2009 AIHL season

The 2009 AIHL season was the tenth season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It ran from 25 April 2009 until 23 August 2009, with the AIHL finals following on 29 and 30 August 2009. The Newcastle North Stars won the H Newman Reid Trophy (backdated) after finishing the regular season first in the league standings. Adelaide Adrenaline won the Goodall Cup (backdated) for the first time by defeating the Newcastle North Stars in the final.

2009 AIHL season
LeagueAustralian Ice Hockey League
SportIce hockey
Duration25 April 2009 – 30 August 2009
Regular season
H Newman Reid TrophyNewcastle North Stars
(2nd title)
Season MVPBrad Smulders
(Blue Tongues)
Top scorerBrad Smulders (76 points)
(Blue Tongues)
Goodall Cup
ChampionsAdelaide Adrenaline
  Runners-upNewcastle North Stars
Finals MVPCass Delsar (Adrenaline)

League business

The 2009 season will be reduced to seven teams after the Central Coast Rhinos dropped out due to changes made in the licensing model.[1] Two teams were renamed for the start of the season, Western Sydney Ice Dogs, dropped the Western part of the title to become the Sydney Ice Dogs[2] and the Adelaide A's have been renamed for the start of the season, playing under the new name of Adelaide Adrenaline.[1] The Sydney Ice Dogs have also been forced to relocate to Liverpool's Catholic Club's ice rink after their former home at Baulkham Hills rink withdrew from the league.

On 25–26 July there was a week's break for the Junior Men's national tournament, known as the Brown Tournament.

Regular season

Note: "SO" indicates that a game was won through a shootout. Games schedule sourced from the AIHL.[3]

Standings
Team GP W SOW SOL L GF GA GDF PTS
Newcastle North Stars241720512285+3755
Melbourne Ice241503611377+3648
Adelaide Adrenaline241510811775+4247
Gold Coast Blue Tongues241313710886+2244
Sydney Ice Dogs241012118790−334
Canberra Knights244111860120−6015
The Bears241302066140−749
Qualified for the AIHL playoffs H Newman Reid Trophy winners

Source

Scoring leaders

List shows the ten top skaters sorted by points, then goals.[4]

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM POS
Brad SmuldersGold Coast Blue Tongues223343768F
Éric LafrenièreNewcastle North Stars222730576F
Matthew WatkinsMelbourne Ice222529548C
Adrian SaulNewcastle North Stars2214375128F
John HalversonNewcastle North Stars23311748106D
Lliam WebsterMelbourne Ice2218284679F
Steven KayeNewcastle North Stars1718274530F
André SelanderGold Coast Blue Tongues2022184093LW
Jassi SanghaSydney Ice Dogs2017203787LW
Vladimir RubesThe Bears1916203635F

Leading goaltenders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage.[5]

Player Team MIP SOG GA GAA SVS% SO
Matthew EzzyNewcastle North Stars928645713.680.8900
Olivier MartinAdelaide Adrenaline989604693.490.8860
Luke FiveashGold Coast Blue Tongues607356423.460.8821
Stuart DenmanMelbourne Ice965496653.370.8691
James HerbertSydney Ice Dogs871430633.620.8530

Playoffs

In 2009, the Goodall Cup, celebrating 100 years of existence, had been taken back from Ice Hockey Australia (IHA) for an amateur interstate tournament and was replaced by the AIHL with the newly commissioned AIHL Champions Trophy.[6]

The 2009 playoffs was scheduled for 29 August 2009 with Championship final held on 30 August 2009.[3] Following the end of the regular season the top four teams advanced to the playoff series which was held at Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Warners Bay, Newcastle, New South Wales.[7] The series was a single game elimination with the two winning semi-finalists advancing to the Championship final. The inaugural AIHL Champions Trophy was won by the Adelaide Adrenaline who defeated the Newcastle North Stars 3–2 in overtime after the two sides finished regulation time locked at 2–2. Adelaide's Cass Delsar, was named the finals most valuable player (MVP) after scoring the overtime winner.[8]

In March 2010, the AIHL and IHA agreed to reinstate the Goodall Cup as the ultimate prize of the AIHL and backdated Adelaide Adrenaline's 2009 championship to the Goodall Cup (first title), etching the South Australian team's name on the cup and officially calling them the 2009 Goodall Cup champions.[6]

All times are UTC+10:00

Semi-finals
29 August 2009
16:30		Adelaide Adrenaline6–1
(2–0, 3–1, 1–0)		Melbourne IceHunter Ice Skating Stadium, Newcastle
Game reference
Olivier MartinGoaliesStuart DenmanReferee:
Gordon Young
Linesmen:
Jason Forbes
Jim McIntosh
Mantere (Oddy)1 – 0
Beirnes (PP) (Keane, Thilthorpe)2 – 0
Beirnes (Delsar)3 – 0
Mantere (Oddy, Greer)4 – 0
4 – 1Webster (PP) (Watkins, Seckington)
Werner (PP) (Morgan, Mantere)5 – 1
Werner (Darge, Keane)6 – 1
14 minPenalties26 min
34Shots25
29 August 2009
20:00		Gold Coast Blue Tongues3–5
(2–2, 1–1, 0–2)		Newcastle North StarsHunter Ice Skating Stadium, Newcastle
Attendance: 1000
Game reference
Milan NovysedlakGoaliesMatthew EzzyReferee:
Jeff Scott
Linesmen:
Darren Hardy-Hawken
Rick West
0 – 1Kaye (PP) (Lafrenière, Saul)
0 – 2Halverson (SH) (Saul, Starke)
Ivarsson (PP) (Smulders, Selander)1 – 2
Selander (PP) (Smulders, Upton)2 – 2
Smulders (SH) (Ivarsson)3 – 2
3 – 3Morrisson (Murrell)
3 – 4Kaye (Price, Saul)
3 – 5Kaye (Saul, Lafrenière)
18 minPenalties14 min
29Shots39

Final
30 August 2009
16:00		Adelaide Adrenaline3 – 2 (OT)
(2–1, 0–1, 0–0, 1–0)		Newcastle North StarsHunter Ice Skating Stadium, Newcastle
Attendance: 950
Game reference
Olivier MartinGoaliesMatthew EzzyReferee:
Jeff Scott
Linesmen:
Rick West
Jason Forbes
0 – 1Halverson (Sheffield)
Morgan (PP) (Harding, Werner)1 – 1
Oddy (PP) (Werner)2 – 1
2 – 2Halverson (PP) (Kaye, Saul)
Delsar (Beirnes, Harding)3 – 2
16 minPenalties18 min
34Shots17

References
  1. "AIHL releases 2009 schedule". AIHL. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
  2. "Same teams new identity". AIHL. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
  3. "2009AIHL". AIHL. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 October 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
  4. "Scoring Leaders". Australian Ice Hockey League. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  5. "Goalie Leaders". Australian Ice Hockey League. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  6. Lambert, Peter (31 March 2010). "AIHL Welcomes Back Goodall Cup". Australian Ice Hockey League. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  7. "Australian Ice Hockey League: VIP 2009 AIHL Finals". Australian Ice Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
  8. Lambert, Peter (30 August 2009). "Adelaide Adrenaline are Australian Champions". Australian Ice Hockey League. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.