The Blackhawks Ice Hockey Club were born in Southbank, Victoria in 1947 inside the famed Melbourne Glaciarium. This was the 2nd year since league competition hockey resumed after the devastating effects of the second World War. The Blackhawks are the 3rd oldest ice hockey club in Victoria, currently operating.
The second great war had taken it's toll on everybody, including members of the Australian ice hockey community where many lost their lives. The Victorian Ice Hockey Association hockey competition had ceased and the Association only a shadow of its former self and remained so for years during the war time activity. Membership was low, at times no higher than 100 players in the state with only limited practice sessions being available at the Glaciarium on 16 City Road and at the St. Moritz Ice Palais, playing inter-club hockey matches as they were able to. It was in these sessions in the mid-1940's where youth were being trained and seasoned state level veterans making their way to the ice rink.
One such state representative player was John “Jack” “Chook” Tuckerman, said to be a driving force behind the formation of the Blackhawks in 1947. Jack Tuckerman would take young players under his wing in the 1944-45 practice sessions and they were described as:
“Tuckerman and his proteges practically lived ice hockey in those days. General sessions were used for training in a way that would amaze the present day youngsters. Weaving, turning, twisting on crowded rinks, using first this edge then that edge, hours of skating backwards all played their part. With this went the theories of the game. This was the grounding of the young Dave Cunningham which assures today's star of the automatic reflexes which make the difference between a player and a champion.”
Cunningham had played with the Northern Suburbs ice hockey club in the 1946 season, the first season since the wartime activity. Cunningham would join the Blackhawks in their inaugural season with Tuckerman and together with Egon “Frosty” Winter became known as the best scoring line the state had ever seen.
Egon “Frosty” Winter was another seasoned player responsible for the development of players such as Noel Derrick , Ron Amess and Dave Cunnigham. Winter would go on to coach the Blackhawks in the 1940’s and Stan Grey the Blackhwaks Manager who coached the team into the 1960’s.
There were 2 teams from the Melbourne Glaciarium who joined the existing 4 Suburbs teams from the St. Moritz Ice Skating Palais in a major 1947 re-brand of the Victorian Ice Hockey Association competition and saw the return of inter-rink competition in Victoria. The Blackhawks and the Wildcats. In a recent conversation with Victorian hockey legend Charlie Grandy, it was said the Blackhawk logo was inspired by a WW2 plane but the details of which plane have been forgotten.
*There was a B-17 Bomber named “Black Hawk” with a strikingly similar logo that was part of the mission “Aphrodite”, the nose cone artwork was painted by Sgt Johnnie White of the 96th Bomb Group in Snetterton, England. Currently no evidence supports a link between the club logo and this aircraft.
Described in their first year:
“the glamour boys of the set-up are the Blackhawks run by a manager in the truest American tradition, they are the best disciplined and organised club in the business.”
The club began their season providing their players with all of their equipment except for skates – something that had never been done at the time and was unheard of. The Blackhawks would go on to win the H.H. Kleiner Memorial Trophy in their inaugural season, this trophy was donated the previous year by the St. Moritz Ice Palais proprietor Harry Hans Kleiner.
Amid an unresolved despute, 1950 would see the Blackhawks exit the Victorian Association hockey and instead become a founding team for a new Melbourne Glaciarium league, the Victorian Ice Hockey League (VIHL). The Blackhawks would compete against the Wildcats and a new team put together by goaltender Clarrie King, the Golden Bears, who was the organiser, founder and manager of the new Bears club. The league lasted 3 seasons before an agreement was reached and the Glaciarium and St. Moritz clubs would again engage in inter-rink competition. The Blackhawks would rejoin the Victorian Ice Hockey Association competition in 1951.
The Blackhawks home, the Melbourne Glaciarium, closed in 1957 and the Blackhawks would win their 4th H.H. Kleiner Memorial Trophy this year. The club has remained the most unchanged Victorian ice hockey club, having never changed their uniform base colour of white or their colour scheme of white, red and black. The club have also never been part of a merger, they have always remained Blackhawks.
In 1987, the club was forced to re-locate to the Olympic Ice Skating Centre in Oakleigh when the Dandenong rink shut down. The Hawks remained at Oakleigh until a remodelled Iceland was opened at Ringwood in 1994 and housed the club through a growth surge that saw a great crop of juniors dominate the competition through to the clubs first “A" Grade championship win for 18 years in 2002. This rink also went the way of others and closed in 2003.
2004 saw the club housed at the short-lived Eastern Ice Skating Centre in Bayswater. Its closure the following year saw the club return to Oakleigh which was the only rink in Melbourne and housed all the IHV clubs except for Bendigo.
While this period saw stunted development of the league due to lack of ice time, the club experienced sustained success through different grades.
The year 2009 saw the opening of the long awaited Medibank Icehouse at Docklands which is the location for the majority of checking level competition of IHV. This also brought about a major re-structure within the league occurred with the clubs no longer controlling or fielding junior level teams.
The increase in available ice time however allowed for the growth of a non-checking and recreational level along with the existing IHV Premier A & Reserve levels. Due to the increase in numbers, the IHV competition is divided into two seasons – Winter & Summer.
References:
1. “The men In Our Game” Ice Hockey Guide. 8 June, 1956 page 11.
2. “Egon Winter (Frosty)” - Legends of Australian Ice
https://icelegendsaustralia.com/1stIceChampions-hockey.html#Winter
3. “The men in our game” Ice Hockey Guide. 13 July, 1956.
4. “World’s Fastest Sport” The Argus 23 August 1947.
Blackhawks Timeline
1947 - Senior A Champions - Winner of the H. H. Kleiner Trophy.
1955 - Senior A Champions - Winners of the H. H. Kleiner Trophy.
1956 - Senior A Champions - Winners of the H. H. Kleiner Trophy.
1957 - Senior A Champions - Winners of the H. H. Kleiner Trophy.
1958 - Senior A Champions - Winners of the H. H. Kleiner Trophy.
1960 - Senior A Champions - Winners of the H. H. Kleiner Trophy.
1962 - Senior A Champions - Winners of the H. H. Kleiner trophy & Senior B Champions - Winners of the JP Oliphant Trophy
1965 - Senior A Champions - Winners of the H. H. Kleiner Trophy & Australian Senior A Club Championship
1966 - Senior A Champions - Winners of the H. H. Kleiner Trophy & Senior B Champions - Winners of the JP Oliphant Trophy.
1968 - Senior B Champions - Winners of the JP Oliphant Trophy
1977 - Blackhawks relocate to Dandenong Coliseum
1977 - IHV Junior League Created (Junior A - Under 18)
1979 - IHV Junior League adds Junior B (Under 14)
1981 - IHV Junior League adds Junior C (Under 12)
1982 - Junior B Champions & Junior C Champions /Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (1)
1983 - Senior B Champions - Winners of the JP Oliphant Trophy, Junior B Champions & Junior C Champions /Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (tied Demons) (2)
1984 - Senior A Champions - Winners of the H. H. Kleiner Trophy, Senior B Champions - Winners of the JP Oliphant Trophy, Junior B Champions & Junior C Champions / Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (3)
1985 - Senior B Champions - Winners of the JP Oliphant Trophy & Junior A Champions /Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (4)
1986 - Junior B Champions
1987 - Junior A Champions, Junior B Champions & Junior C Champions / Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (5)
1988 - Junior A Champions, Junior B Champions & Junior C Champions /Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (6)
1989 - Senior B Champions - Winners of the JP Oliphant Trophy & Junior B Champions /Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (7)
1990 - Junior B Champions
1993 - Senior B Champions - Winners of the JP Oliphant Trophy / Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (8)
1994 - Re-opening of Iceland Ringwood (club relocated)
1994 - Junior A Champions & Junior B Champions
1995 - Junior A Champions
1996 - Senior B Champions - Winners of the JP Oliphant Trophy, Junior A Champions, Junior B Champions & Junior C Champions / (Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (9)
1997 - Celebration of 50 Years of Blackhawks Hockey. / Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (10)
1998 - Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (11)
2000 - Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (12)
2002 - Formation of Melbourne Ice to compete in AIHL
2002 - Senior A Champions - Winners of the H. H. Kleiner Trophy / Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (13)
2004 - Opening of Eastern Ice Skating Centre (Bayswater) - (club relocated)
2004 - Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (14)
2005 - Senior A Champions - Winners of the H. H. Kleiner Trophy / Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (15)
2006 - Senior A Champions - Winners of the H. H. Kleiner Trophy / Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (16)
2006 - IHV Senior C / Rec C level added
2006 - Senior C / Rec C Champions
2007 - Celebration of 60 Years of Blackhawks Hockey.
2007 - Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (tied Braves) (17)
2008 - Senior A Champions - Winners of the Russell Jones Trophy. (Previously H. H. Kleiner Trophy)
2009 - Opening of the Docklands Icehouse (Medibank Icehouse / O'Brien Group Arena / O'Brien Icehouse)
2010 - Formation of Melbourne Mustangs to compete in AIHL
2014 - Premier C1 Champions - Winners of the Clive Connelly Trophy.
2015 - Premier C1 Champions - Winners of the Clive Connelly Trophy
2017 - Celebration of 70 Years of Blackhawks Hockey.
2017 - Senior B Champions - Winners of the JP Oliphant Trophy
2018 - Opening of IceHQ (Puckhandlers / Reservoir)
2018 - Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (18)
2019 - Premier A Champions - Winners of the H. H. Kleiner Trophy & Senior B Champions - Winners of the the JP Oliphant Trophy / Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (19)
2020 - Season cancelled due to Covid-19
2021 - Season started but unable to be completed - due to Covid-19
2022 - Premier A Champions - Winners of the H. H. Kleiner Trophy / Senior B Champions - Winners of the the JP Oliphant Trophy / Senior C Champions - Winners of the John McRae-Williamson Perpetual Trophy / Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (20)
2023 - Premier A Champions - Winners of the H. H. Kleiner Trophy / Senior B Champions - Winners of the the JP Oliphant Trophy / Senior C Champions - Winners of the John McRae-Williamson Perpetual Trophy / Awarded the Kurt DeFris Shield as VIHA Club Champions (21)