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The NZIHL is New Zealand’s national ice hockey league. It is an amateur league that was formed in 2005 to develop the sport in New Zealand and to give the top players regular competition against each other to improve the skill level of the game domestically and make New Zealand more competitive on the international scene. Because the NZIHL is held during the Northern Hemisphere's ice hockey offseason, many quality players travel to New Zealand and enjoy an off-season abroad while keeping in ice hockey shape. The competition is comparable to North America's lowest professional levels, impressive for a southern hemisphere country in the sport of ice hockey. The New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation is made up of 3 affiliated regions, all of whom are represented in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League with 2 teams from Auckland, 2 teams from Southern and 1 team from Canterbury. ==Teams== ;Foundation Clubs The NZIHL had four foundation clubs, Canterbury Red Devils, West Auckland Admirals, Southern Stampede and South Auckland Swarm. The South Auckland Swarm changed their name to the Botany Swarm in 2007 to reflect the site of their home rink. ;Expansion The Dunedin Thunder joined the competition in 2008 which saw the Southern Stampede move all its home games to Queenstown. ;Future Expansion Expansion within New Zealand is limited by the number of indoor ice rinks currently available. A notable omission from the national competition is the city of Wellington, which is New Zealand's third largest city, but does not have an ice facility. Recent proposals to build a permanent ice rink in Wellington have not yet come to fruition,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Wellingtonian editorial: City on ice-skating map )〕 despite the popularity of temporary ice rinks in the city. There is always discussion of ice facilities being built in a variety of centres around the country and if any of these come to fruition further expansion of the NZIHL is likely. With the increase in quality of the New Zealand league and its player base, much talk centres around a combined Oceania competition with a merger between the New Zealand and Australian leagues in one form or another. An early precursor to such a move is the establishment of the current Trans-Tasman Champions League. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「New Zealand Ice Hockey League」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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