The Adelaide Avalanche was a semi-professional ice hockey club based in the Adelaide suburb of Thebarton, South Australia. The Avalanche, founded in 1999, was a founding member of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). The team's home venue was the Snowdome Adelaide (now known as IceArenA). The Avalanche competed in the AIHL for eight years, from its inaugural season in 2000 until 17 June 2008, when the club was replaced with the Snowdome's own team, Adelaide A's (later rebranded Adelaide Adrenaline), after its AIHL licence was revoked due to financial issues. During the club's lifetime, the Avalanche won four AIHL premierships and two AIHL championships.
History
Foundation and ECSL (1999–00)
The Adelaide Avalanche was founded in May 1999 by the Oddy and Thilthorpe families to secure national ice hockey competition for South Australia and their sons. Steve Oddy and James Thilthorpe headed the fledgling club as owners and directors, Steve Oddy taking on the role of club chairman.
The Avalanche appointed John Botterill as inaugural head coach. He would be assisted by Neil Boyle. Australian international defenceman, Pavel Bohacik, was appointed the club's maiden captain.
Adelaide quickly joined the de facto national league, East Coast Super League (ECSL) in 1999, in what would prove to be the NSW administered ECSL's last season. The Avalanche's first ever competitive game was on the road in Sydney against the Canterbury Eagles. Adelaide defeated the Eagles 7–5 to register the club's inaugural victory. Steve's son Greg Oddy led the South Australian outfit's opening performance, registering two goals. Oddy and Thilthorpe personally arranged and paid for the travel of east coast teams to Adelaide in 1999. On 15 May 1999, Adelaide hosted its first competitive home game at the Snowdome in Thebarton.
AIHL era (2000–08)
Along with the Sydney Bears and Canberra Knights, the Avalanche were one of the founding members of the AIHL in 2000. They finished first out of the three teams that year and claimed the inaugural AIHL championship. In 2001, the club enjoyed the same success in winning their second consecutive title.
In 2002, the Melbourne Ice, Western Sydney Ice Dogs, and Newcastle North Stars joined the AIHL, expanding it to six teams. The Goodall Cup, Australia's top prize in ice hockey, also became part of the AIHL that year. Adelaide again finished second in the overall standings and lost to the Bears in the Goodall Cup final.
The Avalanche finished the 2003 season with their fourth straight minor premiership but lost to the Ice Dogs in the first round of a newly introduced four-team playoff system. They would lose in the semifinals again in 2004 to the North Stars in double overtime.
As two more teams—the Brisbane Blue Tongues and Central Coast Rhinos—entered the league in 2005, the Avalanche returned to dominance by finishing first overall in the regular season standings. The "curse of the minor premiers" again haunted the team. Despite winning through to the Goodall Cup final for the first time in three years, they were defeated 3–1 by the North Stars in that game.
The Avalanche have retooled for 2006 in the quest for their first-ever Goodall Cup, with their current roster boasting Mighty Roos players Greg Oddy and brothers Ben & Luke Thilthorpe. They finished second after the regular season and hosted the finals series, beating the Ice Dogs 5–2 to reach the final but losing the final 0–4 to the North Stars.
Members of the Adelaide Avalanche were featured on episode 11 of Network Ten's Cyber Shack TV on 10 October 2006. Both David Huxley and Brad Wanchulak played and reviewed the new NHL 2K6 on Xbox 360.
The Avalanche came into financial difficulties in 2008, and after being able to host several game at the start of the season, could not meet its road commitments, forcing the team to withdraw from the remainder of the season on 17 June. The team's players were transferred to the newly formed Adelaide A's, who in a deal with the AIHL was allowed to play the remainder of the Avalanche's season.
In 2022 the name of the Adelaide Avalanche was revived by a new team competing in the Pacific Hockey League.
Season-by-season record ChampionsRunners-upThird Place Adelaide Avalanche all-time recordSeasonRegular seasonFinals weekendTop points scorerNamePoints 2000 Information not available 2nd 1 1 0 6 5 Champions – Won 6–5 (SO) (Bears) John Oddy 342001 16 15 1 0 – – 120 60 +60 31 1st 1 1 0 10 7 Champions – Won 10–7 (Bears) Paul Lawson 382002 20 13 0 7 – – 120 67 +53 26 2nd 1 0 1 4 7 Runners-up – Lost 4–7 (Bears) Greg Oddy 392003 18 15 0 3 – – 98 52 +46 30 1st 2 0 2 5 14 Fourth Lost 1–4 (Ice Dogs) – Greg Oddy 472004 20 7 1 9 1 1 64 68 −4 29 4th 1 0 1 2 3 Semi-finalist Lost 2–3 (2OT) (North Stars) – Greg Oddy 302005 26 19 1 4 0 2 133 77 +56 60 1st 2 1 1 7 6 Runners-up Won 6–3 (Bears) Lost 1–3 (North Stars) Darcy Corcoran 472006 28 19 – 9 0 0 134 84 +50 57 2nd 2 1 1 5 6 Runners-up Won 5–2 (Ice Dogs) Lost 0–4 (North Stars) Brad Wanchulak 532007 28 17 – 7 1 3 124 99 +25 56 1st 1 0 1 1 4 Semi-finalist Lost 1–4 (Bears) – Greg Oddy 432008 15 3 – 8 2 2 32 53 −21 15 – Peter Lindgren 29 Notes:
Notes References:
Honours
Championships
AIHL Championships (2000–01)1 Champions (2): 2000, 2001 Runners-Up (0):
Goodall Cup Champions (0): Runners-Up (3): 2002, 2005, 2006
V.I.P. Cup (2004–07)2 Premiers (4): 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 Runners-Up (2): 2002, 2006
1 The first two season's of the AIHL did not have the Goodall Cup as the Championship prize. The Adelaide Avalanche is the only AIHL team to win the AIHL and not be crowned Goodall Cup Champions. 2 This list also includes Premierships won prior to the first trophy (VIP Cup) for Premiers came into existence in 2004.
Franchise Awards
Each season, between 1999 and 2007, the Avalanche held an annual awards night where the team awarded a number of player awards. Season 1999 Glen Foll Eric Lien Trevor Walsh Pavel Bohacik John Oddy – –2000 Greg Oddy Shane Wouters Greg Oddy Pavel Bohacik John Oddy – –2001 Charlie Lawson Charlie Lawson Paul Lawson Glen Foll Paul Lawson Chris Brlecic –2002 Eric Lien Jamie Lever Trevor Walsh Glen Foll Greg Oddy Chris Brlecic –2003 Dylan Martini Josh Harding Trevor Walsh Dylan Martini Greg Oddy Duane Gera –2004 Trevor Walsh Cass Delsar Greg Oddy Chris Chant Greg Oddy Luke Thilthorpe –2005 Greg Oddy Olivier Martin Steve McKenna Steve McKenna Darcy Corcoran Tanner Shultz –2006 Greg Oddy David Huxley Brad Wanchulak Kevin Clauson Brad Wanchulak Chris Brlecic Nigel Ward2007 Olivier Martin Sean Greer David Huxley Josh Harding Greg Oddy Mike Van Den Bosch Ryan Remillard
Players
Last roster
Team roster for the 2008 AIHL season
NHL players A list of players that have played at least one game for the Avalanche and who have also played at least one game in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Name NHL team(s) Steve McKenna 2005 Los Angeles Kings; Minnesota Wild; Pittsburgh Penguins; New York Rangers Mel Angelstad 2007 Washington Capitals References:
International players A list of players that have played at least one game for the Avalanche and who have also played at least one game for an international team at the World Championships organised by the IIHF.
Name Medals Notes Glen Foll 80 72 32 1 4 Australian captain for 15 tournaments (1990 to 2006) Greg Oddy 72 118 131 2 3 3 Australian captain for 4 tournaments (2010 to 2014) Ben Thilthorpe 32 20 51 1 1 3 Joshua Harding 31 8 16 1 1 1 Australian alternate captain for 1 tournament (2014–15) David Huxley 28 10 8 2 1 Australian alternate captain for 1 tournament (2015–16) Luke Thilthorpe 24 17 10 1 1 2 Pavel Bohacik 24 3 8 Daniel George 20 2 6 1 1 Andrew Brunt 16 6 8 Trevor Walsh 15 26 93 1 2 Chris Brlecic 14 10 20 2 1 John Oddy 14 28 36 Mitchell Villani 10 5 8 1 Ross Howell 10 5 2 1 Sean Greer 10 0 4 James Keane 9 4 2 1 1 Cass Delsar 9 4 8 2 Matthew Wegener 5 0 4 Ari Pullinen 5 0 2 Dusan Ocenas 4 2 2 Olivier Martin 1 0 0 Paul Cracknell 1 0 0 References:
Player records Avalanche all-time, season and game player records.
All-time No.AppearancesPointsPenalty Minutes#NameNameName 1 Greg Oddy 133 Greg Oddy 280 Trevor Walsh 505 2 Ben Thilthorpe 126 Trevor Walsh 201 Greg Oddy 426 3 Luke Thilthorpe 122 Ben Thilthorpe 153 John Oddy 350 4 Chris Brlecic 119 Chris Brlecic 115 Ben Thilthorpe 346 5 Trevor Walsh 100 Luke Thilthorpe 113 Chris Brlecic 341 6 Eric Lien 84 John Oddy 111 Luke Thilthorpe 231 7 Josh Harding 77 Dylan Martini 86 Tanner Shultz 154 8 Glen Foll 68 Glen Foll 73 Cass Delsar 133 9 Daniel George 68 Brad Wanchulak 53 Ryan Clauson 107 10 James Keane 65 Darcy Corcoran 47 Dylan Martini 104
Season CategoryRecordSeasonHeld byMost Points 53 2006 Brad WanchulakMost Goals 26 2006 Brad WanchulakMost Assists 33 2006 Greg OddyMost Points (Defenceman) 36 2003 Dylan MartiniMost Penalty Minutes 154 2005 Tanner ShultzBest Goaltender Save % 91.8% 2005 Olivier MartinBest Goaltender G.A.A 2.24 2005 Olivier MartinMost Goaltender Wins 15 2006 Nigel WardMost Goaltender Shutouts 1 1999 / 2006 Eric Lien / Nigel WardMost Game Winning Goals 6 2003 / 2006 Greg Oddy / Brad WanchulakMost Power Play Goals 7 2006 Greg OddyMost Shorthanded Goals 4 2001 Trevor WalshMost Hatricks 4 2002 Greg OddyMost Consecutive GP with a point 17 2006 Greg Oddy
Single game CategoryRecordDateHeld byOpponentMost Points 9 19 Aug 2006 Greg Oddy Canberra KnightsMost Goals 5 19 Aug 2006 Brad Wanchulak Canberra KnightsMost Assists 6 19 Aug 2006 Greg Oddy Canberra KnightsMost Penalty Minutes 52 22 Jul 2006 Ryan Clauson Newcastle North StarsMost Goaltender Saves 58 28 May 2000 Eric Lien Sydney BearsFastest Goal (Start of Game) 14 secs 7 Jan 2000 Luke Thilthorpe Penrith PhantomsFastest Two Goals 6 secs 7 Aug 2000 Greg Oddy Canberra KnightsFastest Hatrick 5.01 mins 22 Jun 2003 Trevor Walsh Western Sydney Ice Dogs
Leaders Team captains
The Avalanche had three captains in the team's known history. The captain in 1999 and between 2002 and 2003 are currently unknown. No. Name Term 1 Pavel Bohacik 1999–01 2 Chris Brlecic 2004–05 3 Greg Oddy 2006–08 References:
Head coaches The Avalanche had four head coaches in the team's history. No. Name Term 1 John Botterill 1999–06 2 Brandon Williams 2007 3 Steve McKenna 2008 4 Corey Smith 2008 References:
General managers The Avalanche had two general manager groups (GMs) in the team's history. No. Name Term 1 Steve Oddy James Thilthorpe 1999–06 2 Alan Yarrow 2007–08 References:
References
External links
Adelaide Avalanche's website AIHL official web site Elite Prospects Team Profile