The Botany Swarm is a semi-professional ice hockey team based in East Auckland, New Zealand. The team is a member of the New Zealand Ice Hockey League (NZIHL). The team was founded in 2005 as the South Auckland Swarm. Their name was changed prior to the 2007 season due to it being similar to one of the other teams and to better reflect the area in Auckland where their home rink is located (in the suburb of Botany Downs). They play their home games out of the Paradice Ice Skating Botany Rink known as The Hive.

Botany Swarm
CityAuckland, New Zealand
LeagueNew Zealand Ice Hockey League
Founded2005; 19 years ago (2005)
Home arenaParadice Ice Skating Botany
ColoursWhite, maroon, black, yellow
       
General managerTravis Crickard
Head coachPhillip Fourie
CaptainAndrew Hay
Websitebotanyswarm.co.nz
Franchise history
2005-2007South Auckland Swarm
2007-present;Botany Swarm
Championships
Birgel Cup4 (2007, 2008, 2010, 2011)
Current season

History edit

2017 Season edit

7 May 2017, the Swarm announced that after 11 seasons, head coach Andreas Kaißer has stepped down, and will be replaced by former Swarm alumnus Brandon Contratto. However due to personal reasons Brandon was unable to commit to the role. Former assistant coach Jeff Boehme took the role of head coach for the 2017 season.

The Botany Swarm welcomed four new imports for the 2017 season: Petr Zítka from the Czech Republic, Ryan Widmar from Illinois, Maximilian Hadraschek from Germany and Alex Mitsionis from Ohio.

2018 Season edit

10 December 2017, the Swarm announced that Ian Wannamaker was appointed as the new head coach. Ian Wannamaker played for the Botany Swarm from 2007-2015 and represented New Zealand from 2010-2013, 2015.

23 December 2017, the Swarm announced that assistant coach of the Kelowna Rockets Travis Crickard was appointed as the new assistant coach.

The Botany Swarm welcomed four new imports for the 2018 season: Declan Weir an Irish Canadian, Harry Ferguson from Scotland, Colin Langham from Georgia and Lucas Bombardier from Vermont.

26 May 2018, Alexandr Polozov played his 100th game for the Botany Swarm against the Canterbury Red Devils.

9 June 2018, Jordan Challis played his 150th game for the Botany Swarm against the Dunedin Thunder.

21 July 2018, Logan Fraser played his 50th game for the Botany Swarm against the Dunedin Thunder.

5 August 2018, The Botany Swarm had their 200th NZIHL game.

2019 Season edit

22 February 2019, Travis Crickard appointed Botany Swarm General Manager/CEO.

24 February 2019, Joel Rindelaub appointed Botany Swarm Interim Assistant General Manager.

The Botany Swarm welcomed four new imports for the 2019 season: Andrea Ricca from Italy, Corey McEwen born in Cardiff and now living in Toronto, Corey Morgan from New Jersey and Daniel Iasenza from Montreal.

11 May 2019, Michelle Cox appointed Botany Swarm Head Coach.

9 June 2019, Andrew Hay played his 200th game for the Botany Swarm against the West Auckland Admirals.

2021 Season edit

The roster included goaltender Grace Harrison,[1][2] one of only two women competing in the league.

Season by season results edit

Season GP W OTW T OTL L GF GA PTS Finish Playoff Ref
2005 6 2 2 2 21 20 11 3rd Did not qualify [3]
2006 6 5 0 1 25 17 15 1st Lost final (Southern Stampede) [3]
2007 10 8 1 1 44 28 26 2nd Won final (Canterbury Red Devils) [3]
2008 12 8 3 1 65 35 31 2nd Won final (Canterbury Red Devils) [3]
2009 16 7 2 7 71 70 16 3rd Did not qualify [3]
2010 16 10 1 2 3 76 50 34 1st Won final (West Auckland Admirals) [3]
2011 16 12 0 1 3 94 44 37 1st Won final (Southern Stampede) [3]
2012 16 3 0 2 11 45 82 11 5th Did not qualify [3]
2013 16 7 2 4 3 110 77 30 3rd Did not qualify [3]
2014 16 5 2 2 7 71 70 21 4th Did not qualify [3]
2015 16 4 1 2 9 67 87 16 3rd Did not qualify [3]
2016 16 6 1 0 9 63 73 20 4th Did not qualify [3]
2017 16 4 1 2 9 53 95 16 4th Did not qualify [3]
2018 16 5 0 1 10 59 86 16 4th Did not qualify [3]
2019 16 10 0 1 5 81 49 31 2nd Lost semifinal (West Auckland Admirals) [3]
2020 4 0 0 1 4 7 26 1 2nd Playoffs not held [3]
2021 14 6 2 0 6 54 51 22 Playoffs cancelled [4]

Players edit

Current roster edit

Team roster for the 2018 NZIHL Season[5]

2018 NZIHL Botany Swarm Roster
# Nat Name Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
6   Michael Attwell (A) F L 32 2009 Johannesburg, South Africa
19   KC Ball F R 48 2005 Mission, British Columbia, Canada
2   Matas Barakauskas D L 32 2018 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
32   Barr Bialik G L 20 2019 Haifa, Israel
22   Jordan Challis (A) F R 32 2007 Auckland, New Zealand
9   Eric Chung D R 27 2019 Takapuna, New Zealand
5   Edward Commons D R 30 2019 Auckland, New Zealand
24   Logan Fraser D R 25 2014 Auckland, New Zealand
37   Grace Harrison G L 26 2015 Auckland, New Zealand
13   Andrew Hay (C) D R 38 2005 Auckland, New Zealand
21   Joshua Hay F R 35 2005 Auckland, New Zealand
20   Oliver Hay D R 26 2013 Auckland, New Zealand
26   Thomas Heather D L 27 2013 Auckland, New Zealand
1   Michael Hopkinson G L 33 2013 Auckland, New Zealand
11   Richard Hopkinson F R 31 2016 Auckland, New Zealand
14   Daniele Iasenza F R 28 2019 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
18   Kyle Jonsson F R 27 2013 Auckland, New Zealand
27   Maxim Kaluzhny F R 34 2015 Vladivostok, Russia
28   Ondrej Kozak F R 36 2014 Rakovník, Czech Republic
34   Antony Logan F R 21 2019 Albany, New Zealand
17   Stephen Mawson D R 33 2016 Whangarei, New Zealand
7   Corey McEwen F R 31 2019 Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
33   Jake McIntyre F R 22 2019 Auckland, New Zealand
4   Corey Morgan D L 28 2019 Ridgewood, New Jersey, United States
31   Rick Parry G L 36 2019 Kauri, New Zealand
10   Aleksander Polozov F L 37 2016 Kohtla-Järve, Estonia
30   Maia Rata G L 41 2018 Auckland, New Zealand
15   Mak Rawiri D R 24 2019 Manukau, New Zealand
3   Andrea Ricca D L 34 2019 Pinerolo, Italy
29   Joel Rindelaub F R 37 2018 St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States
25   Remy Sandoy D R 31 2018 Auckland, New Zealand
36   Zac Snoad F R 21 2019 Auckland, New Zealand
23   Leith Thompson D R 38 2005 Auckland, New Zealand
8   Robin Vortanov F R 26 2014 Auckland, New Zealand
35   Ian Wannamaker F L 42 2007 Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
12   Sam Webb F L 25 2019 Auckland, New Zealand

Franchise scoring leaders edit

There are the top ten point scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NZIHL regular season.

# Player Seasons Pos GP G A Pts PIM
1   KC Ball 2005-18 F 184 73 118 191 82
2   Jordan Challis 2007-18 F 157 64 81 145 383
3   Alex Polosov 2010-14, 2016-18 F 113 62 75 137 327
4   Brandon Contratto 2013-15 F 47 59 66 125 105
5   Joshua Hay 2005-13, 2017-18 F 119 54 55 109 343
6   Michael Attwell 2009-17 F 131 35 57 92 182
7   Andrew Hay 2005-18 D 190 18 64 82 243
8   Ian Wannamaker 2007-15 D 104 43 38 81 149
9   Charlie Huber 2005-11, 2015 F 73 40 41 81 52
10   Lyle Idoine 2005-12 F 90 28 45 73 302

Franchise all-time most appearances edit

There are the top ten player who have made the most appearances in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NZIHL regular season.

# Player Seasons Pos RS Games PS Games
1   Andrew Hay 2005-18 D 190 6
2   KC Ball 2005-18 F 184 3
3   Jordan Challis 2007-18 F 157 2
4   Leith Thompson 2005-18 D 142 2
5   Michael Attwell 2009-17 F 131 0
6   Joshua Hay 2005-13, 2017-18 F 119 3
7   Alex Polosov 2010-14, 2016-18 F 113 0
8   Ian Wannamaker 2007-15 D 104 4
9   Samuel Boniface 2007-10, 2012–13, 2015 F 98 2
10   Lyle Idione 2005-12 F 90 3

Technical staff edit

Current as of 24 June 2019

2018 NZIHL Botany Swarm Staff
Position Name[6]
Head coach   Michelle Cox
Assistant coach   Corey McEwen
General Manager   Philippa Kaisser
Physiotherapist   Sankaran Duntellu
Team Staff   Michael Attwell

Leaders edit

Team captains edit

# Name From To
1   Rene Aish 4 June 2005 7 August 2005
2   George Pilgrim 9 June 2006 10 September 2006
3   Andrew Hay 26 May 2007 Current

Head coaches edit

# Manager From To Played Won Overtime Won Tied Overtime Lost Lost GF GA Win %
1   Andreas Kaisser 4 June 2005 4 September 2011 88 55 2 9 3 19 421 278 70.27%
2   Philip Lyle 9 June 2012 27 August 2012 18 3 0 0 2 13 53 96 20.37%
3   Andreas Kaisser 25 May 2013 7 August 2016 64 22 6 0 8 28 311 307 44.79%
4   Jeff Boehme 26 May 2017 6 August 2017 16 4 1 0 2 9 53 95 33.33%
5   Ian Wannamaker 26 May 2018 10 October 2018 16 5 0 0 1 10 59 86 33.33%

References edit

  1. ^ "Grace Harrison". eliteprospects.com/. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  2. ^ "2021 Team". botanyswarm.co.nz/. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Botany Swarm at eliteprospects.com". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  4. ^ "2021 New Zealand Ice Hockey League Div I". stats.iihf.com. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  5. ^ "2018 Botany Swarm Roster" (PDF). NZIHF. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  6. ^ "2018 Botany Swarm Roster" (PDF). NZIHF. Retrieved 4 July 2018.

External links edit