Poling, Bruce R

BORN 5 FEBRUARY 1967, in Oakville in the suburbs of southern Ontario in Canada. He grew up in the Trail area in BC, playing minor and then junior hockey for the Beaver Valley Nitehawks. On a travel holiday in 1986, he stopped in Adelaide and shortly after was sponsored to stay and play with the local Blackhawks Ice Hockey Club. That provided a “no pressure” opportunity to develop his talent as a goalie and find his groove. He became the Most Valuable A-Grade Player three years running, 1989 to 1991, then again in 1993. He won the South Australian League premiership in 1994-95. He represented South Australia in nine interstate tournaments from 1986 to 1995 and won four Goodall Cups — 1987, 1990, 1991 and 1995. He was selected to play for Australia in 1996 but did not tour due to ITC clearance problems.

Poling returned to Canada in 1995 with his wife Samantha and played the Senior Commercial League for three years. He moved to Vernon in 2003 and played two seasons in The Men’s Labatts League (later Boston Pizza League), a non-contact competitive league. He returned to Australia in 2008, where he joined the Melbourne Nite Owls (OiHAN) as a goalie (and occasional left wing) and played on many championship teams in the Over-35s and 45s divisions.

In 2011, he formed Point Blank Goalie (PBG) to coach and service the needs of Australian ice hockey goaltenders and focus on young goalies who were not getting quality goaltender development. He was also the goalie coach of the Melbourne Ice Women for three years. In 2014, he was drafted by the Melbourne Jets as a “first-round pick” in the Victorian competition at 47. He won Best Goalie on the Senior C-grade for the next two seasons.

Poling built a professional Business Coach practice and a marketing agency. In 2025, work commitments had taken him away from the sport he loves — “I will get back to playing again one day”.

www.thejoinerycoach.com

www.themarketingjoint.com