The Gold Coast Blue Tongues (formerly the Brisbane Blue Tongues) was a semi-professional ice hockey team based in Bundall, Queensland, Australia. The team was a member of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). The Blue Tongues were founded in 2005 as an expansion AIHL team and played in the league for eight seasons between 2005 and 2012. The team’s home venue was Iceland Bundall, located on the Gold Coast, Queensland. The Blue Tongues never won any major titles and ceased operations in 2015.
History
Establishment
The Gold Coast Blue Tongues were founded in 2005 as the Brisbane Blue Tongues. The Blue Tongues were announced as an Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) expansion team along with the Central Coast Rhinos, increasing the league membership from six to eight teams. Originally located in Brisbane, the team’s first home venue was Iceworld Boondall. The team’s chosen name and logo was a nod to the native blue tongue lizard, commonly found in Brisbane and South-East Queensland. Garnet Radford was appointed the team's first general manager.
AIHL era
The Blue Tongues marked their inaugural AIHL game with a win on 23 April 2005. On the road in Canberra, Brisbane defeated the Canberra Knights 10-4 at the Phillip Ice Skating Centre. A goalless first period proved a poor indication for the goal rush that would follow in the second and third periods. Mark Barnsdale scored the Blue Tongues first ever goal, assisted by Kirk Raven and Chris Staneke. From that point the visiting Brisbane team scored four more unanswered goals before Matt Lehoczky gave the home fans something to cheer. The Blue Tongues continued their good second period showing in the third and once again out scored their more experienced opponents. Mikko Skinnari scored the tenth and final goal of the game for Brisbane with just over one minute remaining on the clock. Bryan Randall was the first Blue Tongues player to be sent to the penalty box, with a two-minute minor penalty for high sticking in the first period.
Brisbane finished their inaugural season in sixth position in the league standings with thirty-three points. They were five points off a finals qualification position and had a win percentage of 42%, having won twelve of twenty-six games. The Blue Tongues finished ahead of the Melbourne Ice and Central Coast Rhinos.
The following two years in Brisbane saw the Blue Tongues improve each season, finishing sixth and fifth in the standings, failing to qualify for the AIHL finals weekend on both occasions. The team was very close to qualifying in 2007 but fell three points short of finishing fourth after the team, along with two others, was handed a three-point penalty by the league for icing an illegible player. The Blue Tongues did sign two ex-NHL players during this time. First, in 2006, on 6 June, the team announced the signing of Rob Zamuner. Zamnuner had spent thirteen seasons playing in the NHL with teams such as Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning. Second, in 2007, the Blue Tongues secured the services of goaltender Tyrone Garner. Garner was a New York Islanders draft pick from 1998 and later played three games in the NHL for the Calgary Flames before a hockey career that took him around the globe.
In 2008, the Blue Tongues appointed David Emblem as president and general manager. Emblem, originally from Montreal, Canada, stepped into the new role with the team possessing a vast hockey experience, having won two Goodall Cups and representing Australia at the World championships in the 1980’s. Emblem oversaw a period of great change for the team as they relocated to the Gold Coast, Queensland. The Blue Tongues new home venue would be Iceland Bundall, located in the Gold Coast suburb of Bundall. The reasons for the move were attributed to the team’s new sponsorship deal with Bartercard, who are headquartered on the Gold Coast, and for improving team integration between the Australian and import players. The Blue Tongues were also renamed the Gold Coast Blue Tongues (Bartercard Gold Coast Blue Tongues for sponsorship reasons). The move did present facility difficulties for the team and the AIHL. The small ice sheet at the rink, according to the rink owners, was never intended for senior ice hockey and there were consistent concerns raised about the suitability and safety of the venue by the league and traveling teams. Emblem did continue one Blue Tongues tradition of signing import players with NHL experience when he secured the services of one time Tampa Bay Lightining player Gaétan Royer for the 2008 AIHL season.