2022 AIHL season

The 2022 AIHL season is the delayed 21st season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL), following the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The season will consist of 60 regular season games and is scheduled to run from 30 April to 28 August 2022, with the Goodall Cup finals, consisting of 2 semi-finals, a preliminary final and a grand final, following the regular season on 2–4 September 2022. The CBR Brave won the double and claimed the H Newman Reid Trophy for a third time and Goodall Cup for a second time in 2022 by finishing top of the regular season standings and winning the AIHL grand final. The Newcastle Northstars were runner's up to both titles and the Sydney Ice Dogs claimed the wooden spoon.

2022 AIHL season
LeagueAustralian Ice Hockey League
SportIce hockey
Duration30 April 2022 – 4 September 2022
Regular season
H Newman Reid TrophyCBR Brave
(3rd title)
Season MVPCasey Kubara
(CBR Brave)
Top scorerCasey Kubara (52 points)
(CBR Brave)
Goodall Cup
ChampionsCBR Brave
(2nd title)
  Runners-upNewcastle Northstars
Finals MVPJoey Hughes
(CBR Brave)

Teams

In 2022 the AIHL had planned for 8 teams to be competing in the league when the season was announced.[1] However, the Perth Thunder had to withdraw due to ongoing Western Australia border restriction challenges.[2] Adelaide Adrenaline followed the Thunder in withdrawing from the 2022 season following failed protracted negotiations with the ice rink in Adelaide, leaving the team homeless in 2022.[3][4] This left the league with six teams competing in the regular season in 2022. Two expansion teams, plus the Thunder, announced they would play exhibition games in 2022.

2022 AIHL teams
TeamCityArenaHead CoachCaptain
CBR BraveAustralian Capital Territory CanberraPhillip Ice Skating CentreAustralia Stuart PhilpsAustralia Kai Miettinen
Melbourne IceVictoria (state) MelbourneO'Brien IcehouseAustralia Sandy GardnerAustralia Austin McKenzie
Melbourne MustangsVictoria (state) MelbourneO'Brien IcehouseCanada Chris LawrenceAustralia Brendan McDowell
Newcastle NorthstarsNew South Wales NewcastleHunter Ice Skating StadiumCanada Kevin NobleAustralia Liam Manwarring
Sydney BearsNew South Wales SydneyMacquarie Ice RinkAustralia Ron KuprowskyAustralia Brian Funes
Sydney Ice DogsNew South Wales SydneyMacquarie Ice RinkCzech Republic Ondrej CervenkaAustralia Daniel Pataky
Withdrawn teams
Adelaide AdrenalineSouth Australia AdelaideNo home venueN/AN/A
Perth ThunderWestern Australia PerthPerth Ice ArenaN/AN/A
Exhibition teams
Brisbane LightningQueensland BrisbaneBoondall IceworldAustralia Terry KiliwnikAustralia Damian Bright
Central Coast RhinosNew South Wales ErinaErina Ice ArenaAustralia Ashley MarchAustralia Robert Malloy
Perth ThunderWestern Australia PerthPerth Ice ArenaCanada Ben BreaultCanada Ben Breault

League business

The AIHL made the announcement that the league would return for a regular season and finals for 2022 on 6 December 2021, ending two years of cancelled competition and exhibition series'.[1] The 2022 fixture list and finals schedule was released publicly by the AIHL on 8 February 2022.[5] Melbourne would return as the host city of the AIHL Finals in 2022, after Newcastle hosted the 2019 edition.[5] The League champion will be awarded the Goodall Cup, while the League Premiers will be awarded the H Newman Reid Trophy title.[1] On 8 April 2022, the AIHL released a revised season schedule that did not change any dates but replaced Adrenaline and Thunder regular season fixtures with exhibition games involving the Rhinos, Lightning and Thunder.[6]

The league made a number of key announcements in February in the lead up to the 2022 season start. Firstly, the AIHL would implement a game day format change it first flagged in 2020, which would bring the AIHL into line with international hockey standards. Game lengths would be increased from 50 minutes to 60 minutes with all three period lengths standardised to 20 minutes each.[7] Previously the first two periods in the AIHL would be 15 minutes long with only the third period lasting 20 minutes. Secondly, the AIHL announced the expansion of domestic and international broadcasting of the league. Within Australia, more matches would be made available through partner broadcaster Kayo Sports, expanding on previous deals that included one game a round on delay. AIHL.TV would also provide an alternative platform for streaming content from the league. Internationally, the AIHL secured a deal with US-based Synergy Sports to deliver live streaming of AIHL games to the US, Canadian, United Kingdom and European markets.[7] Thirdly, the AIHL will be setting up a new national community partnership to help showcase elite hockey in Australia.[7] Lastly, the AIHL concluded the expression of interest process to find a new Licensee for the Adelaide Adrenaline license, following former holders, the South Australian Ice Sports Federation, relinquishing the license at the conclusion of the 2019 season. The League began the search in October 2021 and concluded five months later in February 2022 by announcing Benny Gebert and Glen Foll as the successful bidders for the license.[8][7]

In March, the AIHL announced it had signed a three-year deal with Swiss-based Sportradar to become the league's global distributor of game streams and media rights. This superseded the previous announcement with Synergy Sports as Synergy was acquired by Sportradar In March 2022.[9] As part of the deal, Sportradar would also supply AIHL teams with video and data analytical services.[10] In addition, the league released details of a new finals format for 2022. The finals format would be expanded from two to three days with the semi-finals now formatted into major (1v2) and minor (3v4) games and an additional game, the preliminary final, would be added to the schedule on the middle day. The winner of the major semi-final automatically advances to the grand final, while the losing team plays-off against the winner of the minor semi-final in the preliminary final. It means the teams finishing third and fourth in the regular season will be required to play at least two games to reach the grand final and compete for the Goodall Cup.[11]

Expanding on the league's earlier announcement from February, in late April 2022, the AIHL revealed further details around the Kayo Sports domestic broadcasting deal for the 2022 season. Every game of the AIHL regular season, all 60, would be streamed live, free and exclusive on Kayo Sports. This would be the first time the league would broadcast every game of the season.[12] In July 2022, the AIHL and Ice Hockey Australia jointly founded a new Best and Fairest Award for all Australian national championships starting in 2022 including, Sydney Tange, Kurt Defris, Phillip Ginsberg, Jim Brown and Women's championships.[13]

In June, the AIHL entered into a new partnership with Workplace Law. The agreement with the specalised law firm, would deliver the AIHL a partner for legal advice and support across governance and constitutional matters, employment issues, tribunal/disciplinary matters, sponsorship and broadcast arrangements and competition matters.[14]

Interruptions

When the 2022 season was announced by the AIHL, it was indicated that all eight current AIHL teams would participate.[1] The AIHL in February 2022 released the regular season schedule and it contained fixtures for all eight teams, home and away.[5] In response to the schedule, the Perth Thunder released a public statement on 12 February 2022, confirming the current Western Australian border restrictions presented challenges for the team to participate in the 2022 season, but the team would continue to dialog with stakeholders and hope for a resolution from the state government.[15] On 18 February 2022, the Thunder in conjunction with the AIHL announced the team would not participate in the 2022 AIHL season due to uncertainty of when the WA border would open again and the limited time left to organise the team and travel prior to the 2022 season kicking off. The Thunder did offer the possibility of exhibition matches being played in Perth in 2022 to compensate for the unfortunate situation for its players, staff, fans and sponsors.[2]

Adelaide Adrenaline's participation in the 2022 AIHL season has been caste in doubt with negotiations with Adelaide IceArenA, the only ice rink facility in Adelaide, breaking down.[3] On 15 February 2022, IceArenA management released a signed letter with a list of accusations and grievances against the AIHL and ended the letter stating it would be difficult for the arena to support the AIHL.[16] The Adrenaline deemed the subsequent draft agreement proposed by the IceArenA management for use of the facility for the 2022 AIHL season as non-equitable and unviable.[3] On 27 March 2022, the Adrenaline officially withdrew from the 2022 AIHL season.[4]

On 26 February 2022, the CBR Brave responded to an unconfirmed claim that they were looking to leave the AIHL, by confirming their status as an AIHL team and committing to the league and the 2022 season.[17][18] Brave CEO, Sunny Singh, said the league had taken profound action in addressing key issues the Brave had heading into the 2022 season.[18]

Two regular season games set to be played in Melbourne between the CBR Brave and Melbourne Mustangs were first postponed and later cancelled in July 2022. The games, scheduled for 2 and 3 July 2022, were postponed after flight cancellations at Canberra Airport left the CBR Brave stranded in Canberra and unable to fly to Melbourne for the double header against the Mustangs. Despite efforts to rebook both the Saturday and Sunday games were postponed on the Saturday.[19][20] Both teams tried to reschedule the two games but ultimately were unsuccessful. On 30 July 2022 it was revealed the game were cancelled and both teams would share the six points on offer, three points each.[21] The League confirmed the games were officially cancelled on 3 August 2022.[22]

Expansion

Two teams decided against pursuing AIHL licenses in 2022. The Melbourne Ducks played exhibition matches against AIHL teams in 2021 but decided to join the new Pacific Hockey League in 2022.[23] Joining the Ducks in the Pacific Hockey League is the Brisbane Rampage, who abandoned their strategic goal of obtaining an AIHL license in favour of joining the rival league.[23] Ice Hockey Queensland (IHQ) subsequently decided to withdraw their endorsement of the Rampage and seek an AIHL license themselves in partnership with Brisbane Buccaneers and the Southern Stars.[24][25] On 28 February 2022, IHQ was granted an AIHL license by the league commission.[26] IHQ revealed their new AIHL team would play out of Boondall Iceworld and be called Brisbane Lightning.[27] On 7 March 2022, it was reveled former AIHL team, Central Coast Rhinos, had made contact with the AIHL to obtain a new license and present their case for re-admission to the league.[28] The Rhinos last played in the AIHL in 2008 before a licensing disagreement saw the team leave the league. They applied for re-entry in 2015, but were unsuccessful in their application on that occasion.[29] On 10 March 2022, the AIHL made the decision to grant the Rhinos a new AIHL license, ending the team's 14-year hiatus out of the league.[30] Central Coast will play out of their spiritual home, Erina Ice Arena, which went through major renovations and upgrades between 2019 and 2022.[31][32] Both the Lightning and Rhinos will play exhibition matches in 2022 with a view for both to join the AIHL regular league schedule in 2023.[27][30]

Exhibition games

The Brisbane Lightning, Central Coast Rhinos and Perth Thunder all announced in pre-season that they would be perusing to play exhibition games during the AIHL 2022 regular season.[27][30][2] In total 29 exhibition games were scheduled in 2022, consisting of pre-season warm-ups, games with new teams and games with the Thunder during the regular season. Most games were announced with the release of the revised AIHL 2022 season schedule on 8 April 2022,[6] however, the first exhibition series between the Sydney Bears and Newcastle Northstars was made public on 17 March 2022 and consisted of two pre-season match ups at Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Newcastle and Macquarie Ice Rink in North Sydney.[33] The team breakup of exhibition games for 2022 see the Lightning scheduled for 16 games, Bears 9 games, Rhinos 8 games, Northstars 6 games, Thunder, Mustangs and Ice Dogs 4 games, Ice 3 games and Brave 2 games. On 24 July 2022, the exhibition game between the Brisbane Lightning and Sydney Bears held as Iceworld Boondall in Brisbane was abandoned near the end of the second period follow an ugly high sticking incident.[34] Subsequently, the AIHL Player Safety Committee concluded its investigation into the incident that led to the abandoned game and made the following ruling. The Brisbane Lightning player involved was suspended for 2+5 AIHL games (7 in total) and suspended from all Ice Hockey Australia national events until the suspension is completed in 2023. The Sydney Bears organisation was fined $3,500 for intentionally forfeiting the game.[35]

Personnel changes

On 12 February 2022, the AIHL announced its new board of directors and key executives for 2022. The board comprises Garry Doré, Peter Jon Hartshorne, Wayne Hellyer and Joyce Price, with Hartshorne acting as chairman. Christine Bertolotti was appointed head of finance, Dawn Watt head of operations and Rob Duchemin head of referees & discipline.[7]

There has been a number of franchise personal changes in addition to the league itself for 2022. These include a new executive team being appointed in February 2022 at the Sydney Bears. Nathan Graham became president and will be assisted by Andrew Bourne, Ruby Bray and Hamish Davey as vice presidents. Vanessa Saros takes over duties as Bears secretary.[36] In March 2022, Adelaide Adrenaline appointed Glen Foll as new director of hockey operations and Benny Gebert as director of club operations, after the duo secured the operating license for the Adrenaline franchise from the AIHL.[37]

There have also been a number of coaching changes for AIHL teams in 2022. The Sydney Ice Dogs lost Andrew Petrie, after he resigned in November 2021.[38] He was replaced as head coach by former Czech player Ondrej Cervenka in March 2022.[39] Adelaide Adrenaline and head coach Sami Mantere parted ways following the cancellation of the 2020 season. Mantere chose to sign for Adelaide Avalanche in March 2022 for the inaugural season of the Pacific Hockey League.[40] Also in March, the newly formed Brisbane Lightning announced Terry Kiliwnik as their maiden head coach and Ivan Rapchuk as his assistant.[41] In April, the Melbourne Mustangs appointed Canadian Chris Lawrence as head coach for 2022. This will be Lawrence's first head coach position as he comes off a long playing career in the AHL, ECHL and EIHL.[42] The Mebourne Ice turned to a familiar long term servant of the club with their appointment of Sandy Gardner as head coach for 2022. This will be Gardner's third stint as head coach of the Melbournian club. He would be joined by fellow long term clubman Brent Laver as his assistant coach alongside newcomer Michael Flaherty, who joined the club with a CV including head coaching the Mustangs, Glaciers and Victoria.[43] Canberra announced Stuart Philps would be retained as head coach for 2022, following his signing in the lead up to the cancelled 2020 season. Philps would be assisted by the returning Andrew Brunt, who had last coached the ACT team in the Brown Trophy in 2017 and had been the Brave assistant in 2015.[44] Early in the season, Newcastle Northstars changed coaching staff responsibilities with Canadian Kevin Noble shifted to head coach and John Kennedy moved to assistant coach alongside Amelia Matheson.

Player transfers

Regular season

Results

Home \ Away CB MI MM NN SB SI CB MI MM NN SB SI
CBR Brave 9–1 9–4 9–3 7–8 9–5 7–3 6–4 8–2 11–4 8–1
Melbourne Ice 3–10 2–7 2–9 5–2 3–5 4–6 4–6 3–2 3–6 4–2
Melbourne Mustangs 4–0 1–3 4–7 6–4 3–4 4–7 3–4 12–2
Newcastle Northstars 1–6 8–2 7–4 7–1 5–4 3–2 9–3 6–3 7–4 8–4
Sydney Bears 5–4 4–0 4–9 5–8 12–2 1–9 7–2 2–3 4–3 10–3
Sydney Ice Dogs 1–14 6–1 6–3 2–8 2–3 3–7 4–5 6–9 3–6 1–12
Updated to match(es) played on 1 April 2022. Source: AIHL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Fixtures

The 2022 regular season of 60 games, is scheduled to run from 30 April 2022 through to 28 August 2022, with each team playing 20 games. The top four teams qualify and advance to compete in the Goodall Cup finals weekend. The original schedule for 2022, consisting of 112 games had to be amended following the withdrawal of the Adrenaline and Thunder from the 2022 season, resulting in a reduction in the total number regular season games.[5][6]

April

April fixtures
Date Time Away Score Home Location Recap
30 APR17:00CBR Brave10–3Melbourne IceO’Brien Icehouse
30 APR17:30Melbourne Mustangs4–7Newcastle NorthstarsHunter Ice Skating Stadium

May

May fixtures
Date Time Away Score Home Location Recap
1 MAY14:00CBR Brave6–4Melbourne IceO’Brien Icehouse
1 MAY16:30Melbourne Mustangs9–4Sydney BearsMacquarie Ice Rink
7 MAY17:00Newcastle Northstars3–1Melbourne MustangsO’Brien Icehouse
7 MAY17:30Sydney Ice Dogs5–9CBR BravePhillip Ice Skating Centre
8 MAY14:00Newcastle Northstars9–2Melbourne IceO’Brien Icehouse
8 MAY16:30CBR Brave14–1Sydney Ice DogsMacquarie Ice Rink
14 MAY17:30Sydney Bears1–7Newcastle NorthstarsHunter Ice Skating Stadium
14 MAY17:30Melbourne Ice1–9CBR BravePhillip Ice Skating Centre
15 MAY17:00Melbourne Ice3–7CBR BravePhillip Ice Skating Centre
20 MAY19:30Melbourne Mustangs7–2Melbourne IceO’Brien Icehouse
21 MAY16:30Newcastle Northstars8–2Sydney Ice DogsMacquarie Ice Rink
21 MAY17:00Sydney Bears7–4Melbourne MustangsO’Brien Icehouse
22 MAY14:00Sydney Bears2–5Melbourne IceO’Brien Icehouse
22 MAY16:00Sydney Ice Dogs4–5Newcastle NorthstarsHunter Ice Skating Stadium
28 MAY16:30Melbourne Ice0–4Sydney BearsMacquarie Ice Rink
29 MAY16:30Melbourne Ice1–6Sydney Ice DogsMacquarie Ice Rink
29 MAY17:00Sydney Bears8–7 (SO)CBR BravePhillip Ice Skating Centre

June

June fixtures
Date Time Away Score Home Location Recap
3 JUN19:30Sydney Ice Dogs2–12Sydney BearsMacquarie Ice Rink
4 JUN16:30CBR Brave7–3Sydney Ice DogsMacquarie Ice Rink
4 JUN17:00Melbourne Mustangs6–4Melbourne IceO’Brien Icehouse
5 JUN16:30CBR Brave4–5Sydney BearsMacquarie Ice Rink
11 JUN16:30Melbourne Ice5–4Sydney Ice DogsMacquarie Ice Rink
11 JUN17:30Melbourne Mustangs3–6Newcastle NorthstarsHunter Ice Skating Stadium
11 JUN17:30Sydney Bears4–11CBR BravePhillip Ice Skating Centre
12 JUN15:30Melbourne Ice2–8Newcastle NorthstarsHunter Ice Skating Stadium
12 JUN16:30Melbourne Mustangs3–6Sydney Ice DogsMacquarie Ice Rink
17 JUN19:30Melbourne Ice0–4Melbourne MustangsO’Brien Icehouse
18 JUN16:30Sydney Bears3–2Sydney Ice DogsMacquarie Ice Rink
18 JUN16:30CBR Brave6–1Newcastle NorthstarsHunter Ice Skating Stadium
19 JUN16:00CBR Brave2–3Newcastle NorthstarsHunter Ice Skating Stadium
25 JUN17:00Sydney Bears6–3Melbourne IceO’Brien Icehouse
26 JUN14:00Sydney Bears4–3Melbourne MustangsO’Brien Icehouse

July

July fixtures
Date Time Away Score Home Location Recap
2 JUL16:30Sydney Ice Dogs3–10Sydney BearsMacquarie Ice Rink
2 JUL17:00CBR BraveCancelledMelbourne MustangsO’Brien Icehouse
2 JUL17:30Melbourne Ice3–9Newcastle NorthstarsHunter Ice Skating Stadium
3 JUL14:00CBR BraveCancelledMelbourne MustangsO’Brien Icehouse
3 JUL16:30Melbourne Ice2–7Sydney BearsMacquarie Ice Rink
9 JUL16:30Newcastle Northstars6–3Sydney Ice DogsMacquarie Ice Rink
10 JUL16:30CBR Brave9–1Sydney BearsMacquarie Ice Rink
16 JUL17:30Sydney Bears4–7Newcastle NorthstarsHunter Ice Skating Stadium
16 JUL17:30Melbourne Mustangs4–9CBR BravePhillip Ice Skating Centre
17 JUL17:00Melbourne Mustangs4–6CBR BravePhillip Ice Skating Centre
23 JUL17:00Melbourne Ice4–3 (OT)Melbourne MustangsO’Brien Icehouse
23 JUL17:30Newcastle Northstars3–9CBR BravePhillip Ice Skating Centre
24 JUL17:00Newcastle Northstars2–8CBR BravePhillip Ice Skating Centre
30 JUL17:30Sydney Ice Dogs4–8Newcastle NorthstarsHunter Ice Skating Stadium

August

August fixtures
Date Time Away Score Home Location Recap
6 AUG16:30Newcastle Northstars8–5Sydney BearsMacquarie Ice Rink
6 AUG17:00Sydney Ice Dogs5–3Melbourne IceO’Brien Icehouse
7 AUG14:00Sydney Ice Dogs4–6Melbourne MustangsO’Brien Icehouse
13 AUG16:30Melbourne Mustangs3–2Sydney BearsMacquarie Ice Rink
13 AUG17:30Sydney Ice Dogs1–8CBR BravePhillip Ice Skating Centre
14 AUG16:30Melbourne Mustangs9–6Sydney Ice DogsMacquarie Ice Rink
19 AUG19:30Sydney Bears12–1Sydney Ice DogsMacquarie Ice Rink
20 AUG17:00Newcastle Northstars2–3 (OT)Melbourne IceO’Brien Icehouse
21 AUG14:00Newcastle Northstars7–4Melbourne MustangsO’Brien Icehouse
27 AUG16:30Newcastle Northstars3–4 (OT)Sydney BearsMacquarie Ice Rink
27 AUG17:00Sydney Ice Dogs2–12Melbourne MustangsO’Brien Icehouse
28 AUG14:00Sydney Ice Dogs2–4Melbourne IceO’Brien Icehouse

Standings

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 CBR Brave (C) 18 15 0 1 2 141 56 +85 49 2022 Goodall Cup Finals
2 Newcastle Northstars 20 15 0 2 3 112 74 +38 47
3 Sydney Bears 20 10 2 0 8 105 93 +12 34
4 Melbourne Mustangs 18 8 0 1 9 89 83 +6 28
5 Melbourne Ice 20 3 2 0 15 54 116 62 13
6 Sydney Ice Dogs 20 3 0 0 17 66 145 79 9
Source: AIHL Elite Prospects
Rules for classification:
Tie-break: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
Points: 3 points for regulation win; 2 points for OT or SO win; 1 point for OT or SO loss; 0 points for regulation loss
Note: CBR Brave and Melbourne Mustangs were awarded 3 points each for 2 cancelled games.[22] Their points tallies reflect this adjustment.
(C) Champion

Skater statistics

2022 AIHL season top-ten skater statistics for points, goals, assists and penalty minutes.[101]

Points
# Name Team Pos Pts
1Australia Casey KubaraCBF52
2Australia Wehebe DargeCBF50
3Canada Mario Valery-TrabuccoCBF46
4Canada Francis DroletNNF45
5Canada Scott TimminsMMF41
6Canada Daniel BernoNNF40
7Australia Tomas LandaSBF38
8Switzerland Andreas CamenzindCBF38
9Canada Ty WishartMMD36
10Canada Alexandre GauthierSBD34
Goals
# Name Team Pos G
1Australia Casey KubaraCBF25
2Canada Scott TimminsMMF23
3Canada Daniel BernoNNF23
4Canada Mario Valery-TrabuccoCBF20
5Canada Francis DroletNNF18
6Australia Wehebe DargeCBF17
7Australia Tomas LandaSBF16
8Australia Strat AllenSDD15
9Switzerland Andreas CamenzindCBF14
10Australia Robert MalloyNND14
Assists
# Name Team Pos A
1Australia Wehebe DargeCBF33
2Canada Ty WishartMMD29
3Australia Casey KubaraCBF27
4Canada Francis DroletNNF27
5Canada Mario Valery-TrabuccoCBF26
6Switzerland Andreas CamenzindCBF24
7Canada Alexandre GauthierSBD23
8Australia Tomas LandaSBF22
9Canada Michael PoirierSBD22
10Australia Tyler KubaraCBF22
Penalty minutes
# Name Team Pos PIM
1Australia Sam HodicMIF64
2Canada Alexandre GauthierSBD59
3Australia Alec StephensonSDF57
4Australia Liam ManwarringNNF53
5Australia Joey HughesCBF51
6Australia Shannon McGregorSDD49
7Australia Sean OultramNND47
8Australia Jermaine JoyceMID44
9Australia Patrick NadinNNF39
10Australia Christian PansinoMIF38

Goaltender statistics

2022 AIHL season top-ten1 goaltender statistics for goals against average and save percentage.[102]

1 Due to reduced regular season and competing teams in 2022, there were only 6 goaltenders who played 10+ games to qualify for these lists.
Goals against average
# Name Team Pos GAA
1Australia Alexandre TetreaultCBG2.74
2Australia James DownieNNG3.77
3Australia Glen Forbes WhiteSBG4.19
4Australia Sebastian WoodlandsMMG4.39
5Australia Michael JamesMIG5.71
6Australia Jakob DoornbosSDG6.80
Save percentage
# Name Team Pos SV%
1Australia Alexandre TetreaultCBG.893
2Australia James DownieNNG.883
3Australia Sebastian WoodlandsMMG.873
4Australia Michael JamesMIG.862
5Australia Jakob DoornbosSDG.853
6Australia Glen Forbes WhiteSBG.851

Skaters Network local player of the week

Every Tuesday the League, through sponsorship, names a local player of the week.[103]
The award is based on the following criteria:

  • individual performance, including significant game statistics;
  • contribution to the team's success through individual leadership abilities; and
  • performance off the ice, including community engagement.
RoundAwarded toPosRef
1Australia Wehebe DargeFRef
2Australia James DownieGRef
3Australia Jordon BruntFRef
4Australia Christian PansinoFRef
5Australia Kenshin HayashiFRef
6Australia Casey KubaraFRef
7Australia Strat AllenFRef
8Australia Sebastian WoodlandsGRef
9Australia Glen Forbes-WhiteGRef
10New Zealand Jake RatcliffeFRef
11Australia Richard TesarikFRef
12Australia Mitchell HumphriesFRef
13Australia Michael JamesGRef
14Australia Liam ManwarringFRef
15Australia Daniel PatakyDRef
16Australia Matt ArmstrongFRef
17Australia Ellesse CariniFRef
18Australia Tim NikitinFRef

Season awards

Below lists the 2022 AIHL regular season award winners.[104]

Award Name Team
MVPAustralia Casey KubaraCBR Brave
GoaltenderAustralia Michael JamesMelbourne Ice
DefencemanCanada Ty WishartMelbourne Mustangs
LocalAustralia Casey KubaraCBR Brave
RookieAustralia Ethan HawesNewcastle Northstars
CoachCanada Kevin NobleNewcastle Northstars

Goodall Cup playoffs

The 2022 finals weekend will see the implementation of the new finals format, announced by AIHL in March 2022, for the first time.[105] It is scheduled to begin on Friday 2 September with the major and minor semi-finals. On Saturday 3 September, the first ever AIHL preliminary final will take place, while the Goodall Cup final will be held on Sunday 4 September.[105] Following the end of the regular season the top four teams advance to the finals weekend, which is to be held at O’Brien Icehouse in Docklands, Melbourne.[7] This will be the ninth time the Icehouse has hosted the AIHL Finals. The series involves single game match-ups at all stages. The top two teams from the AIHL regular season play-off in the major semi-final for an automatic spot in the Goodall Cup final. The teams who finished third and fourth in the regular season play-off in an elimination game in the minor semi-final. The winner of the minor semi-final advances to the preliminary final to play the loser of the major semi-final. The winner of the preliminary final progresses to the Goodall Cup final and the loser is eliminated. The winner of the grand final is named AIHL Champion and lifts the historic Goodall Cup.[105]

The Brave, Northstars, Bears and Mustangs qualified for the 2022 finals weekend.[106] The Mustangs were the first team eliminated with the Brave progressing straight from the semi-finals to the Goodall Cup Final.[107] The Northstars defeated the Bears with a golden goal in overtime in the first ever preliminary final to reach the Goodall Cup Final.[108] The Brave won the grand final, defeating the Northstars, to lift the Goodall Cup for the second time in the team's history. Joey Hughes was named Finals MVP after the grand final. Hughes continued to extend his record as the most decorated player in AIHL history, winning his seventh Goodall Cup.[109][110]

SemifinalsPreliminary finalGrand final
2 September – Melbourne4 September – Melbourne
CBR Brave6CBR Brave3
Newcastle Northstars13 September – MelbourneNewcastle Northstars2
Newcastle Northstars4
2 September – MelbourneSydney Bears3
Sydney Bears7
Melbourne Mustangs3

All times are UTC+10:00

Semi-finals

2 September 2022
17:00
Sydney Bears7–3
(2–3, 2–0, 3–0)
Melbourne MustangsO’Brien Icehouse
Game reference
Anthony KimlinGoaliesSebastian WoodlandsReferees:
Rob Love
Joey Theriault
Linesmen:
Russel Dow
Haydan Rogers
Jake Ratcliffe (Gauthier, Newmark) – 2:031 – 0
1 – 110:18 – Lee Turner (S.Belic, A.Belic)
1 – 213:47 – Sean Jones (Wishart)
Alexander Gauthier (Landa, Haselhurst) – 15:522 – 2
2 – 318:41 – Matt Armstrong (Timmins, Wishart)
Michael Poirier (Landa, Gauthier) – 31:113 – 3
Tomas Landa (Gauthier, Poirier) – 34:084 – 3
Kenshin Hayashi (Haselhurst, Kimlin) – 53:275 – 3
Kenshin Hayashi (Poirier, Clare) – 55:156 – 3
Brian Kim (Unassisted) – 57:397 – 3
8 minPenalties10 min
38Shots36
2 September 2022
20:30
CBR Brave6–1
(1–1, 2–0, 3–0)
Newcastle NorthstarsO’Brien Icehouse
Game reference
Alex TetreaultGoaliesCharles SmartReferees:
Jeff Klinck
Kent Unwin
Linesmen:
David Rehak
Mark Peruzzo
0 – 15:44 – Robert Malloy (Tesarik, Manwarring)
Mitchell Henning (Valery-Trabucco, Cockerill) – 12:191 – 1
Joseph Hughes (Camenzind) – 21:292 – 1
Joseph Hughes (Unassisted) – 31:023 – 1
Wehebe Darge (Bronte, Lodge) – 45:244 – 1
Tyler Kubara (Darge, Hughes) – 52:525 – 1
Kai Miettinen (Lodge, Henning) – 54:566 – 1
12 minPenalties6 min
54Shots28

Preliminary final

3 September 2022
17:00
Newcastle Northstars4–3 (OT)
(2–2, 0–0, 1–1, 1–0)
Sydney BearsO’Brien Icehouse
Game reference
Charles SmartGoaliesAnthony KimlinReferees:
Kent Unwin
Rob Love
Linesmen:
Haydan Rogers
Mark Peruzzo
0 – 101:38 – Tomas Landa (Hayashi)
0 – 205:51 – Tomas Landa (Gauthier)
Ethan Hawes (Taylor, Ward) – 10:341 – 2
Richard Tesarik (Hawes) – 17:442 – 2
2 – 353:00 – Tomas Landa (Unassisted)
Daniel Berno (Hawes, Malloy) – 57:493 – 3
Patrick Nadin (Berno) – 62:504 – 3
10 minPenalties6 min
27Shots29

Final

4 September 2022
14:00
CBR Brave3–2
(2–0, 0–1, 1–1)
Newcastle NorthstarsO’Brien Icehouse
Game reference
Alex TetreaultGoaliesCharles SmartReferees:
Joey Theriault
Jeff Klinck
Linesmen:
David Rehak
Russel Dow
Joseph Hughes (Cockerill, Brunt) – 09:071 – 0
Wehebe Darge (Giorgi) – 10:292 – 0
2 – 124:44 – Francis Drolet (Malloy, Tesarik)
Casey Kubara (Darge, Valery-Trabucco) – 53:323 – 1
3 – 259:52 – Robert Malloy (Hawes)
10 minPenalties12 min
53Shots22

Trans-Tasman All-Star game

2022 was the inaugural season for the Trans-Tasman All-Star game between the champions of the AIHL and champions of the New Zealand Ice Hockey League (NZIHL). The game forms part of the Strategic Partnership Agreement signed between Ice Hockey Australia (IHA) and New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation (NZIHF) on 15 February 2022.[111] Game was cancelled and replaced with a Trans-Tasman Challenge thee-game series between the Australian and New Zealand national teams, held at O'Brien IceHouse in Melbourne between 4 and 6 November 2022. Australia won the series 3–0.[112]

All-star game

2022AIHL championCancelledNZIHL champion

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