The Red Devils – Ōtautahi’s greatest show on ice

Photo by Ash Hart, Hartland Images 

If you were to hear the phrase ‘sports in New Zealand’, your mind would likely float to  rugby, football, perhaps netball. Point is, it wouldn’t be ice hockey.  

But if you pop down to Alpine Ice on the weekend to watch a Red Devils game, you will quickly find out the love for field hockey’s first cousin runs deep in Canterbury. 

The Red Devils have been playing in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League (NZIHL) since its inception in 2005, playing in a round-robin format against teams from Auckland, Dunedin and Queenstown.  

However, Christchurch has always been a haven for ice hockey, according to U15/18 manager David Wallace, with beginnings of the sport dating back to the late 80’s in the region. 

In later years, numbers have only increased, even in the face of hurdles such as the COVID pandemic. 

“We're seeing some really strong growth across all the regions in New Zealand,” he said. 

“Like any sport there's obviously been periods of ups and downs. But we've got to a phase where there's this strong cohesiveness across the regions and driven by some nice leadership from the New Zealand Ice Hockey Association (NZIHA).” 

In terms of the top-flight senior men’s team, they’ve been “in a rebuilding phase for the last few years” according to Coach Anton Purver, a far cry from their championship three-peat in the 2010’s. 

Photo by Petra Graney

To Purver, who played 16 years for the Red Devils and was a part of those championship teams, the current core group of players is starting to draw comparisons to that tight-knit unit a decade ago. 

Through ups and downs, Purver told Canta the Canterbury faithful will always show up for their team, no matter what. 

“I think we have the best fan base in the country. We consistently get 400-500 people down to a game – this place is absolutely packed for a Red Devils game both Saturday and Sunday.”  

“Hockey in Christchurch is pretty big,” captain Shaun Brown added. “Numbers are going up every single year so when we come to our home games, the crowd's pretty crazy and pretty loud.” 

You’d think a sport that has such a passionate following and even a national league wouldn’t have to fight to keep its head above water financially, right? 

Well, if you did, welcome to the real world. 

“There’s nothing from NZ Sport,” Wallace said. 

“We're a non-profit, so a lot of our funding comes from the support of the community, whether it's friend or families, local businesses or ticket sales from our home games,” manager Michael Atkinson added. 

“We wouldn’t be able to survive without those local businesses.”  

Community backing is important to the club beyond words and extends past the financial. Atkinson said the senior men’s team alone has “anywhere between 15 to 20 volunteers” ranging from doctors and physios to individuals such as Coach Purver, who pours hours into his role.  

“You'll find the people involved are incredibly passionate and family and friends are always keen to support.” 

Atkinson pointed to the Australia Ice Hockey league as a model Aotearoa could embody to enhance revenue and continue growing the game here. 

The Aussie players don’t pay a dime, whereas on this side of the Tasman, players pay around $1,000 out of their own pocket to play, according to Purver.  

As a result, Australian teams have more money to lure in higher quality international imports, which raises the quality of the on-ice product and the skill level of local players. Atkinson said this happens to an extent in New Zealand with imports, but believes “the sport is now at a level where we can attract those good players.”  

So, thinking about getting involved in ‘the fastest team-sport in Earth’? Turns out, the club is in the same spot, and is considering sweetening the pot for university students to come down and show out. 

Atkinson told Canta the idea of a student section plus student ticket prices has been thrown around to raise the roof on the game-day atmosphere. 

“If you come to a game here when we're packed out, it'll be louder than a Crusaders game. And if there was a student section, it'd be incredible.” 

Built by the people who support them the most, the Red Devils aren’t just a team who compete for wins. They aspire to bring more eyes to the sport of ice hockey, and make those who invest not only money, but time and passion, proud.