American winger, David Booth, 40, has agreed to play for the Melbourne Ice, the Australian Ice Hockey League club announced recently on its social media channels.

“I couldn’t be more excited,” Booth said on The Gouche & Rosie Show, an Australian-based hockey podcast, with his daughter on his lap. “Our whole family’s excited. This isn’t just for me, but it’s for the family, and for the team.”

Booth played nine games for Hungarian-based club Ferencvárosi TC this past season, scoring 10 goals and adding seven assists and 10 penalty minutes. His last game in Hungary was on April 24.

Because Australia in the southern hemisphere, where the seasons are opposite of those in North America and Europe, the AIHL regular season runs from April to August. The Melbourne Ice is currently first place in the standings after nine games. Booth is apparently scheduled to make his AIHL debut on Friday against the Ice’s cross-town rivals, the fourth-place Melbourne Mustangs.

“My expectations are to show that I can compete and that I’m ready to play,” said Booth. “I take hockey seriously – I’ve devoted my whole life to this sport – and so to continue to play it really means a lot.”

Booth explained in the podcast that he’s known the show’s co-host, Canadian Kerry Goulet, for 10 years and is playing in Australia as a favor to him.

“He has such a heart for his players and his friends, and when you have someone like that, it’s always easy to say yes when he asks,” said Booth. “I know the people he surrounds himself with are good people, so it was almost like a no-brainer for me.”

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Born in Detroit, Booth is a graduate of Michigan State University. Between 2006 and 2018, Booth played 530 NHL regular-season games for the Florida Panthers, Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings, scoring 124 goals and adding 112 assists for 236 points with 216 penalty minutes. He also had one assist in five playoff games with Vancouver in 2012.

Booth has played most of his career since 2015 in Europe, with three seasons in the KHL, three more in Norway, and one in Germany before playing in Hungary.

Internationally, Booth won gold medals for the USA at both the IIHF U-18 World Championship in 2002 and the World Junior Championship in 2004. He also played for the USA at the 2008 senior men’s World Championship.

During his time in Vancouver, Booth drew criticism for a 2012 Youtube video of him baiting and killing an American black bear while hunting in Alberta. The video was quickly taken down.

Established in 2000, the AIHL is a 10-team league that plays a 30-game regular season followed by playoffs.

Photo © Tom Szczerbowski-Imagn Images: David Booth playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2025-16 season.

Robert Hägg Returns To Sweden Swedish defenseman Robert Hägg, 30, has signed a one-year contract with Brynäs IF, <a href="https://www.brynas.se/article/pjpaswy-1ekad/view">the Gävle-based SHL club announced on Wednesday</a>. Hägg is returning to Sweden after spending the past 11 seasons in North America, split between the NHL and <a href="http://thn.com/ahl">AHL</a> in six different organizations.