2025 Team Coaches Annoucement

As we look forward to an exciting 2025, we’re thrilled to unveil the exceptional coaching crew who will guide our teams through this coming year of growth, challenges, and achievements. These coaches bring a wealth of experience, passion, and commitment to excellence, ensuring our athletes are equipped to reach new heights.

U7/U9 Mites and Atoms

Sasha (Alexander) D’jamirze – Head Coach

Sasha began his ice hockey journey at the age of five, starting with Blacktown. Progressing through the ranks, Alexander reached the pinnacle of representing the Blacktown AIHL Ice Dogs. His talent and dedication earned him the honour of representing Australia in the Asia Oceanic Cup for several consecutive years.

Sasha’s career highlights include a season with the prestigious Central Red Army Moscow Junior Under-21s team, where he honed his skills alongside top-tier players. Currently, Alexander is an integral member of the Ice Zoo Hockey Club, continuing his passion for the sport and bringing a wealth of experience to his team.

Thomas McGuire – Assistant Coach

Tom is from the UK where he found his passion for the game of hockey at the age of 10. He then went on to play for nine years playing in the English national league for the Jets for four where he became the assistant captain to the team. After re uniting with the game he has spent the past two years coaching the Atoms for the saints where he has loved watching the kids Excel within the game. Tom can not wait to be part of the team.

Hugh Deraps – Assistant Coach (Backup)


U11 Squirts

Matt Monaghan – Head Coach

Matt moved over from the USA and has over 30 years of hockey experience as a player and coach. He was a member of the 2001 Illinois high school state championship team and played 6 seasons in the AIHL, where he appeared in 100 games and averaged 1 point per game. In 2010, Matt finished in the top 3 for AIHL MVP voting. Beyond hockey, he also served as Head of Junior Development for Pitterwater Baseball.

Nic Heinecke – Assistant Coach

Nic brings technical skating knowledge gained competing in short track internationally, including being trained under top Canadian coaches in Montreal. In the local junior ranks, he claimed gold in all race distances at national championships each year and competed at the inaugural Junior World Championship in Seoul, Korea. Nic has international accreditation as a ski instructor and a love of going fast, which led to him becoming qualified as a FIS-accredited alpine racing coach. His vision is to deliver to the club training in skate mechanics so that the players can transform their gameplay with speed, efficiency, and technical excellence in the skating elements of the game.

Sasha Djamirze – Assitant Coach (Backup)


U13 Peewees

Hugh Deraps – Head Coach

Born in Montreal Quebec, Hugh has been coaching ice and inline hockey since 1999, combining decades of experience with a commitment to player development and the love of the game. A former coach for the state of Victoria, he has also been an active official in both sports across Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Mentored by Ron Johnson of the EHS hockey program in Vancouver, Canada, Hugh brings a wealth of knowledge and dedication to the sport at every level.

Chip Graf – Assitant Coach

Chip started work in youth sports in Chicago as a baseball umpire for over 12 years, rising through the age leagues to officiate games up to 18 and under. During this time, he began coaching youth baseball and was a highly regarded Baseball hitting and pitching coach. During the winter months, Chip transitioned to basketball coaching. Upon moving to Australia in 2000, Chip was active in youth sports coaching and now works in sports his son is involved with. Chip has been a committee member and coach of the Alexandria Rovers U9 and U11. Chip has spent 3 years as an active coaching assistant and team manager with the Ice Zoo H.C. In his professional life, Chip is a top Sales Enablement trainer and general Learning & Development professional.


U15 Bantams

Alec Stephenson – Head Coach

Alec has over a decade of experience in the AIHL, won a gold medal with the U18 Australian Team and represented the U20 Australia Team. In 2013, he was a member of the Goodall Cup-winning Sydney Ice Dogs. With over 25 years of experience in the sport, alongside the contribution his family has made to ice hockey in Australia, he is beyond excited to help the Wolves develop and mentor the younger generation.

Photo: Peter Podlaha

Geoff O’Hara – Assitant Coach

Geoff O’Hara has been playing and coaching for over two decades. Having competitive experience at the international level in multiple sports has led to a lifetime of personal development and learning aimed at helping any athlete at any point in their journey in sport get to the next level and potentially a level.

Daniel Dornak – Assistant Coach (Training)

Daniel began playing ice hockey when he was 5 in the Czech Republic’s elite series with Skoda Plzen and continued competing in various leagues, including QLD 1st Division, where he was part of championship-winning teams with the Brisbane Buccaneers. He’s coached ice hockey and floorball juniors, national teams, and club-level players, bringing innovative methods like video analysis, mental coaching, and team-building activities into his training. He was a Head Coach of the Australian Men’s National Floorball Team and Floorball Australia Coaching Director. Currently, he coaches youth ice hockey players at Ice Zoo, sharing his passion and expertise with the next generation.

U18 Midgets

Alec Stephenson – Coaching Director

Alec will oversee the team selection, train players and assist coaches with systems and game-day duties.

Ash Moore – Associate Coach

Born in the picturesque hills of Vernon, BC, Canada, Ashley’s passion for hockey was sparked on a homemade backyard rink, skating with an upside-down bin in hand. A move to Melbourne, Australia, replaced the rink with a pool and a makeshift cricket pitch, but the dream of hockey never faded.

His coaching journey began with the Wolves and quickly expanded to mentoring players across all junior levels.

Now a Level 2 coach, Ash was an Assistant Coach of the 2024 Gold Medal-winning NSW DeFries team. With a commitment to continuous learning from seasoned players and coaches, Ashley brings an inspiring blend of passion and expertise to help players.

Orion Lynch – Associate Coach

Orion stepped onto the ice at age 2 and began his hockey journey at 7 with the Eagles and Bears. His development included playing for the Sydney Sting on the East Coast from the age of 15 and attending a prestigious hockey camp in the Czech Republic. Orion completed year 12 at the Ontario Hockey Academy, where he competed in Major Midget U18 AA, before advancing to the United States to play Junior A hockey for the Missoula Jr. Bruins.

Daniel Dornak – Assistant Coach (Training)


Training Support Coaches

Luka Dimopoulous – Goalie Coach

Luka’s ice hockey journey began at the age of 6. With a daring spirit, Luka took on the role as a tendy and saw his team through the highs and lows of 16 seasons. Luka’s competitive career has seen him compete internationally in Canada, at state and national championships, the ECSL, AJIHL and AIHL level.

Committed to growing in his field, Luka has been trained by Jon Elkin’s Goalie School in Toronto, Canada. An academy that has worked with NHL goalies that we see today, Luka has attended elite camps and worked 1:1 with NCAA and NHL coaches.

Expanding his skillset, Luka is now a level 1 goalie coach, when he’s not standing between the pipes, he’s mentoring the up and coming goalies at the Australian National Development Camp and club level. Luka was the goalie coach of this year’s gold medal winning NSW Tange U18s team. By fine-tuning his techniques over the years, Luka has been committed to coaching and developing the next generation of goalies.

Ethan Caruso

Scott Epp

Marek Kapsa

Peter Dunn

2025 Season Coaches and Managers EOI

We are now taking expressions of interest for coaches and managers for all our teams for the 2025 Season.

We are always looking to add to our crew of coaches and managers. No experience is required, so if you’d like to give it a go and learn from our experienced crew.

Submission closes on December 1st.

Ice Zoo Hockey Club 2024 End of Season Event

Buy your event ticket online by 30th October 2024.

Ice Zoo Hockey Club would like to invite members and their families to our end of season afternoon celebration at Harold Park Community Hall, Forest Lodge. All players will receive a medal or trophy in recognition of the 2024 season.

This will be followed by afternoon refreshments.

Tickets are $10 each and include a raffle ticket. Family tickets are $30 and include a raffle ticket for each person. More raffle tickets will be available on the day. Come for a chance to win a fantastic prize.

Welcome to the 2024 Season

Happy New Year, and welcome to the 2024 season.

Below is all the essential information you need to be ready to play ice hockey in 2024. 

On this page:

  1. Pre-season, tryouts and team selections start Wednesday, Jan 31st.
  2. Training times, 2024 Year planner and gear requirement.
  3. Registrations, Training Fees and Game fees
  4. Seniors’ tryouts and training structure
  5. Team coaching crew 

1- Pre-season, tryouts, and team selections start Wednesday, Jan 31st.

We will run a 5-week pre-season training for players to get back in shape and tryout for a team starting Wednesday, January 31st.

Dates:

  1. Jan 31st
  2. Feb 7th
  3. Feb 14th (Players Evaluation Night)
  4. Feb 21st
  5. Feb 28th 

For any team requiring tryouts due to either having too many players or for selecting a second team, a team selection panel, including the coaching staff, will be formed.

Players don’t need to do pre-season training to be selected on a team. However, it is highly recommended, especially if you’re new to the club.

In Week 3, the coaching staff will evaluate players on the ice for the purpose of team selection, player development and goal planning.

Pre-season is a pay-as-you-go and is not included in the season fees.

  • $30* per week – Pay on POS at the door or buy online.
  • Buy 5-week package for $140* (save $10) (non-refundable) – Buy online
  • Those who did the Early Bird scheme are covered for all 5 weeks.
  • Seniors who purchased the Early Bird will be credited for up to 3 weeks as they now only have 2 pre-season weeks per team.     

Each week, all players must check-in their attendance at the door before going on the ice. 

*+ credit card transaction fees

  

2- Training Times, always on a Wednesday

For pre-season and all team training, the times will be as follows:

  • 7U/9U/11U – 5:15 to 6:15 pm
  • Ice cut (15min)
  • 13U  – 6:30 to 7:30 pm
  • Ice cut (15min)
  • 15U/Women(Foxes) – 7:45 to 8:45 pm
  • Ice cut (15min)
  • 18U/ ECSL (Heat) – 9 to 10 pm
  • Ice cut (15min)
  • 2 Senior teams – 10:15 to 11:15 pm*

*Senior teams will alternate between times, and each team will have at least 2 training sessions per month.

Please review the year calendar for dates.

Gear requirements:

As always, to join in club activity, you need all the gear, and this year, seniors will also need to wear a neck guard. (This rule was always applied to juniors and is now extended to everyone). See the gear requirement list.      

3- Registrations, Training Fees and Game fees

Ice hockey always has 3 types of fees  to consider

  1. Yearly IHA/IHNSW registration
  2. Yearly Training ice fees
  3. Per game fee  

a) Registration is from March 1st to Feb 28th every year. Our 2024 memberships are not open yet, however: 

All returning players or players under a development membership are covered for the pre-season training.

All newcomers who never registered will need a temporary free try-out membership [click here to sign up] before getting on the ice. Once you click the link, simply sign up (if you don’t have an account.

Then, on March 1st 2024, the new registration cycle will open, and everyone on a team will need to register for their new membership. 

The new 2024 membership costs are not out yet, but below is last year’s cost to give you an idea for budgeting:

b) The 2024 training fees (once pre-season is finished) are as follows:

Explaining the breakdown:

The total training fee covers you for all training sessions for the season and is non-refundable.

It works out at ~$20-22 per week, depending on the team, if you attend every week.

Pay-as-you-go is not available for training because ice is the club’s most significant cost and must be shared across all players. 

IHNSW charges each team that has accredited game officials (referee and line officials). Not applicable to all teams.  

Club membership fee enables you to become a member and vote at AGMs. The funds raised from the membership get re-invested into hockey development and club activities.

If you choose to pay by 3 instalments, each instalment will be due on the following dates:

  • March 1st 
  • May 1st
  • July 1st      

c) Game fees are an estimate at this stage since the IHNSW game schedule is not out yet. 

  • Team managers organise and pay rinks on game day.
  • Some teams choose to collect in bulk. 
  • Teams will play around 15-20 games per season.
  • The cost is usually around $20-$25 per game.

4- Seniors tryouts and training structure

This year, our senior teams will have training during the season from 10:15 to 11:15 pm.

Seniors’ pre-season training slots will be as follows:

Dates:

  1. Jan 31st – For Wolves div1 and Apes div3 current returning players only
  2. Feb 7th – For Pigeons div2 and Hippos div4 current returning players only
  3. Feb 14th – Open tryouts open to any senior aged players looking to join one of our teams or move up a division.
  4. Feb 21st – For Wolves div1 and Apes div3 players only
  5. Feb 28th – For Pigeons div2 and Hippos div4 players only

The open tryout is an opportunity for any players to get selected to join one of our senior teams.

Team management will be present and will be selecting players based on available roster spots.

Once season training starts, it will continue to rotate as above from March 3rd, starting with Wolves Div 1 and Apes Div3 and so on. Please review the year planner for dates.

5- Team coaching crew

Our crews are being assembled as we speak, more will be added to the list but the core is set. 

U7/U9/U11

Game day U7/U9 coach: Ash Moore
U11 Head coach: Scott Epp

Training and assistant coaches:
Ethan Caruso
Tomas Krenek
Petr Kanak
Marek Kapsa
Matt Monaghan

U13

Head Coach: Hugh Deraps

Training and assistant coaches:
Nik Eberhardt
Amanda Sollars
Chip Graf
Scott Gillies
Ethan Caruso
Rory Forester

U15

Training and assistant coaches:

Daniel Dornak
Ethan Caruso

U18

Head Coach: Matt Adams
Manager: Kristen Burton

Arctic Foxes:

Head Coach: Logan Russel
Assistant Coach: Gabe Robledo
Assistant Coach: Craig Zimmerman
Manager: Natalie Caruso

Wolves Div 1

Manager/Coach: Gregor Rozenberg
Manager: Ash Moore

Pigeons Div 2

Manager/Coach: Steven Caruso
Coach: Logan Russell

Apes Div 3

Manager/Coach: Hugh Deraps

Hippos Div 4

Manager/Coach: Logan Russell

Goalie Coaches and Support

Sera Dogramaci
Luka Dimopoulos

Club Coaching Director

Gregor Rozenberg

2024 Seniors Tryouts

Open tryouts – open to any senior-aged (O18yo) players looking to join one of our teams or an existing player looking to move teams up a division.

  1. This Wednesday 14 February- 10:15 to 11:15pm
  2. A maximum of 30 players can participate in the tryouts on a first-in basis.
  3. We have a few spots available on each team of the 4 teams.
  4. Successfully selected players will be invited to join a team immediately after the session by the team selectors.
  5. Registration and pre-payment are required to lock in your spots in the tryouts.
  6. Any other club information about the season itself, team training fees, and league registration is available here.

Registrations to secure your spot, please complete both.

2024 Players and Goalies Expressions of Interest and Early Bird Registrations

The Ice Zoo Hockey Club is now ready to accept expressions of interest from any player or goalie interested in playing ice hockey on a team in 2024. 

  • We recommend that all players who want to play report to our Pre-season training program starting on January 31st 2024.
  • Pre-Season training will run for 5 weeks from Wed, Jan 31st to Feb 28th 2024. Please review our yearly planner here.
  • Pre-season is when the players come and try out, and the club selects teams for the 2024 season.
  • Pre-season is separate from the regular season. $30 per session. (Get a discount with Early Bird)
  • Once pre-season is completed, team training and season games will start.
  • Please fill in the form below to be considered.

The Ice Zoo Hockey Club is a fun and friendly place to learn, develop and excel at ice hockey.

  • We have teams at all levels available, including senior teams.
  • Women’s Team – open to all females 14 & over.
  • All player gear is required – see gear listGear fitting video
  • Season fees for training and games will be confirmed in February, but as an estimate to help you plan, depending on your age group, training fees will be around $500/yr and games around $400/yr if we get ~20 games ($20 to $25 per game).

If you’re a current club IZHC member, you are eligible for an Early Bird Registration to secure your spot on a team for the 2024 season and get a $30 discount towards your pre-season training fees.

(This also enables the club to prepare everything for the next season more efficiently.)

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀

  1. Pay $120 to the Ice Zoo Hockey club account (details below) by 31 December 2023 and save $30 off your or your (child’s) team’s pre-season training fees.
  2. Then you (or your child) will be given a spot to play for their appropriate team and do not have to qualify for the teams through a try-out, although a team selection may apply if there’s more than one team in your age group.

Please note that you will still need to pay the club registrations for the 2024 season (set for late Feb), including Ice Hockey NSW and Ice Hockey Australia.

𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

  1. IHNSW and Ice Hockey Australia determine your or your child’s eligibility to play in the 2024 season.
  2. To get Early Bird – submit this Form & pay $120 by 31st Dec 2023
  3. Payment can be made by transfer to:

    Ice Zoo Hockey Club
    BSB: 112879
    Account: 414419320
    USE PLAYERS NAME AS REFERENCE on payment

    Or Payment can be made by credit card through our check out link here 
  4. The ‘Early Bird’ payment is non-refundable and is considered as an advance payment of the player’s Pre-season Training Fees for the 2024 Season worth $150, but you pay $120 ($30 discount).

Coaching Opportunities for the 2024 Season!

Exciting News! We’re currently seeking expressions of interest for coaches and managers for all our teams.

We’re on the lookout for enthusiastic individuals to join our team of coaches and managers. No prior experience is necessary, so if you’re interested in giving it a try and learning from our experienced crew, we encourage you to apply.

Don’t miss out on this chance to be part of our team!

Spring Camp at the Zoo

Stay in top shape and identify areas for improvement this spring, setting the foundation for a stronger performance in the coming year.

Click image to download PDF details


Players/ Goalies must be registered with a club or hold a development junior membership.

For those playing in the Juicebox 2023 league, use the “JUICEBOX” coupon and save $50.

All ice hockey gear is required, including a neck guard, training jersey and socks.

Download the full gear list here.

If you have any other questions, please contact us