Ice Blacks to play Australia

New Zealand’s leading players will finally get back on the ice against their closest rivals later this year.

A three-test transtasman challenge will be held in the first week of November.

The Ice Blacks would head to Melbourne for the first time in 11 years to play the Mighty Roos, the respective national organisations announced yesterday.

It will be the first action for the New Zealand men’s ice hockey team since the arrival of Covid.

"While we have great respect for each other, the rivalry is strongest when we play Australia, and we will be striving to ensure we come away with the transtasman trophy again," New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation president Andy Mills said.

‘‘All players have missed the opportunity to represent their country in recent years, so come November it is sure to be game on."

The most recent games between the Ice Blacks and Australia were at the New Zealand Winter Games in Queenstown in 2019, the Ice Blacks winning the series 2-1.

They last played in Australia at the world championships in Melbourne in 2011, when the Mighty Roos won 2-0.

The tests are at O’Brien Icehouse, the home of Australian ice hockey, on November 4-6.