times. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2023.