Last season came to a sad end as the league fell apart with games not being played and teams disbanding or breaking up for the Summer. No playoffs took place and eventually the Irish Ice Hockey Association (IIHA) decided to settle the final standings of the regular season on win percentage. Based on this principle, the Dundalk Bulls won the league with the Latvian Hawks as the runner-up. Adding further confusion, the IIHA made contradictionary statements as to whether the Bulls had also won the title or a playoff for the title between the Bulls and the Hawks would take place later in 2009 when a suitable rink was available.

In the unlikely event that the new Executive Committee of the IIHA decides that a playoff for the 2009 title will take place, this means that Latvian Hawks would formally have to be resurrected as the team has been redubbed to Charlestown Chiefs after the construction of the new rink at Charlestown, Dublin. The Executive Committee will be elected at an Extraordinary General Meeting of the IIHA on 1 November 2009. With an already dense schedule in November and until the international (IIHF) break in December, this means that  a playoff for the 2009 title would have to take place during Christmas. And this is very unlikely.

The Irish Ice Hockey League was founded in 2007 following the construction of the first Irish ice hockey rink at Dundalk and the success of the 2007 IIHF World Championship Division III that took place in that arena. The home team, the Dundalk Bulls won the first title in 2008 after beating the Dublin Rams 6-3 in the final. In the troublesome second season, the league was expanded to six teams as the Dublin Wolves joined the league.

This season, the league is back to five teams. The Wolves have disbanded and the Belfast Giant Jrs no longer participates. Old faithfuls include the Dundalk Bulls, the Dublin Rams and the Flyers IHC. Belfast Giants Jr has been replaced by the newly established Castlereagh Spartans.  The Spartans which is also based in Belfast, but will play its home games at the Dundalk Dome a few miles south of the Irish border, is indeed primarily made up of homegrown juniors that played for the Belfast Giant Jr. last seaaon. And as previously mentioned, the Latvian Hawks has been redubbed to Charlestown Chiefs. The Chief's roster still primarily consists of Latvian ex-pats.

The quest for the title is expected to come down to a battle between the Dundalk Bulls and the Charlestown Chiefs, the two teams that make use of many imports (or ex-pats) and are less concerned with following the noble principle of icing Irish players in order to grow the game.

IRISH ICE HOCKEY LEAGUE 2009/10

Schedule (pdf)

Teams:

• Castlereagh Spartans
• Charlestown Chiefs
• Dublin Rams
• Dundalk Bulls
• Flyers I.H.C.