17/09/2009

Adelaide Adrenaline Are Aussie Champs

NEWCASTLE/CANTERBURY: While the season is beginning in the Northern hemisphere, Australia and New Zealand have recently crowned its ice hockey champions.

After a 24-game regular season , the final weekend of the Australian Ice Hockey League took place in Newcastle, home of the regular-season winner Newcastle North Stars.

And the North Stars lived up to expectations in the semi-finals, winning over final tournament newbie Gold Coast Blue Tongues, 5-3.

In the other semi-final game, second-seeded Melbourne Ice didn't have its best day. After a spirited contest, Adelaide Adrenaline left the ice as the winner. Jumping to a 2-0 lead in the first period, Adelaide efficiently outplayed their opponent and earned a splendid 6-1 victory.

For Melbourne it was the fourth consecutive final tournament qualification, losing the semi-final game each time. For Adelaide Adrenaline it was the first appearance among the best four teams since the team was put together in 2008, after the forerunner club Adelaide Avalanche had folded.

Newcastle vs. Adelaide was the pairing for the gold-medal game and just as indicated by their 2-2 record in the regular season, the final was a close affair.

However, there's a curse in the AIHL: The regular-season winner has never won the final tournament since its introduction in 2003. And the North Stars, who played in the last seven final games winning four championships, couldn't overcome the curse.

After an early lead for the home team, provided by American forward John Halverson, Adelaide replied with two power-play goals, scored by Vincent Morgan and Greg Oddy. At 34:29, it was again Halverson who scored for Newcastle, equalising the score at two.

As in the semi-final, Adelaide seemed to be full of adrenaline and outshot the regular-season winner in all periods, with a total of 34-17 shots.

44 seconds into the overtime, Cass Delsar scored the 3-2 game-winner for the Adelaide Adrenaline.

The 950 fans celebrated the new champions, although most of them were Newcastle supporters.

Adelaide shone with a well-balanced team which didn't have a top-ten scorer on its roster. Four Canadians led the league in scoring, with Brad Smulders (33+43=76 points in 22 games) being the scoring champ. He transferred from the Dutch league to Down Under. Newcastle's Halverson was the first non-Canadian in the scoring chart. Adelaide's Greg Oddy, ranked 15th, was the best Australian-born player.

For Adelaide it was the first championship since 2001. The AIHL will start its 10th-anniversary season in April 2010.


Adelaide captain Greg Oddy accepts the new AIHL trophy from league president Tim Frampton. Photo: picbywulos.com.au



First championship for Canterbury's youngsters

New Zealand's NZIHL wrapped up its fifth season when the Canterbury Red Devils defeated the Southern Stampede 5-4 to win their first title.

It was a long time coming for the Red Devils who had been to the finals three years in a row, but lost out to Auckland's Botany Swarm on both previous occasions. Brett Speirs, NZ's all-time leading international goal scorer at only 26, scored a hat-trick for the Southern Stampede, but it was the deep and balanced Canterbury side with five different goal scorers that came out on top.

The four-team league had a regular season with two home games and two away games for each team.

With the first-ever win over Australia at the NZ Winter Games (which was also the first ever ice hockey game broadcast live nationwide) the sport was introduced to a broader audience. The milestone year featured also more league games than ever.

The Canterbury Red Devils were kind of New Zealand's answer to the Pittsburgh Penguins this year, winning the championship with two outstanding youngsters topping the scoring stats. Chris Eaden, a native of the club's home base Christchurch who turned 19 two weeks ago, smashed all previous marks with 30 goals and 27 assists in just 14 games, consequently receiving the MVP Award. His linemate Paris Heyd, 18, finished in second place.

"It is outstanding to see our young New Zealand players leading the scoring in the NZIHL this year," said Gunther Birgel, the league's founder and General Manager. "The top four scorers in the NZIHL are all NZ-born. We also have a very strong group of young home-grown goaltenders in our league and some excellent defencemen. That was the whole objective of the league, to develop our local talent and give them a stage to show their skills."

There were also foreign players in the league, but not to the same extent as in Australia. "They come to New Zealand during their off-season or have relocated permanently," said Birgel. "Players from Canada, Sweden, Hungary, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and the United States are not uncommon in the league. This has helped raise the level of competition."

Canterbury had 19 New Zealanders, five Canadians and one player each from Germany, Hungary, South Africa and Turkey on its roster.



Reform ideas in New Zealand

Same as in Australia, the league is played during 'their' winter which is summer time in most hockey countries. "Being a southern hemisphere team is always challenging on the international stage as we have been out of season for the entire six months leading up to World Championship" says national team coach Jeff Bonazzo.

Thus, the league is currently reviewing if it wants to adjust the schedule to the international schedule which means that the league would be played during New Zealand's summer.

The New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation is also in talks with Australia about entering a team into Australia's domestic league sometime in the next three years.

"We're very proud of the achievements and direction of hockey in New Zealand" said Grant Hay, the NZIHF President. "Even though we have a long way to go before we could think of being an Olympic qualifier, we are making strong and positive strides and we have a tremendous momentum currently. We're now looking for some help in developing our program from some top hockey nations so we can take the next steps."

MARTIN MERK
IIHF

Photo: picbywulos.com.au
Adelaide captain Greg Oddy accepts the new AIHL trophy from league president Tim Frampton.