The Sydney Bears have announced via their Facebook page that they will be playing a second exhibition game against the Central Coast Rhinos. The game is to be held at the Erina Ice Arena on the 8th of March at 15:45 AEST.
The Bears and Rhinos played the first exhibition game back on the 16th of November 2013 with the Rhinos winning the game 8-4.
A brief history on the Rhinos (for those unaware):
The Central Coast Rhinos were formed in 2005 and entered the AIHL along with the Brisbane Blue Tongues as part of a two team expansion. After playing four years in the AIHL the Rhinos left before the start of the 2009 season after refusing to accept the AIHL’s new licensing model. The Rhinos then went on to join the newly formed Australian International Ice Hockey Cup which started in 2009. The team played in the tournament from 2009 to 2012 before being dropped in 2013 by the organisers in favour of a Canada versus USA style tournament. As well as playing in the International Cup the Rhinos also joined the East Coast Super League (ECSL) for the 2010 season where they finished first in the regular season but were knocked out of the playoffs in the semifinals. The Rhinos were replaced in the ECSL the following season by the Vipers who were based out of the Central Coast.
The Rhinos also participated in the Wilson Cup tournament with the three other New South Wales AIHL clubs from 2007 to 2009 and went on to win the 2009 edition, defeating the West Sydney Ice Dogs 4-3 in a shootout.
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