The Sydney Ice Dogs are proud to announce the signing of Tim and Paul Crowder for the 2019 AIHL Season. The Brothers are currently playing against each other in the British Elite league (EIHL) as members of the Coventry Blaze and Fife Flyers. Hailing from British Columbia, Canada, the pair are looking forward to playing together again in the AIHL.

Signing the dynamic duo for the 2019 season has been a major accomplishment for Ice Dogs Coach Andrew Petrie,

“I’m excited to work with Tim and Paul and add them to our roster,” said Petrie.

“I’ve been in touch with the brothers for a couple of years now, and I’m excited we have been able to bring them both to the Ice Dogs at the same time.”

Aged 33 and 32 respectively, the Crowders bring a wealth of hockey experience to the Ice Dogs dressing room.

Between the two of them, they have played over 750 professional hockey games, plus 258 US College games (NCAA Div 1), with Tim winning the NCAA Championship in 2007 as a member of Michigan State. 

Originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005 , Tim has had an extensive International career, playing in number of the highest European Leagues.

“I played a few years in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), before finishing a season in Sweden Div1” explained Tim

“After Sweden, I spent five years playing Ligue Magnus in France; I had a short stop in Czech to play in Czech2, but headed back to France to finish the season. I’m currently playing in the UK’s EIHL”

Brother Paul shares a similar well-travelled hockey story.  

“I got a scholarship to University of Alaska Anchorage where I played for 3 years before signing my first Professional Contract with the New York Rangers. I played for their farm team in the AHL that year which was the Hartford Wolfpack.” said Paul

“After my year there, I bounced around the ECHL and AHL for 7 years with stints in Austria and France.”

“I took a year off hockey in 2016/17 due to an injury and thought about retirement. But I missed the game too much, so the following year I found a place to play in the UK and stayed for this season”.

At the time of writing this article, the brothers are both leading their current EIHL teams in scoring, Tim with the Coventry Blaze (41 GP, 19G, 31A) and Paul with the Fife Flyers (41 GP, 22G, 29A).

The Brothers have heard great things about the AIHL and the quality of the hockey in Australia and decided they had to come and see for themselves.

“Everyone knows about the Australian Hockey League if they’ve been around,” said Tim.

“I’ve always been interested in coming and playing in Australia and to do it alongside my brother in the last few years of our hockey careers will be great. We are both happy to be joining the Ice Dogs for the upcoming season”

The 2019 Ice Dogs campaign gets under way on Saturday 20 April at the Macquarie Ice Rink, when they face off against cross-town rivals the Sydney Bears. The Sydney Battle is one of the most hotly contested match ups on the AIHL calendar with capacity crowds cheering on the Sydney Clubs.