By Sacha Delfosse – editor bars&clubs
A who’s who of the local hospitality industry gathered in Melbourne on Monday night (February 10) for the inaugural Bartenders Cup, a charity ice hockey match featuring some of the best bartenders in the country.
Busloads of spectators headed to Medibank Icehouse at the conclusion of the Top Shelf trade day, where they received a complimentary Stolichnaya cocktail and a serving of Buffalo wings and poutine courtesy of Miss Katie’s Crab Shack.
By the time Golden Monkey bar owner Michael Chen had finished singing the national anthem, the boisterous and animated crowd had filled the grandstands close to capacity, with the Western Wizards and the Eastside Unicorns ready to battle. [continues below]
The Western Wizards was comprised of bartenders representing Perth and Adelaide, while the Eastside Unicorns was made up of bartenders coming from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
While some of the competitors had some previous ice skating and ice hockey experience, many had none until they signed up for the game, and players on both side did a great deal of training in the lead up to the game.
Unfortunately for the Western Wizards, the Eastside Unicorns dominated the game (which was also streamed over the internet for the rest of the trade to watch), and the final score was 7-3 in the Unicorns favour. But with the Bartenders Cup set to become a yearly event, the Wizards will get a chance to redeem themselves next year.
The event was presented by Stolichnaya vodka and supported by Budweiser, Medibank Icehouse, Red Bull, Cascade Mixers, StrangeLove Ginger Beer, Top Shelf, Time Out Melbourne and island2island beverage Company.
The Western Wizards
Braydon Gillis
Jack Wilkes
Tim Wastell
Nick Harris
Cameron Northway
Shaun Pattinson
Chad Hanson
Tristram Royce Fini
Christian Blair
Ben Tua
Steve Burns
Rory Lim
Dim Rtshiladze
Tom Kearney
Nathan Beasley
Sam O’Leary
Joe Sinagra
Tim Williams
David Nguyen-Luu
The Eastside Unicorns
Lewis Jaffrey
Reece Griffiths
Lewis Halls
Jason Williams
Barry Chalmers
Dave Kerr
Rossco Charman
Matthew Stirling
Luke Ashton
Mike Tomasic
Alex Relic
Charlie Ainsbury
David Rosario
Christopher Flower
Petr Dvoracek
Marco Nunes
Rory Pie
Rodrigo Vega