Red Devils JEL
7 years ago the New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation introduced the New Zealand Ice Hockey League (NZIHL) to the country. This competition was introduced to improve and extend a large number of senior players giving all the New Zealand Ice Hockey teams a greater depth of players to make their selections from.
In 2010 the New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation entered into another exciting new era by introducing the New Zealand Junior Elite league (NZJEL) to the country. This competition runs along similar lines to the NZIHL competition and is made up of players U16 years of age. The Junior Elite League will have 3 teams – Auckland, Canterbury & Southern. Players eligible to play must be born 15 years before the year of the competition, or earlier, ie. U16. Imports- non NZ born players are limited to 20% of the team. Players can be male or female.
In 2010 the Canterbury Team won the competition convincingly before the final tournament round had started with a strong contingent of Senior (1995) players. 11 players from the team were selected for the NZD U16 Team.
In 2011 the Canterbury Team faced a variety of struggles which included player availability due to ‘graduation’, financial and personal obstacles with the Feb 2011 Earthquake but managed to field team included some players with dispensation.
In 2012 Canterbury expects some better results and the “potential squad” has had 9 games in 2011 following the end of the JEL season to get ready for 2012. It is expected that the squad will have another set of games before the season starts in the middle of next year. The appointment of the Official management and coaching staff/team has not been undertaken.
The JEL schedule will be available when confirmed and we look forward to your support at the home games.
JEL Management and Coaching Staff (2010/2011Assistant Coach Mike Johnson)
