I'm going to try to get to some Melbourne games this year. Only been once before. Enjoyed it
2016 AIHL Season
- Thread starter FedEXFalls
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FedEXFalls
Losing makes you grow
- Apr 25, 2011
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- #27
Annnnnnnd Mustangs sign another D-man.
http://mustangs.theaihl.com/leagues/newsletterarchive.cfm?clientID=6099&leagueID=25386&page=94663
http://mustangs.theaihl.com/leagues/newsletterarchive.cfm?clientID=6099&leagueID=25386&page=94663
FedEXFalls
Losing makes you grow
- Apr 25, 2011
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- #29
Go whenever CBR come to town. Ice vs CBR games have been brutal enough and now that they've added size I think they'll try and bully us, which will only end in chaos. Especially with Joey Hughes around for us again. They (CBR) will probably be the best team this year as well.
If not an Ice game then Mustangs/CBR have had some decent games.
North Stars are also worth seeing as they're the top club in Australia overall - despite their disgusting logo and jerseys.
I wish they put the Melbourne Ice documentary on youtube now that it's a couple years old. There's some real cringey stuff in it but also some really great stuff.
If not an Ice game then Mustangs/CBR have had some decent games.
North Stars are also worth seeing as they're the top club in Australia overall - despite their disgusting logo and jerseys.
I wish they put the Melbourne Ice documentary on youtube now that it's a couple years old. There's some real cringey stuff in it but also some really great stuff.
- Moderator
- #30
With the Adrenaline having to put alot of their recent focus on actually having an ice rink to play on, they're shorthanded on the sponsorship front, so they're calling on the fans (be it Adrenaline, AIHL, or ice hockey in general) to sponsor the team, and have set up a crowdfunding page to take up donations to help the team out.
Any amount can be contributed, but donors over $25 can have their name listed on a 'Man Advantage' board that will be situated next to the Adrenaline bench at the Ice Arena.
If you'd like to help them out, click here to donate https://www.gofundme.com/manadvanta...view_campaign&utm_campaign=donation_receiptv5
Any amount can be contributed, but donors over $25 can have their name listed on a 'Man Advantage' board that will be situated next to the Adrenaline bench at the Ice Arena.
If you'd like to help them out, click here to donate https://www.gofundme.com/manadvanta...view_campaign&utm_campaign=donation_receiptv5
FedEXFalls
Losing makes you grow
- Apr 25, 2011
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- #31
Personal life has been busy so haven't been able to post much recently.
Today is day #1
Ice vs Mustangs
Thunder vs North Stars
Ice Dogs vs Brave
Few little media videos:
CBR Brave ad and coach interview:
Ice and Mustangs players talk about the Derby:
Today is day #1
Ice vs Mustangs
Thunder vs North Stars
Ice Dogs vs Brave
Few little media videos:
CBR Brave ad and coach interview:
Ice and Mustangs players talk about the Derby:
FedEXFalls
Losing makes you grow
- Apr 25, 2011
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- #32
Thoughts and justification on the chance each team has for finals this year (at this point in time): I've seen a lot of predictions that I really don't agree with so thought I'd post my thoughts. Felt like people have put too much value in the potential teams have (E.g. Bears) compared to the consistency that the other teams have developed.
Staring at the cup: (1 – 3)
CBR Brave, Newcastle North Stars, Melbourne Ice
Three consistent clubs in recent AIHL finals series, two clubs (Ice/Stars) have the most experience when it comes to winning cups and haven’t lost enough personnel to hurt them too much this season. That’s a credit to the North Stars that have lost Wudrick and Starke. CBR have the best list in the league and the best player, they’ve built on a list that was a whisker from a cup appearance last year.
Ice have made 2 grand finals despite having just 1 player feature in end of season awards in 14/15 and that award was rookie of the year. They're consistent and have overall team depth. If a guy like Lassen comes in and competes in the league scoring race that can really elevate them.
Nobody is a lock, but you have to have some very good reasons for not expecting these teams to feature in at least the final 4.
In with a chance: (4 – 6)
Thunder, Bears, Mustangs
Thunder have two years of finals weekends under their belt and missed a cup appearance due to a coin toss of a match that went the way of Melbourne Ice last year. They pushed Newcastle hard in both opening matches, I don’t see a significant reason for them dropping far but I'm not confident on them being a top dog just yet. Bears have the better chance over the Mustangs to make the final four but don’t have the results at the moment to indicate they can seriously contend. They have hype and expectation but other teams above them have actual runs on the board at this stage. Mustangs have dismantled their championship setup but still have plenty of experience to make the top 4, it comes down to getting their new players to mesh. You can’t spend too much time in this league waiting for your players to mesh, that’s my biggest worry for them. For example, they’ve already given up an early match to the Ice who have a team that has spent so many years playing and winning together. Mustangs looked too much like a team that doesn't fully understand each other. A positive there though is that despite that, they were in the game until there was about 5 minutes left.
Maybe next year (7 – 8)
Adrenaline, Ice Dogs
Make no mistake, every team this year can make the final 4, but if I had to pick two right now to finish bottom it’s these guys. I felt Adrenaline were a shoe-in for the bottom spot but today I think they have a shot at avoiding it and if their imports work off of their solid locals they could be a surprise, too many ifs there, though. Their pre-season disruptions will hurt too much so for now, they’re in the cellar. Their first two matches are going to be away games against an Ice team that has had a lot of players repping Australia and 3 AIHL games under their belt for the year. Will be hard for them to catch up. Ice Dogs are back to being competitive this year but they’re made of a lot of players that have been away from the club or not playing hockey recently, they were extremely close to not even being a club this year. If they can find a way to mesh, just like all the other teams outside the 4 then they can make a shake at it. But it’s hard to back a team in when they still have a lot of ‘ifs’ hanging over their heads.
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The issue I've seen with other lists is they're taking a team such as Ice/North Stars out and putting in a team like the Bears or even Ice Dogs, which may happen.. but right now it's wishful thinking. Bears replacing a team like the Thunder is more likely to happen in my opinion.
Staring at the cup: (1 – 3)
CBR Brave, Newcastle North Stars, Melbourne Ice
Three consistent clubs in recent AIHL finals series, two clubs (Ice/Stars) have the most experience when it comes to winning cups and haven’t lost enough personnel to hurt them too much this season. That’s a credit to the North Stars that have lost Wudrick and Starke. CBR have the best list in the league and the best player, they’ve built on a list that was a whisker from a cup appearance last year.
Ice have made 2 grand finals despite having just 1 player feature in end of season awards in 14/15 and that award was rookie of the year. They're consistent and have overall team depth. If a guy like Lassen comes in and competes in the league scoring race that can really elevate them.
Nobody is a lock, but you have to have some very good reasons for not expecting these teams to feature in at least the final 4.
In with a chance: (4 – 6)
Thunder, Bears, Mustangs
Thunder have two years of finals weekends under their belt and missed a cup appearance due to a coin toss of a match that went the way of Melbourne Ice last year. They pushed Newcastle hard in both opening matches, I don’t see a significant reason for them dropping far but I'm not confident on them being a top dog just yet. Bears have the better chance over the Mustangs to make the final four but don’t have the results at the moment to indicate they can seriously contend. They have hype and expectation but other teams above them have actual runs on the board at this stage. Mustangs have dismantled their championship setup but still have plenty of experience to make the top 4, it comes down to getting their new players to mesh. You can’t spend too much time in this league waiting for your players to mesh, that’s my biggest worry for them. For example, they’ve already given up an early match to the Ice who have a team that has spent so many years playing and winning together. Mustangs looked too much like a team that doesn't fully understand each other. A positive there though is that despite that, they were in the game until there was about 5 minutes left.
Maybe next year (7 – 8)
Adrenaline, Ice Dogs
Make no mistake, every team this year can make the final 4, but if I had to pick two right now to finish bottom it’s these guys. I felt Adrenaline were a shoe-in for the bottom spot but today I think they have a shot at avoiding it and if their imports work off of their solid locals they could be a surprise, too many ifs there, though. Their pre-season disruptions will hurt too much so for now, they’re in the cellar. Their first two matches are going to be away games against an Ice team that has had a lot of players repping Australia and 3 AIHL games under their belt for the year. Will be hard for them to catch up. Ice Dogs are back to being competitive this year but they’re made of a lot of players that have been away from the club or not playing hockey recently, they were extremely close to not even being a club this year. If they can find a way to mesh, just like all the other teams outside the 4 then they can make a shake at it. But it’s hard to back a team in when they still have a lot of ‘ifs’ hanging over their heads.
---
The issue I've seen with other lists is they're taking a team such as Ice/North Stars out and putting in a team like the Bears or even Ice Dogs, which may happen.. but right now it's wishful thinking. Bears replacing a team like the Thunder is more likely to happen in my opinion.
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Went to the Mustangs v brave game last weekend. Small crowd but decent entertainment. Even a fight which was pleasing though sadly on the side with no spectators. Mustangs went down early and then in the third quarter piled on the goals. I don't really understand what I'm watching but doesn't affect enjoyment of the game. Good sport to take kids to as they can see and hear everything.
I don't get though why the breaks are so long between quarters or periods or whatever they are. Compared to afl the players don't seem to work that hard and are always interchanging. Yet they have these longer breaks in the rooms than afl. Odd.
Hard to recognise players with helmets on. However the cbr player wudrick did some funky stuff - stood out as highly skilled to me anyway.
I don't get though why the breaks are so long between quarters or periods or whatever they are. Compared to afl the players don't seem to work that hard and are always interchanging. Yet they have these longer breaks in the rooms than afl. Odd.
Hard to recognise players with helmets on. However the cbr player wudrick did some funky stuff - stood out as highly skilled to me anyway.
- Jul 11, 2013
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trust me, it's tiring playing, also don't they resurface the ice during the breaks? that takes like 15 or so minutes i think
- Moderator
- #35
Yeah they resurface the ice during each interval. Often that takes up a good 10 minutes of the 15 minute break.
- Moderator
- #36
The Adrenaline make their long-awaited season debut this weekend against the Ice.
And the Ice Arena is taking great shape in readiness for the home openers next weekend against the Ice Dogs
And the Ice Arena is taking great shape in readiness for the home openers next weekend against the Ice Dogs
FedEXFalls
Losing makes you grow
- Apr 25, 2011
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- #38
Doesn't help that the breaks between are as long as the first two periods. First two periods in this league are 15 mins each. I understand and respect why they do that, but it doesn't surprise me that people from the general public would question how taxing it is on players.
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Ice vs Newcastle is my favourite rivalry in this league. Had a great match on the weekend and from my experience it seems very much a hockey rivalry rather than two teams just beating the s**t out of each other, which is what usually happens with CBR vs Ice.
Mustangs certainly surprised CBR on the weekend, I think their goaltender Toivonen can really be CBR's achilles heel. Easy to feel the pressure when you have so many stars in front of you and are expected to be the top dog.
I'd be surprised if Adelaide get any points from the Ice this week, not that I don't respect their ability. But it's tough to back a team that has played zero games against a top team that's played a pre-season game followed by 3 regular season games.
A solid article on the Ice's two visiting Swedish coaches: A lot of our players have been overseas training and playing in the offseason, it's great to see.
http://ice.theaihl.com/leagues/newsletterarchive.cfm?clientID=6092&leagueID=25327&page=95040
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Ice vs Newcastle is my favourite rivalry in this league. Had a great match on the weekend and from my experience it seems very much a hockey rivalry rather than two teams just beating the s**t out of each other, which is what usually happens with CBR vs Ice.
Mustangs certainly surprised CBR on the weekend, I think their goaltender Toivonen can really be CBR's achilles heel. Easy to feel the pressure when you have so many stars in front of you and are expected to be the top dog.
I'd be surprised if Adelaide get any points from the Ice this week, not that I don't respect their ability. But it's tough to back a team that has played zero games against a top team that's played a pre-season game followed by 3 regular season games.
A solid article on the Ice's two visiting Swedish coaches: A lot of our players have been overseas training and playing in the offseason, it's great to see.
http://ice.theaihl.com/leagues/newsletterarchive.cfm?clientID=6092&leagueID=25327&page=95040
- Moderator
- #40
Impressive first period by the Adrenaline - up 2-1 after 1
- Moderator
- #41
3-3 in Melbourne, but Adelaide starting to fatigue
- Moderator
- #42
Despite the fatigue, they hit the lead once again 4-3
- Moderator
- #43
Ice tie it in the last minute and we have a shootout
- Moderator
- #44
Ice win the shootout.
Still incredibly proud of the Adrenaline to get 1 point tonight. Hopefully they can go one better tomorrow.
Still incredibly proud of the Adrenaline to get 1 point tonight. Hopefully they can go one better tomorrow.
FedEXFalls
Losing makes you grow
- Apr 25, 2011
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- #45
One of the worst games I have seen the Ice play. The first period was especially brutal.
Everytime we would equal the score the team just expected to run away with the game. The 4th goal we gave up was the laziest skating I have seen the team do.
Of course we'd then have patches of pure dominance and not be able to finish it off. The equalising goal hit an Adelaide player in the face and went in...
We are in dire need of Todd Graham landing in Australia and replacing Oakes, who had a mare today.
Brave lost again so we're top of the table for at least a night.
Tomorrow's game could be anything.
Everytime we would equal the score the team just expected to run away with the game. The 4th goal we gave up was the laziest skating I have seen the team do.
Of course we'd then have patches of pure dominance and not be able to finish it off. The equalising goal hit an Adelaide player in the face and went in...
We are in dire need of Todd Graham landing in Australia and replacing Oakes, who had a mare today.
Brave lost again so we're top of the table for at least a night.
Tomorrow's game could be anything.
FedEXFalls
Losing makes you grow
- Apr 25, 2011
- 1,947
- 1,301
- AFL Club
- Essendon
- Other Teams
- Dallas Stars, Melbourne Ice
- Thread starter
- #46
Ugly ladder after 3 weeks. Would be perfect if the top 4 ended up like this. Would be the same finals match-ups as last year which were all ridiculously close. CBR vs NS in a finals match-up would be crazy this year. Mustangs could really use a Joey Hughes right now.
FedEXFalls
Losing makes you grow
- Apr 25, 2011
- 1,947
- 1,301
- AFL Club
- Essendon
- Other Teams
- Dallas Stars, Melbourne Ice
- Thread starter
- #47
Oh yeah, this was an interesting article from last week. CBR came into this league as the darlings that everyone else saved. Now they're turning into a club that is pretty disliked.
Apparently Wudrick wouldn't tell the Newcastle coach which club he had signed with, so he was calling all the clubs asking if they'd signed him.
There's a lot of talk about Wudrick getting paid by CBR and that being why he moved. Not quite sure if either are true but it makes sense with the "can buy resources" comment.
CBR beat Newcastle on Sunday in a shootout with Wudrick scoring a shootout goal. Hoping this rivalry develops and they beat the s**t out of each other while the Ice quietly cruise along...
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/3892833/petrie-blasts-raid-on-wudrick/
Apparently Wudrick wouldn't tell the Newcastle coach which club he had signed with, so he was calling all the clubs asking if they'd signed him.
There's a lot of talk about Wudrick getting paid by CBR and that being why he moved. Not quite sure if either are true but it makes sense with the "can buy resources" comment.
CBR beat Newcastle on Sunday in a shootout with Wudrick scoring a shootout goal. Hoping this rivalry develops and they beat the s**t out of each other while the Ice quietly cruise along...
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/3892833/petrie-blasts-raid-on-wudrick/
Apologies but I'm learning the game - what is SOW and SOL?
League is full of dumb names. Ice dogs. Dear god that's awful.
