2018 AIHL season

The 2018 AIHL season was the 19th season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It ran from 21 April 2018 until 26 August 2018, with the Goodall Cup finals following on 1 and 2 September 2018. The CBR Brave won both the H Newman Reid Trophy after finishing the regular season with the most points in league history, and the Goodall Cup for the first time by defeating the Sydney Bears in the final.

Teams

In 2018 the AIHL had 8 teams competing in the league.^[1]

2018 AIHL teams

Team	City	Arena	Head Coach	Captain
Adelaide Adrenaline	Adelaide	IceArenA	Jim Fuyarchuk	Josef Rezek
CBR Brave	Canberra	Phillip Ice Skating Centre	Robert Starke	Matthew Harvey
Melbourne Ice	Melbourne	O'Brien Group Arena	Peter Ekroth	Lliam Webster
Melbourne Mustangs	Melbourne	O'Brien Group Arena	Maxime Langelier-Parent	Michael McMahon
Newcastle Northstars	Newcastle	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium	*No head coach	Robert Malloy
Perth Thunder	Perth	Perth Ice Arena	Dave Ruck	Jamie Woodman
Sydney Bears	Sydney	Macquarie Ice Rink	Ron Kuprowsky	Michael Schlamp
Sydney Ice Dogs	Sydney	Macquarie Ice Rink	Andrew Petrie	Scott Stephenson

League business

In December 2017 the Sydney Ice Dogs released their logo for the 2018 season. The design was an adjusted version of the 15th anniversary logo, replacing the "XV" with a shield.^[2] A few days later the Sydney Bears unveiled their new logo featuring a re-designed Bear.^[3] Following the release of their new logo the Bears released their new jerseys which included a black home, white away and a red alternate version.^[4] In February 2018 the Bears signed All About Caring as a major sponsor for the season.^[5] The same month the Melbourne Mustangs signed with The Kodiak Group to be their new naming rights sponsor for the next two seasons.^[6] The Kodiak Group replace The James Hotel who held the rights in 2017.^[7] In March 2018 the Melbourne Ice signed partnerships with the charity 300 Blankets and not-for-profit Kids Under Cover. Both organisations focus on helping the homeless and part of deal with 300 Blankets will see the Ice selling blankets at their home games.^[8][9] In April the Adelaide Adrenaline signed with Complete Podiatry to be a sponsor and the club's official podiatry clinic.^[10] Also in April the Mustangs announced that they had signed with restaurant Billy's District to be their post-game venue, replacing The James Hotel which had been their venue since May 2016.^[11] On 8 April the Newcastle Northstars that Warners at the Bay had signed with the club as their official post-game venue for 2018.^[12] The Melbourne Ice announced on 10 April that they had signed with Tempur Australia to be their naming rights sponsor for the next three years.^[13] The deal also included captain Lliam Webster being appointed as a brand ambassador for Tempur.^[13] The Brave announced that The Signal Co. Wireless and Maliganis Edwards Johnson had signed on as major sponsors and Ace High Eatery & Bar, Care Traffic, Coffey, Compass Wealth Group and T C Air & Electric had signed on as business sponsors for 2018.^[14][15][16] The Brave also switched their post game venue to the Hellenic Club of Canberra's Fillos Taverna + Bar, replacing The Woden Tradies & Quality Hotel which had been their venue since June 2017.^[17] In April the Sydney Ice Dogs signed with the Holiday Inn Express Sydney Macquarie Park to be a major sponsor for the 2018 season.^[18] They also announced that they would partner with Cheapskate Hockey to create an alternative jersey as well as produce a line of merchandise. The alternate jersey will feature a redesigned bulldog logo.^[19] On 20 April the Sydney Ice Dogs announced that The Ranch Hotel would be their post game venue for 2018, replacing TGI Fridays Macquarie Centre which was their venue for the previous season.^[20]

Exhibition games

In January 2018 the Perth Thunder announced that they would hold a three-game exhibition series against an All-Stars team from the China Ice Hockey League.^[21] The games were held on 15, 17 and 17 February at the Perth Ice Arena.^[21] The Thunder lost the opening game 1–3 but tied the series with a 4–1 in game two. The All-Stars won the series with a 2–1 win in game three.^[22] On 7 April the Melbourne Ice and Melbourne Mustangs held their annual exhibition match at the O'Brien Group Arena.^[23] The Ice defeated the Mustangs 3–2.^[23] The following week the Melbourne Ice hosted the Hockey Festival at the O'Brien Group Arena.^[24] The festival ran over 14 and 15 April and included the Ice, Adelaide Adrenaline, CBR Brave and Melbourne Mustangs.^[24] Day one of the festival saw each team compete in a round-robin competition in order to determine the playoff spots on day two.^[24] The Mustangs finished the round-robin at the top of the standings, one point ahead of the Ice, the Adrenaline finished in third and the Brave in last place.^[24] Day two included two games, a final between first and second and a placement game for third place.^[24] The Ice defeated the Mustangs 3–2 in the final to claim the Warrior Cup, while the Adrenaline beat the Brave 4–2 to finish in third place.^[24]

Personnel changes

On 15 October the Newcastle Northstars announced that Andrew Petrie had stepped down from the position of head coach following a mutual decision with the club.^[25] A month later the Sydney Ice Dogs announced the signing of Petrie as their head coach.^[26] Petrie replaced Christopher Blagg who moved into the position of club president.^[26] Petrie previously coached the Ice Dogs in 2014.^[26] On 14 November the Melbourne Mustangs' announced that head coach Michael Flaherty would not be returning for the 2018 season.^[27] Flaherty was replaced two weeks later by Maxime Langelier-Parent, a former import for the club who had served as an assistant coach in 2017.^[28] On 10 February the Ice Dogs announced Jason Juba had stepped down from his positions of general manager and vice president in order to focus on family and business.^[29] Also in February the CBR Brave announced that they had signed Mike Sargeant and Gordon Cockell as assistant coaches for the 2018 seasons.^[30] In April the Adelaide Adrenaline announced that Sami Mantere had stepped down from the position of head coach in order to return full time as a player for the club.^[31] Mantere was also signed on as an assistant coach.^[31] Mantere was replaced in the position of head coach by Jim Fuyarchuk.^[31] On 17 April the Brave announced that they had signed Johan Steenberg as Director of Player Development and Player Personnel.^[19] Steenberg was previously at the Melbourne Ice from 2014 to 2017 as their goaltending coach.^[19] On 19 April Northstars announced that Joey Theriault, Ray Sheffield and Garry Doré will share the coaching duties for the 2018 season, replacing Andrew Petrie who left in October 2017.^[32] Just prior to the start of the season the Melbourne Ice announced the signing of Peter Ekroth to the position of head coach.^[20] Ekroth replaced Charles Franzén who has moved into the position of Director of Coaching and Player Development.^[20]

Player transfers

Interclub transfers Nat Player Previous team New team Ref Dayne Davis Melbourne Ice Newcastle Northstars [33] James Downie Sydney Bears Melbourne Ice [34] Darcy Flanagan Melbourne Ice CBR Brave [35] Per Daniel Göransson Perth Thunder CBR Brave [36] Robert Haselhurst Perth Thunder Newcastle Northstars [37] Joseph Hughes Melbourne Ice CBR Brave [38] Tomas Landa Sydney Bears Newcastle Northstars [39] Nicholas Mizen Newcastle Northstars Sydney Ice Dogs [40] Nick Rivait Sydney Bears Newcastle Northstars [41] Jonatan Ruth Newcastle Northstars Sydney Ice Dogs [42] Corey Stringer Melbourne Mustangs Adelaide Adrenaline [43] Richard Tesarik Sydney Bears Newcastle Northstars [44] Cameron Todd Sydney Bears Sydney Ice Dogs [45] Aleksi Toivonen CBR Brave Melbourne Mustangs [46] Geordie Wudrick CBR Brave Sydney Ice Dogs [47] Patrick Ward Sydney Bears Newcastle Northstars [48]

Retirements Nat Player Team New role Ref Paul Baranzelli Melbourne Ice — [49] Graham Charbonneau Adelaide Adrenaline — [50] Sean Greer Adelaide Adrenaline — [51] David Huxley Adelaide Adrenaline — [52] Maxime Langelier-Parent Melbourne Mustangs Head Coach of Melbourne Mustangs [53] Greg Oddy Adelaide Adrenaline — [54] Samuel Wilson Perth Thunder — [55][56]

New signings Nat Player Previous team New team Ref Alex Adams Knoxville Ice Bears Adelaide Adrenaline [57] Charlie Adams Pensacola Ice Flyers Sydney Bears [58] Dylan Anderson Edinburgh Capitals Melbourne Ice [59] Harley Anderson Southern Stampede Adelaide Adrenaline [60] Matthew Anderson No team Melbourne Mustangs [61] Sebastian Andersson Hammarby IF Adelaide Adrenaline [62] Caleb Apperson Birmingham Bulls Adelaide Adrenaline [63] Bradley Apps Canterbury Red Devils Melbourne Mustangs [64] Spencer Austin Penrith Raptors Sydney Bears [65] Sammy Banga Brock University Newcastle Northstars [66] Anthony Barnes Brisbane Blitz Sydney Bears [67] Ignacy Benjamin Blueline Bombers Sydney Ice Dogs [68] Mitchell Bonollo Saints Monarchs IHC Melbourne Ice [69] Evan Bowater West Coast Flyers Perth Thunder [70] Channing Bresciani University of Manitoba CBR Brave [71] Russell Brewer Adelaide Tigers Adelaide Adrenaline [72] Declan Bronte Ontario Hockey Academy U17 Melbourne Ice [73] Aston Brookes Southern Stampede Sydney Bears [74] Michael Burns No team Sydney Bears [75] Nathan Cachia No team Melbourne Ice [76] Mac Caruana No team Melbourne Ice [77] Jeremy Chai No team Melbourne Ice [78] Brad Chenoweth Adelaide Tigers Adelaide Adrenaline [79] Nathan Chiarlitti McGill University Sydney Ice Dogs [80] Ben Davies Guildford Flames Melbourne Mustangs [81] Hayden Dawes Lindenwood University CBR Brave [82] Jakob Doornbos Sydney Wolf Pack CBR Brave [83] Etienne du Toit No team Sydney Bears [84] Andrew Erzen Demons IHC Melbourne Mustangs [85] Kayne Fedor Adelaide Tigers Sydney Bears [86] Brett Ferguson Guildford Flames Melbourne Mustangs [87] Nate Fleming Manchester Storm Melbourne Ice [88] Jeremy Friederich Adelaide Generals Adelaide Adrenaline [89] Pascal Gemperli EHC Chur Perth Thunder [90] Trevor Gerling LHC Les Lions CBR Brave [91] Kaden Goulds Whitehawks IHC Perth Thunder [92] Pier-Olivier Grandmaison Corsaires de Nantes Perth Thunder [93] Joey Gunner Penrith Raptors Sydney Bears [94] Jacob Haley Saints Monarchs IHC Melbourne Ice [95] Michael Haynes Reach Rebels Sydney Bears [96] Josh Healey Northern Chiefs Perth Thunder [97] Matt Hewitt University of British Columbia CBR Brave [98] Sam Hodic Melbourne Jets Melbourne Ice [99] Jamie Holland Adelaide Tigers Adelaide Adrenaline [100] Jermaine Joyce Botany Swarm Melbourne Mustangs [101] Adam Kimbley Penrith Raptors Sydney Bears [102] Ņikita Kolesņikovs KS Cracovia Melbourne Mustangs [103] Bryan Kolodziejczyk Albatros de Brest Sydney Ice Dogs [104] Devon Krogh EV Landshut Melbourne Ice [105] Dillon Lawrence Edinburgh Capitals Melbourne Ice [106] Sam Lawson Innisfail Eagles Newcastle Northstars [107] Tyler Leeming Adelaide Red Wings Adelaide Adrenaline [108] Chris Leveille Brampton Beast CBR Brave [109] David Lewis No team CBR Brave [110] Jayden Lewis KaKiPo U20 CBR Brave [111] Ryan Lough St. Lawrence University Sydney Bears [112] Reggie Mattschoss Adelaide Red Wings Adelaide Adrenaline [113] Michael McDowell Braves IHC Melbourne Mustangs [114] Jason McMahon Cockburn Whitehawks Perth Thunder [115] Jesse Moore Saints Monarchs IHC Melbourne Ice [116] Thomas Munro No team Perth Thunder [117] Joseph Nyamuka Saints Monarchs IHC Melbourne Ice [118] Landon Oslanski Braehead Clan Perth Thunder [119] Christian Pansino Melbourne Glaciers Melbourne Ice [120] Rhys Pelliccione Cockburn Whitehawks Perth Thunder [121] Adam Piett No team Adelaide Adrenaline [122] Petri Pitkänen No team Melbourne Mustangs [123] Ainars Podzins Edinburgh Capitals CBR Brave [124] Dylan Pope Adelaide Falcons Adelaide Adrenaline [125] Matthew Price Newcastle North Stars ECSL Newcastle Northstars [126] Harley Quinton-Jones Newcastle North Stars ECSL Newcastle Northstars [127] Shai Rabinowitz No team Sydney Bears [128] Fredrik Rozenberg Boro/Vetlanda J20 Sydney Bears [129] Maksim Shneider Melbourne Sharks Melbourne Ice [130] Aiden Sillato Reach Rebels Sydney Ice Dogs [131] Curtis Skip University of Alberta-Augustana Sydney Ice Dogs [132] Cameron Smith Penrith Raptors Sydney Bears [133] Chad Smith Fife Flyers Sydney Bears [134] Ethan Spelde Sydney Sabres Newcastle Northstars [135] Andrew Stapleton Adelaide Tigers Adelaide Adrenaline [136] Thomas Steven Bellingham Blazers Sydney Bears [137] Graeme Strukoff HC 07 Detva Sydney Bears [138] Tynan Theobald London Lakers CBR Brave [139] Quenton Tombleson Adelaide Falcons Adelaide Adrenaline [140] Lee Turner Penrith Raptors Sydney Ice Dogs [141] James Urweiss Sydney Sting Sydney Bears [142] Josh Velez Blackhawks IHC Melbourne Ice [143] Nicholas Windle No team Perth Thunder [144]

Players lost Nat Player Previous team New team Ref Saxon Air Sydney Bears Nudo Bombers [145] Casey Babineau Adelaide Adrenaline No team [146] Kristoffer Backman Melbourne Ice Tranås AIF [147] Brian Bales CBR Brave No team [148] Corey Banks CBR Brave No team [149] Matt Beattie Melbourne Mustangs No team [150] Alan Becken Sydney Bears Nudo Bombers [151][152] Andrew Belic Melbourne Mustangs Braves IHC [153] Jessyko Bernard Perth Thunder Pensacola Ice Flyers [154] Stephen Blunden CBR Brave Northern Federals [155] Slavomir Boris Sydney Bears No team [156] Tyson Boyd Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide Blackhawks [157] Jackson Brewer Sydney Bears No team [158] Tyrone Bronte Melbourne Ice Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights [159] Jérémy Brown Melbourne Ice Boro/Vetlanda [160] Jamie Campbell Perth Thunder No team [161] Fraser Carson Melbourne Mustangs No team [162] Andrew Chen Adelaide Adrenaline A21 Academy [163] Ethan Cornford Melbourne Ice New Tecumseth Civics [164] Robert Covino Sydney Bears No team [165] Cameron Critchlow Adelaide Adrenaline Jacksonville Icemen [166] Niklas Dahlberg Melbourne Ice Tranås AIF [167] Kevin Dow Melbourne Ice Demons IHC [168] Lachlan Fahmy Sydney Bears Meijer AAA Hockey 18U [169] David Foster Melbourne Mustangs Melbourne Glaciers [170] Ben Gebert Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide Tigers [171] Viktor Gibbs Sjödin Melbourne Ice HYS The Hague [172] Kevin Harvey Sydney Ice Dogs No team [173] Jack Hayes Melbourne Mustangs Melbourne Glaciers [174] Damian Holland Melbourne Mustangs Braves IHC [175] Dominic Jalbert CBR Brave Anglet Hormadi Élite [176] Stephen Johnston Sydney Ice Dogs No team [177] James Keane Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide Tigers [178] Rhett Kelly Sydney Ice Dogs No team [179] Kale Kerbashian Newcastle Northstars Orlando Solar Bears [180] Damien Ketlo Sydney Ice Dogs No team [181] Peter King Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide Falcons [182] Anton Kokkonen Melbourne Mustangs No team [183] James Kruger Melbourne Mustangs No team [184] Toby Kubara CBR Brave No team [185] Steven Kuhn Newcastle Northstars Drakkars de Caen [186] Tom Letki CBR Brave No team [187] Bobby Lipsett Melbourne Ice No team [188] Matti Luoma CBR Brave No team [189] Cole MacMillan Adelaide Adrenaline No team [190] Matt Marantz Newcastle Northstars No team [191] Marcel McGuiness Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide Red Wings [192] Austin McKenzie Melbourne Ice No team [193] Lachlan McKenzie Sydney Bears Sydney Wolf Pack [194] Morgan McNeill Adelaide Adrenaline Bouctouche JCs [195] Matt Murphy Adelaide Adrenaline No team [196] Tyler Noseworthy Sydney Bears No team [197] Sebastian Ottosson Melbourne Ice Tranås AIF [198] Christian Ouellet Perth Thunder Anglet Hormadi Élite [199] Luke Philps CBR Brave No team [200] Dathan Pleiter Perth Thunder Perth Sharks [201] Félix-Antoine Poulin Newcastle Northstars MsHK Žilina [202] Rory Rawlyk Sydney Ice Dogs ECDC Memmingen [203] Luke Read Sydney Bears No team [204] Joel Rhodes Sydney Bears No team [205] Jan Safar CBR Brave Remparts de Tours [206] Jarrod Smith Sydney Ice Dogs Reach Rebels [207] Kane Spence Sydney Ice Dogs No team [208] Matt Taylor Newcastle Northstars Newcastle North Stars ECSL [209] Dale Tilsted Sydney Ice Dogs Sydney Sabres [210] Shaun Tobin Perth Thunder No team [211] Byron Tschuma Melbourne Mustangs No team [212] David Upton Sydney Ice Dogs No team [213] Brent Vandenberg Sydney Bears No team [214] Tom Voller Melbourne Mustangs Demons IHC [215] Cameron Walsh Perth Thunder No team [216] Nicholas Weiland Sydney Ice Dogs Sydney Sabres [217] Andrew White Sydney Ice Dogs No team [218] Sebastian Woodlands Adelaide Adrenaline A21 Academy [219][220]

Regular season

The regular season began on 21 April 2018 and will run through to 26 August 2018 before the top four teams advance to compete in the Goodall Cup playoff series.^[221]

April

May

June

July

August

Standings

Source

Statistics

Scoring leaders

List shows the ten top skaters sorted by points, then goals. Current as of 23 September 2018 ^[222]

Leading goaltenders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage with a minimum 40% of the team's ice time. Current as of 23 September 2018 ^[222]

Season awards

Below lists the 2018 AIHL regular season award winners.

Award	Name	Team
MVP	Pier-Olivier Grandmaison	Perth Thunder
Goaltender	Anthony Kimlin	Sydney Bears
Defenceman	Landon Oslanski	Perth Thunder
Rookie	Jason McMahon	Perth Thunder
Local player	Wehebe Darge	CBR Brave
Coach	Ron Kuprowsky	Sydney Bears

Source pt1 Source pt2

Goodall Cup playoffs

The 2018 playoffs was scheduled for 1 September with the Goodall Cup final held on 2 September.^[221] Following the end of the regular season the top four teams advanced to the playoff series which was held at O'Brien Group Arena in the Docklands precinct of Melbourne, Victoria.^[223] The series was a single game elimination with the two winning semi-finalists advancing to the Goodall Cup final. The Goodall Cup was won by the CBR Brave (first title) who defeated the Sydney Bears 4-3 in overtime after the two sides finished regulation time locked at 3-3.^[224] The Brave’s Canadian import forward, Trevor Gerling, was named the finals most valuable player (MVP) after he scored the winning goal in overtime.^[225]

All times are UTC+10:00

Semi-finals

Final

All-Star weekend

The 2018 AIHL All-Star Weekend was held at the Adelaide Ice Arena, Adelaide on 2 and 3 June 2018.^[226] The format of the weekend was unchanged from 2017 with a skills competition on 2 June and an all-stars game on 3 June.^[226] Adelaide Adrenaline's Josef Rezek and David Huxley were initially announced as the captains of the two teams replacing Jamie Bourke and Lliam Webster from 2016.^[226] Huxley was later replaced by the Adrenaline's Zachary Boyle due to Huxley's retirement prior to the 2018 season.^[227] The Adrenaline's head coach Jim Fuyarchuk and assistant coach Sami Mantere were named as the coaches of Team Boyle and Team Rezek respectively.^[228] APA Group re-signed as sponsor of the weekend after sponsoring the previous three events.^[226]

The skills competition saw the Adelaide Adrenaline and Sydney Bears take out two of the seven events each, while the Newcastle Northstars, Perth Thunder and Sydney Ice Dogs all picked up one each.^[229] On 3 June Team Rezek defeated Team Boyle 13-8 in the All-Star Game to claim the Mick McCormack Cup.^[230]

Skills competition

• Breakaway Challenge: Josef Rezek (Adelaide Adrenaline)^[229]
• Elimination Shootout: Sebastian Andersson (Adelaide Adrenaline)^[229]
• Fastest Skater: Jamie Woodman (Perth Thunder) – 12.53 seconds^[229]
• Goaltender Race: Anthony Kimlin (Sydney Bears)^[229]
• Hardest Shot: Nathan Chiarlitti (Sydney Ice Dogs) – 154 km/h^[229]
• Shooting Accuracy: Nick Rivait (Newcastle Northstars) – 12.65 seconds^[229]
• Stickhandling: Charlie Adams (Sydney Bears) – 18.15 seconds^[229]

All-star game

References