2018 AIHL season

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

Summarize Timeline Top Qs Fact Check

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]

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]

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]

Summarize Timeline Top Qs Fact Check

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]

Date	Time	Away	Score	Home	Location	Recap
21 April	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline	0–8	Melbourne Ice	O'Brien Group Arena
21 April	17:00	Newcastle Northstars	3–4 (SO)	Sydney Ice Dogs	Macquarie Ice Rink
21 April	17:30	Sydney Bears	2–4	CBR Brave	Phillip Ice Skating Centre
22 April	16:00	Adelaide Adrenaline	3–1	Melbourne Mustangs	O'Brien Group Arena
28 April	16:30	Sydney Ice Dogs	2–4	Adelaide Adrenaline	Adelaide Ice Arena
28 April	17:00	CBR Brave	4–2	Newcastle Northstars	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium
28 April	17:00	Perth Thunder	4–5 (SO)	Melbourne Ice	O'Brien Group Arena
29 April	16:00	Perth Thunder	3–6	Melbourne Mustangs	O'Brien Group Arena
29 April	16:30	Sydney Ice Dogs	6–3	Adelaide Adrenaline	Adelaide Ice Arena

Date	Time	Away	Score	Home	Location	Recap
5 May	16:30	Melbourne Mustangs	6–2	Perth Thunder	Perth Ice Arena
5 May	16:30	Melbourne Ice	4–2	Adelaide Adrenaline	Adelaide Ice Arena
5 May	17:00	Sydney Bears	1–5	Sydney Ice Dogs	Macquarie Ice Rink
5 May	17:30	Newcastle Northstars	3–8	CBR Brave	Phillip Ice Skating Centre
6 May	16:00	Sydney Ice Dogs	3–4 (SO)	Newcastle Northstars	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium
6 May	16:30	Melbourne Ice	4–3 (SO)	Adelaide Adrenaline	Adelaide Ice Arena
6 May	16:30	Melbourne Mustangs	2–4	Perth Thunder	Perth Ice Arena
6 May	17:00	CBR Brave	3–5	Sydney Bears	Macquarie Ice Rink
11 May	19:30	Melbourne Ice	3–5	Melbourne Mustangs	O'Brien Group Arena
12 May	16:30	Sydney Ice Dogs	3–1	Perth Thunder	Perth Ice Arena
12 May	17:00	Newcastle Northstars	5–4	Melbourne Ice	O'Brien Group Arena
12 May	17:00	CBR Brave	3–1	Sydney Bears	Macquarie Ice Rink
13 May	16:00	Newcastle Northstars	4–3	Melbourne Mustangs	O'Brien Group Arena
13 May	16:30	Sydney Ice Dogs	4–8	Perth Thunder	Perth Ice Arena
19 May	16:30	Newcastle Northstars	5–6 (SO)	Adelaide Adrenaline	Adelaide Ice Arena
19 May	17:00	Sydney Bears	3–2 (SO)	Melbourne Mustangs	O'Brien Group Arena
19 May	17:30	Perth Thunder	2–6	CBR Brave	Phillip Ice Skating Centre
20 May	16:00	Sydney Bears	3–2	Melbourne Ice	O'Brien Group Arena
20 May	16:30	Newcastle Northstars	4–2	Adelaide Adrenaline	Adelaide Ice Arena
20 May	17:00	Perth Thunder	4–3	CBR Brave	Phillip Ice Skating Centre
26 May	16:00	Melbourne Mustangs	5–6 (SO)	Newcastle Northstars	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium
26 May	16:30	Adelaide Adrenaline	2–6	Perth Thunder	Perth Ice Arena
26 May	17:00	Sydney Ice Dogs	3–2 (SO)	Sydney Bears	Macquarie Ice Rink
26 May	17:00	Melbourne Ice	0–5	CBR Brave	Phillip Ice Skating Centre
27 May	16:30	Adelaide Adrenaline	3–5	Perth Thunder	Perth Ice Arena
27 May	17:00	Melbourne Ice	1–4	CBR Brave	Phillip Ice Skating Centre
27 May	17:00	Melbourne Mustangs	3–6	Sydney Bears	Macquarie Ice Rink

Date	Time	Away	Score	Home	Location	Recap
9 June	17:00	Melbourne Mustangs	2–5	Newcastle Northstars	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium
9 June	17:00	Perth Thunder	4–3 (SO)	Sydney Bears	Macquarie Ice Rink
10 June	16:00	Perth Thunder	8–2	Newcastle Northstars	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium
10 June	17:00	Melbourne Mustangs	2–6	Sydney Ice Dogs	Macquarie Ice Rink
15 June	19:30	Melbourne Mustangs	5–4 (SO)	Melbourne Ice	O'Brien Group Arena
16 June	16:30	CBR Brave	11–4	Adelaide Adrenaline	Adelaide Ice Arena
16 June	17:00	Sydney Ice Dogs	4–3	Melbourne Mustangs	O'Brien Group Arena
16 June	17:00	Newcastle Northstars	0–2	Sydney Bears	Macquarie Ice Rink
17 June	16:00	Sydney Ice Dogs	4–3 (SO)	Melbourne Ice	O'Brien Group Arena
17 June	16:30	CBR Brave	5–2	Perth Thunder	Perth Ice Arena
23 June	16:30	Sydney Bears	6–2	Adelaide Adrenaline	Adelaide Ice Arena
23 June	17:00	Perth Thunder	4–3 (SO)	Newcastle Northstars	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium
23 June	17:00	Melbourne Ice	2–6	Sydney Ice Dogs	Macquarie Ice Rink
23 June	17:30	Melbourne Mustangs	4–1	CBR Brave	Phillip Ice Skating Centre
24 June	16:00	Melbourne Ice	2–3	Newcastle Northstars	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium
24 June	16:30	Sydney Bears	2–3 (SO)	Adelaide Adrenaline	Adelaide Ice Arena
24 June	17:00	Melbourne Mustangs	4–8	CBR Brave	Phillip Ice Skating Centre
24 June	17:00	Perth Thunder	3–2	Sydney Ice Dogs	Macquarie Ice Rink
29 June	19:30	Melbourne Ice	4–1	Melbourne Mustangs	O'Brien Group Arena
29 June	19:00	Newcastle Northstars	3–2 (SO)	Sydney Ice Dogs	Macquarie Ice Rink
30 June	16:30	CBR Brave	6–2	Perth Thunder	Perth Ice Arena
30 June	17:00	Sydney Bears	1–2	Melbourne Ice	O'Brien Group Arena

Date	Time	Away	Score	Home	Location	Recap
1 July	16:00	Sydney Ice Dogs	4–6	Newcastle Northstars	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium
1 July	16:00	Sydney Bears	0–3	Melbourne Mustangs	O'Brien Group Arena
1 July	16:30	CBR Brave	6–2	Adelaide Adrenaline	Adelaide Ice Arena
7 July	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline	4–5	Newcastle Northstars	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium
7 July	17:00	CBR Brave	7–5	Melbourne Mustangs	O'Brien Group Arena
7 July	17:00	Melbourne Ice	1–7	Sydney Bears	Macquarie Ice Rink
8 July	16:00	Melbourne Ice	4–3	Newcastle Northstars	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium
8 July	16:00	CBR Brave	3–6	Melbourne Mustangs	O'Brien Group Arena
8 July	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline	0–4	Sydney Ice Dogs	Macquarie Ice Rink
13 July	19:30	Sydney Ice Dogs	0–5	Sydney Bears	Macquarie Ice Rink
14 July	16:30	Melbourne Ice	3–4 (SO)	Perth Thunder	Perth Ice Arena
14 July	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline	0–5	Sydney Ice Dogs	Macquarie Ice Rink
14 July	17:30	Newcastle Northstars	1–3	CBR Brave	Phillip Ice Skating Centre
15 July	16:30	Melbourne Ice	4–7	Perth Thunder	Perth Ice Arena
15 July	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline	1–2 (SO)	Sydney Bears	Macquarie Ice Rink
21 July	16:30	Perth Thunder	9–2	Adelaide Adrenaline	Adelaide Ice Arena
21 July	17:00	Sydney Ice Dogs	4–3	Melbourne Ice	O'Brien Group Arena
21 July	17:30	Sydney Bears	2–7	CBR Brave	Phillip Ice Skating Centre
22 July	16:00	Sydney Bears	5–2	Newcastle Northstars	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium
22 July	16:00	Sydney Ice Dogs	0–2	Melbourne Mustangs	O'Brien Group Arena
22 July	16:30	Perth Thunder	1–2	Adelaide Adrenaline	Adelaide Ice Arena
28 July	17:00	Newcastle Northstars	6–4	Melbourne Mustangs	O'Brien Group Arena
28 July	17:00	Perth Thunder	3–0	Sydney Ice Dogs	Macquarie Ice Rink
28 July	17:30	Adelaide Adrenaline	2–5	CBR Brave	Phillip Ice Skating Centre
29 July	14:00	Adelaide Adrenaline	0–6	CBR Brave	Phillip Ice Skating Centre
29 July	16:00	Newcastle Northstars	4–3 (SO)	Melbourne Ice	O'Brien Group Arena
29 July	17:00	Perth Thunder	1–4	Sydney Bears	Macquarie Ice Rink

Date	Time	Away	Score	Home	Location	Recap
4 August	16:30	Sydney Bears	3–2 (SO)	Perth Thunder	Perth Ice Arena
4 August	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline	4–5 (SO)	Melbourne Mustangs	O'Brien Group Arena
4 August	17:00	CBR Brave	6–3	Sydney Ice Dogs	Macquarie Ice Rink
5 August	16:00	CBR Brave	6–4	Newcastle Northstars	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium
5 August	16:00	Adelaide Adrenaline	2–9	Melbourne Ice	O'Brien Group Arena
5 August	16:30	Sydney Bears	6–4	Perth Thunder	Perth Ice Arena
11 August	16:30	Melbourne Mustangs	7–1	Adelaide Adrenaline	Adelaide Ice Arena
11 August	17:00	Melbourne Ice	1–4	Sydney Bears	Macquarie Ice Rink
11 August	17:30	Sydney Ice Dogs	8–11	CBR Brave	Phillip Ice Skating Centre
12 August	16:00	Sydney Bears	4–3	Newcastle Northstars	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium
12 August	16:30	Melbourne Mustangs	4–1	Adelaide Adrenaline	Adelaide Ice Arena
12 August	17:00	Melbourne Ice	6–2	Sydney Ice Dogs	Macquarie Ice Rink
17 August	19:30	Newcastle Northstars	3–9	Sydney Bears	Macquarie Ice Rink
17 August	19:30	Melbourne Mustangs	7–0	Melbourne Ice	O'Brien Group Arena
18 August	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline	4–10	Newcastle Northstars	Hunter Ice Skating Stadium
18 August	17:00	Perth Thunder	2–5	Melbourne Mustangs	O'Brien Group Arena
18 August	17:00	CBR Brave	3–1	Sydney Ice Dogs	Macquarie Ice Rink
19 August	16:00	Perth Thunder	6–3	Melbourne Ice	O'Brien Group Arena
19 August	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline	0–9	Sydney Bears	Macquarie Ice Rink
19 August	17:00	Sydney Ice Dogs	2–5	CBR Brave	Phillip Ice Skating Centre
24 August	19:30	Sydney Bears	2–7	Sydney Ice Dogs	Macquarie Ice Rink
25 August	16:30	Newcastle Northstars	4–5 (SO)	Perth Thunder	Perth Ice Arena
25 August	17:00	Melbourne Mustangs	1–5	Sydney Bears	Macquarie Ice Rink
25 August	17:00	CBR Brave	7–0	Melbourne Ice	O'Brien Group Arena
26 August	16:30	Newcastle Northstars	3–5	Perth Thunder	Perth Ice Arena
26 August	16:30	CBR Brave	6–2	Melbourne Ice	O'Brien Group Arena
26 August	17:00	Melbourne Mustangs	3–2	Sydney Ice Dogs	Macquarie Ice Rink

Team	GP	W	SOW	SOL	L	GF	GA	GDF	PTS
CBR Brave	28	24	0	0	4	152	74	+78	72
Sydney Bears	28	15	3	3	7	104	72	+32	54
Perth Thunder	28	12	4	2	10	111	100	+11	46
Melbourne Mustangs	28	12	2	2	12	106	97	+9	42
Newcastle Northstars	28	9	4	4	11	106	119	–13	39
Sydney Ice Dogs	28	10	3	2	13	96	97	–1	38
Melbourne Ice	28	7	2	4	15	87	114	–27	29
Adelaide Adrenaline	28	3	2	3	20	62	151	–89	16

Qualified for the Goodall Cup playoffs

H Newman Reid Trophy winners

Source

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

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	POS
Pier-Olivier Grandmaison	Perth Thunder	28	28	39	67	26	F
Travor Gerling	CBR Brave	24	24	43	67	12	F
Wehebe Darge	CBR Brave	26	22	34	56	34	F
Geordie Wudrick	Sydney Ice Dogs	28	22	34	56	24	F
Charles Adams	Sydney Bears	24	21	33	54	16	F
Ryan Lough	Sydney Bears	21	25	26	51	12	F
Benjamin Breault	Perth Thunder	28	19	31	50	16	F
Grant Toulmin	Sydney Ice Dogs	21	15	33	48	4	F
Chris Leveille	CBR Brave	15	20	27	47	47	F
Landon Oslanski	Perth Thunder	19	12	34	46	90	D

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]

Player	Team	MIP	SOG	GA	GAA	SVS%	SO
Matt Hewitt	CBR Brave	1182	614	46	1.95	0.925	2
Anthony Kimlin	Sydney Bears	1255	749	60	2.39	0.920	2
Curtis Skip	Sydney Ice Dogs	1095	717	60	2.74	0.916	2
Aleksi Toivonen	Melbourne Mustangs	667	318	37	2.77	0.884	2
Peter Di Salvo	Perth Thunder	1398	1052	96	3.43	0.909	1

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

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

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]

	Semi-finals					Final
	1	CBR Brave	5
	4	Melbourne Mustangs	1
						CBR Brave		4
						Sydney Bears		3
	3	Perth Thunder	0
	2	Sydney Bears	3

All times are UTC+10:00

1 September 2018 15:00

Melbourne Mustangs

1–5 (0–2, 1–3, 0–0)

CBR Brave

O'Brien Group Arena Attendance: 1500

Game reference
	Aleksi Toivonen	Goalies	Matt Hewitt	Referees: Jeff Scott Kent Unwin Linesmen: Casper Russelhuber Grainge Phillips
	0 – 1 3:16 – Gerling (PP) (Bresciani, Leveille) 0 – 2 8:08 – C.Kubara (unassisted) 0 – 3 19.48 – Gerling (SH) (Leveille) 20:44 – Ferguson (Davies, McMahon) 1 – 3 1 – 4 28.09 – C.Kubara (Dawes) 1 – 5 29:00 – Harvey (Gerling, Darge)
	8 min	Penalties	28 min
	24	Shots	17

1 September 2018 18:00

Perth Thunder

0–3 (0–1, 0–1, 0–1)

Sydney Bears

O'Brien Group Arena Attendance: 1500

Game reference
	Peter Di Salvo	Goalies	Anthony Kimlin	Referees: Jeff Klinck Chris Parks Linesmen: Fraser Ohlson Russel Dow
	0 – 1 14:05 – Adams (PP) (Strukoff) 0 – 2 17:06 – Lough (Annesley, du Toit) 0 – 3 49:48 – Lough (Adams)
	4 min	Penalties	8 min
	25	Shots	33

2 September 2018 15:00

Sydney Bears

3–4 (OT) (0–2, 3–0, 0–1, 0–1)

CBR Brave

O'Brien Group Arena Attendance: 1500

Game reference
	Anthony Kimlin	Goalies	Matt Hewitt	Referees: Jeff Scott Kent Unwin Linesmen: Casper Russelhuber Fraser Ohlson
	0 – 1 5:08 – T.Kubara (Henning, Miettinen) 0 – 2 9:57 – Hughes (PP) (Darge) 20:01 – Schlamp (PP) (Strukoff, Lough) 1 – 2 23:50 – Clare (du Toit, Lough) 2 – 2 28:48 – Lough (Adams, Funes) 3 – 2 3 – 3 35:09 – Leveille (Darge, Bresciani) 3 – 4 61:39 – Gerling (Darge)
	2 min	Penalties	4 min
	37	Shots	37