2004 Australian National Junior Team

The 2004 Australian National Junior Team competed in the IIHF 20 and Under Div III World Championships. The Championships were held in Sofia Bulgaria from 5 January to 11 January 2004. Competing teams were:

Mexico
Bulgaria
Turkey
Australia
New Zealand
China

Progress Reports from the National Junior Team

11 Jan 04 - Ross Noga, Manager Australian Junior Team

Australian Junior Team sweeps competition to collect Gold in Bulgaria

Well I cannot tell you how sweet it is to have a Gold medal around our necks and I am sure that the metal detectors will be going off at the airport when we depart Sofia. We finished the tournament with a 10-1 victory over Turkey today, meaning we ended up undefeated. As well we picked up up 3 individual award winners.

1) Best Goalkeeper- Jeremy Muir
2) Best Forward- Alex D'jamirze
3) Highest Points- James Keane

I would also like to mention that Thomas Powell was voted Australian player of the Championships which is a big accomplishment.

They have done the country of Australia proud.

10 Jan 04 - Ross Noga, Manager Australian Junior Team

"GOLD GOLD GOLD"

The Australian National Junior team has secured the Gold Medal at the Under 20 Div 3 World championships being held in Sofia,Bulgaria with a 10-3 win over New Zealand last night and with earlier wins over Bulgaria 10-4, Mexico 6-2 and the huge win over China 6-3. The team is now sitting alone at the top of the standings and with only 1 game left against Turkey we cannot be overtaken. This is a huge accomplishment for Junior hockey in Australia and this team deserves all the accolades, and it proves how invaluable our training camp in Canada prepared this team to challenge for the Gold . Well what more can I say than these players will sing the national anthem with vigour and pride and I am sure tears of satisfaction will run rampant when the Gold Medals are put around their necks

10 Jan 04

Australian Junior Team wins Gold Medal in Bulgaria

The Australian National Junior team has defeated New Zealand 10 - 3 in their fourth game at the World Under 20 Campionships Div III being played in Sofia Bulgaria and have won the Gold medal. With just one game remaining against Turkey tomorrow, the Australian team cannot be displaced from first place. In other games Mexico defeated Turkey 11-0, and China defeated Bulgaria 12-0.

This caps off a stellar 12 months for Australian Ice Hockey, in which we have seen three gold medalist teams move from Division 3 to Division 2 World Championships. Congratulations to the Junior team, this is an outstanding result!.

Standings after 10 Jan (unofficial)

Rk	Team	GP	W	T	L	GF:GA	TP
1	Australia	4	4	0	0	32-12	8
2	China	4	3	0	1	31-20	6
3	Mexico	4	2	0	2	19-13	4
4	New Zealand	4	1	0	3	10-20	2
5	Bulgaria	4	1	0	3	10-28	2
6	Turkey	4	1	0	3	9-28	2

8 Jan 04 - Ross Noga, Manager Australian Junior Team

NJT HAS FIRM GRIP OF GOLD MEDAL

What can I say about the performance of the National Junior Team against China last night, absolutely outstanding as they defeated China 6-3. We now sit atop the standings with games against New Zealand and Turkey left, if we win both which we are expected to do, we will bring another Gold Medal home to Australia. I was so proud of this team as they had to weather some early pressure as China scored 42 seconds into the game, but some oustanding goalkeeping from Jeremy Muir gave the team confidence and we tied the game at 1-1 after 1. In the second period we again fell behind 2-1 but with perseverance we tied the game and then took the lead 3-2 after 2 periods. The third period belonged to us as we scored again to lead 4-2 and then gave up a shorthanded goal to lead 4-3. James Keane then scored a captain's goal and we added another later in the game to seal victory. I want to add that Thomas Powell who 2 days ago was under an injury cloud and not a certain starter, played probably the game of his life and ended up with 3 goals and 1 assist to earn player of the match honours. I want to add that the team has not lost 1 period so far which is a huge accomplishment.

Goalscorers vs China.

1) Thomas Powell- 3
2 James Keane- 1
3) John Lavery- 1
4) Alex D'jamirze- 1

8 Jan 04

Australia defeats China 6-3

The Australian National Junior team has recorded its third straight win at the World Under 20 Div III Championships in Bulgaria, defeating the strong Chinese team 6 - 3. Australia needs to win just one of its last two games to be assured of a gold medal. In other games Mexico defeated New Zealand 4-3, and Turkey defeated Bulgaria 5-2.

Australia next plays New Zealand on Saturday, and Turkey on Sunday.

6 Jan 04 - Ross Noga, Manager Australian Junior Team

Australia defeats Mexico 6-2

Today we were put to the test by Mexico and they came out flying and controlled the game and without outstanding goalkeeping by Kyle Green we could have been in a hole. We led 2-1 after 1, 4-1 after 2 and held onto win 6-2 which puts in a great position to battle China on Thursday which could decide the Gold Medal. In other games Bulgaria 4 defeated New Zealand 1 and China 12 defeated Turkey 2.

Goalscorers vs Mexico

1) Alex D'jamirze - 2
2) Scott Stephenson - 2
3) James Keane - 1
4) Matthew Perry - 1

5 Jan 04 - Ross Noga, Manager Australian Junior Team

Australian Junior Team wins first game at World Championships

We could not have asked for a better start to the Championships as we totally out played and out hit Bulgaria. The scores were 3-1 after 1, 7-2 after 2 and the final score was 10-4. The other games saw China defeat Mexico 4-2 and New Zealand beat Turkey 3-2.

Goalscorers vs Bulgaria

1)) Alex D'jamirze - 3
2) Scott Stephenson -2
4 Mark Walsh -1
5) Thomas Powell -1
6) James Keane - 1
7) Aubyn Martin - 1
8) Corey Griffin - 1

5 Jan 04 - Ross Noga, Manager Australian Junior Team

NJT settles in at World Championships

The team has settled in very nicely into Bulgaria and after a couple of training sessions we are ready for our first game against Bulgaria later on this afternoon. The team awakened to a heavy snowfall this morning and these conditions are expected to continue for the next few days. The hotel where we are staying is very nice and due to lack of rooms both myself and Tim Mcmahon have been allocated apartment style suites each which is very nice and it allowed us to have the whole team on 1 floor.

31 Dec 03

Well the team has ony 1 day left in Canada before we head off to Germany, we had a very long exhausting day in Kelowna today with the boys firstly playing the Midget A team and defeating Kelowna 11-2 with Thomas Powell and James Keane both notching a hat trick as well as linemate Scott Stephenson bagging 2 goals. The team played very well with only a small lapse near the end of the game which cost Goaltender Kyle Green the shhutout, Kyle was again very sound between the pipes. In the afternoon game we played the Midget AA team and the fatigue really showed as Kelowna took the game too us and outplayed us most of the game. The team then headed off to watch the WHL Kelowna Rockets play Kamloops Blazers in front of a sellout crowd, the game was very fast and skillful nwith Kelowna scoring a goal with 4 minutes left that the Kamloops goalie wished he could have back as it was a very soft dumpin that bounced and changed direction and it turned out to be the winner as Kelowna WON 2-1. Well tomorrow is packing day so the next update will be from Sofia.

30 Dec 03

Last night we defeated the Okanagan Midgets 4-1 after trailing 1-0 after the second period, the team played very well and we got outstanding Goalkeeping from Kyle Green. We watched Penticton lose 10-5 today in Junior A and it was a very hard physical affair. Tomorrow we train twice and the boys get to do some curling which will be fun, we then head to Kelowna for 2 practice games against a couple of midget teams before watching Kelowna play Kamloops in the WHL. I will send another update after the Kelowna games.

From the www.kijhl.com website

Saturday, December 27, 2003 - Barry Dewar, General Manager, Osoyoos Storm

Australian National Junior vs the Storm

The Osoyoos Storm played one last game before the Christmas and New Years break. On December 22 the Storm faced off against the Australian National Junior team. The Australians are in town to train until January 2 when they travel to Sofia, Bulgaria for the Division III, IIHF Hockey World Championships.

The Storm had only 14 skaters as several players missed the game due to injury, and other travel commitments. The Storm skated to a 7-3 win in a very enjoyable game for both the players and the fans. The Australian team wanted a physical game and the Storm gave it to them. The Australian coach wanted his team to learn from the game and the Storm agreed. Wes Wright playing in only his third game with the Storm had a great game, laying several big hits on the Australians. Wes who is only 16 years old played a very physical game. Steve Brown one of the other new additions scored a goal on a howitzer from the point. Other goal scorers were Seidler with two, Thompson, Busche, Clarke, and Gunson.

Scoring for the Australian team were Sean Jones, Alex D'Jamirze and Mark Walsh. Jeremy Muir played a strong game in the Australian goal turning aside over 50 shots. Several of the Australian players showed great talent, and several have indicated a desire to play Junior in Canada next season. Look for a couple at training camp this coming August.

The Australians next meet the South Okanagan Midget rep team on December 27, in what should prove to be a great game.

21 Dec 03

Well the Australian National Junior team has settled in very well to the cold conditions here in Osoyoos and we received a light dumping of snow overnight. The weather here is very cold but the team is handling the conditions very professionally. We were able to watch the Osoyoos Storm battle to a 4-4 draw with Sicamous last night in a very hard fought Junior b game, it was 4-1 Sicamous early in the third period before Osoyoos launched a comeback. It gave us an indication of what to expect in our upcoming games starting on Sunday against Summerland. I will keep you all posted to the teams progress.The Canadian people have been absolutely wonderful and are very happy to go out of there way to make sure our stay is a memorable one.

2004 National Junior Team Members