Gold Coast Blue Tongues

The Bartercard Gold Coast Blue Tongues, formerly known as the Brisbane Blue Tongues was a former semi-professional ice hockey team in the Australian Ice Hockey League. The team played its home games at the Iceland in Bundall, Gold Coast, Queensland.

Gold Coast Blue Tongues
City	Bundall, Gold Coast, Queensland
League	Australian Ice Hockey League
Founded	2005
Home arena	Gold Coast Iceland
Colours	Green, blue and white
General manager	Dave Emblem
Head coach	Peter Nixon
Website	Bluetongues.com.au
Franchise history
2005–2007	Brisbane Blue Tongues
2008–2015	Gold Coast Blue Tongues
Championships
Regular season titles	0
Conference Championships	0
Goodall Cups	0

History

The Blue Tongues, along with the Central Coast Rhinos, were part of the AIHL's expansion for the 2005 season. The name Blue Tongues is a reference to the blue-tongued lizard which is found in large numbers in the Brisbane suburbs. The lizard is featured in the team's logo.

On 6 June 2006, the Blue Tongues announced that former NHL forward Rob Zamuner would join the team for at least the remainder of the 2006 season. Zamuner is a veteran of 13 NHL seasons and has played for such teams as the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning.

At the start of the 2007 season the Blue Tongues signed former New York Islanders draft pick Tyrone Garner to replace leaving veteran goaltender Milan Novysedlak. Garner made his NHL debut in the 1998/99 season, playing 3 games for the Calgary Flames. In the time since Garner has played in the AHL, ECHL and in Germany.

From 1 April 2008, Bartercard came on board as the naming sponsor for the Blue Tongues.[1]

In 2008, the Blue Tongues announced their relocation from the Ice World in Boondall, Queensland to Iceland Bundall, Gold Coast, Queensland, for sponsorship reasons and to bring the players closer together, due to many of the import players already living on the Gold Coast.[2] However, this was not without its difficulties, as the small Iceland rink, according to its owners, was never intended for senior ice hockey, and there were complaints from rival teams and from the league about the suitability and safety of the venue. This all came to a head in 2011 and 2012, with one match called off in each season due to the surface being deemed unplayable. The team was evicted from the rink by its owners after the second cancellation, forcing at short notice the relocation of its last seven home matches in the 2012 season to Iceworld in Acacia Ridge, Brisbane, with the matches played at 10:30pm, a better time unable to be negotiated with the rink due to the short notice of the relocation.[3][4] The club intended the move to Brisbane to be temporary, and intended to return to the Gold Coast when able to do so.[5] In October 2012 the teams license was suspended due to the team being unable to secure a home venue for 2013.[6]

On 23 November 2013, it was announced that the team will remain on hiatus for the 2014 season, with aims on returning to the AIHL in 2015, possibly in Brisbane.[7] However, by 2015, those hopes never materialized and the team's license has expired.[8]

Season-by-season record

Season	GP	W	T	SOW	SOL	L	GF	GA	PTS	Finish	Playoff
2005	26	8	1	4	0	13	104	104	33	7th	Did not qualify
2006	28	10	0	1	0	17	117	114	32	6th	Did not qualify
2007	28	15	–	0	4	9	107	101	46^1	5th	Did not qualify
2008	28	8	–	0	3	17	104	154	27	7th	Did not qualify
2009	24	13	–	1	3	7	108	86	44	4th	Lost semifinal vs. Newcastle North Stars, 3–5
2010	24	9	–	1	1	13	84	107	30	5th	Did not qualify
2011	28	13	–	1	2	12	120	115	43	5th	Did not qualify
2012	24	10	–	0	3	11	81	85	33	3rd, Easton	Did not qualify

_{1 - The AIHL imposed the loss of 3 competition points to the Blue Tongues as a result of the playing unregistered player Jani Pekkarinen.}

Players and personnel

Current roster

Team roster for the 2012 AIHL season.[9]

#	Nat	Name	Pos	Date of Birth	Acquired	Birthplace
10		Jon Bale	F	4 June 1986	2005	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
21		Anthony Barnes	F	1988	2012
4		Greg Bay	D	2 April 1989	2012	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
22		Marco Bertossa	D/F	12 April 1974	2008	Zurich, Switzerland
44		Adam Blanchette	D	21 February 1986	2012	Berlin, Connecticut, United States
7		Jeremy Brucker	F	8 December 1989	2012
11		Andreas Camenzind	F	1 February 1982	2012	Wettingen, Switzerland
6		Jack Conner	F	7 March 1989	2008	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
14		Matt Courtney	F	9 April 1983	2011
16		Etienne Du Toit	F	5 December 1985	2012	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
1		Kane Easterbrook	G	23 June 1988	2011
9		Adam Geric	F	21 March 1989	2011	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
30		Alain Giauque	G	18 August 1985	2012
14		Alexander Hall	F	11 May 1990	2011	Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
27		Ross Howell	D/F	4 November 1979	2006	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
8		Matthew Johnson	F	3 February 1992	2011
1		Anthony Kimlin	G	20 January 1990	2012	Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
55		Carter Lawrence	F	25 February 1996	2012	Kennedy, Saskatchewan, Canada
12		Matt Maycock	D	1988	2012
13		Mike McRae	F	6 December 1981	2010	Berkley, Michigan, United States
88		Jordan Millen	F	1995	2012	Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
66		Casey Minson	D/F	10 October 1985	2012	Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia
1		Nicholas Novysedlak	G	11 August 1995	2012
24		Ben O'Driscoll	F	14 October 1986	2012	Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
19		Matt Papineau	F	26 January 1988	2012	Belle River, Ontario, Canada
55		Tom Pesce	D	11 October 1991	2012	Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, United States
22		James Sanford	D	18 June 1984	2012	Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
5		Ben Spillane	D	26 November 1981	2005	Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
8		Cameron Trew	D	16 August 1989	2008	Queenstown, New Zealand

Notable former players

• Rob Zamuner (2006)
• Gaetan Royer (2008)

Media coverage

During the 2007 AIHL season Brisbane Blue Tongues home games were broadcast on the Brisbane community television station Briz 31 (UHF Channel 31). During the 2008 AIHL season, the Gold Coast Blue Tongues games were broadcast live over the internet and also on the Brisbane community television station Briz 31 (UHF Channel 31). All the games were filmed by Blue Tongues supporter Mike Crowhurst from Cunning Crow Productions and commentated by Blue Tongues Team Assistant Adrian Barclay. In 2009 there were no broadcast games.

See also

References

1. Hansen, Sam (22 April 2008). "Bartercard Gold Coast Blue Tongues". Bartercard Gold Coast Blue Tongues. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
2. Gardini, Adam (4 February 2008). "Lizard Insider". Lizard Insider. Archived from the original on 16 July 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
3. Lambert, Peter (10 July 2011). "10 July Dogs @ Blue Tongues game cancelled". Australian Ice Hockey League. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
4. "Blue Tongues relocate". Australian Ice Hockey League. 8 June 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
5. Wilson, Terry; Fineran, Leah (12 June 2012). "Blue Tongues to finish season in Brisbane". News.com.au. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
6. Kiely, Ben (20 October 2012). "The AIHL Will Revert to an 8 Team Competition for 2013". Australian Ice Hockey League. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
7. http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=7730dc01e417b52bd1a45000b&id=c64d4d2826
8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. "Gold Coast Blue Tongues". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 16 June 2010.

External links

• Bartercard Gold Coast Blue Tongues Official Site
• Australian Ice Hockey League
• Gold Coast Blue Tongues on Twitter
• Gold Coast Blue Tongues on Facebook