Archive for the 'AIHL News & Results' Category
Posted by admin on 27th, 2008
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This weekend the top 4 teams in Australian Ice Hockey come together in Newcastle, NSW for the 2008 AIHL Finals. The Sydney Bears (1), Melbourne Ice (2), Western Sydney Ice Dogs (3) and Newcastle North Stars (4) battled throughout the 28 game season to earn the right to play off for the century old Goodall Cup, the AIHL’s equivalent of the Stanley Cup.
For the first time, all 3 games of the AIHL finals are going to be available live and exclusive online via the fantastic efforts of Slapshot Entertainment.
From the news release issued today on the Slapshot Entertainment website:
During the 2008 regular season, Slapshot amassed an excellent crew which allowed us to provide high-level ice hockey coverage in a way that has never been done in Australia before. With a 4-camera system (3 game play cameras and a score clock cam), vision-switched LIVE to the internet using our technical director at our mobile TV studio, we were able to bring together a professional mix of live play-by-play and colour commentary, dynamic on-the-fly graphics, instant replays and mid-period activities such as player interviews. The resulting package was streamed live to the internet and recorded to disk for delayed broadcast to Brisbane’s community Channel 31 (now QCTV), which is watched by nearly 40,000 viewers weekly.
Slapshot Entertainment brings not only this technical set-up to Newcastle for the Grand Final weekend, but also a background history and appreciation for ice hockey, the quality and feeling from which can be seen and felt in our broadcasts. It’s this passion that prompted our willingness to be involved at this grassroots-level of ice hockey’s growth in Australia. With enough enthusiastic support for this sport and the AIHL, we hope that existing and new fans alike will help it flourish, and Slapshot would like to be a big part of its growing success.
Tickets for the live-to-internet broadcasts of the 3 games (2 x semi-final and one Grand Final game) are available on the slapshot.com.au website. Game passes can be purchased individually for AUD $11.95 or the 3-game VIP PUCKHEAD PASS can be had for $23.95. Prior to 28 August 2008, pre-sales single-game tickets will be 25% off and PUCKHEAD passes are discounted by 20%.
Saturday will see 2 games played:
- Sydney Bears (1) Vs Newcastle North Stars (4) - 4:30pm AEST
- Melbourne Ice (2) Vs Western Sydney Ice Dogs (3) - 7:30pm AEST
The winner of those 2 matches will play off for the coverted Goodall Cup on Sunday at 4:00pm AEST.
There is also talk of delayed streaming coverage so those in North America and Europe will be able to watch the games without needing to stay up in the early hours of the morning. Those that do however will be rewarded with the best level of hockey Australia has to offer, live and exclusive.
Technorati Tags: ice hockey, aihl, goodall cup, australia
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Posted by admin on 18th, 2008
News came down the wire earlier today that Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney will be out between 3 to 5 months after having surgery to correct a chronic issue with his left foot.
Whitney, who dropped in production last year after a breakout 2006-2007 that secured him a 6-year, $24 million deal tried everything he could to avoid surgery that he knew would put him off the ice long-term.
“We’ve tried everything to avoid surgery because we knew it would mean missing a chunk of the season, but nothing worked.”
-Whitney to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Whitney, a 6 foot 4, 219lb defenseman is said to be the eventual replacement for Sergei Gonchar. Like Gonchar, Whitney is a strong offensive upside to his game. The loss for the Penguins on the blue line should not be too bad, however players like Kris Letang will need to step up their game to fill the gap.
Technorati Tags: ice hockey, nhl, pittsburgh penguins, ryan whitney, kris letang, sergei gonchar
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Posted by admin on 21st, 2008
We’re in the most dreaded part of the hockey year… off season. We’re past the draft and free agency frenzy, but we’re not quite at training camp and news about roster lines. These few weeks seem to almost drag on in an unnatural way.
Down here in Australia it’s the middle of winter, and the Australian Ice Hockey League is in the latter parts of the regular season. The AIHL features 8 teams from around Australia; Gold Coast Blue Tongues, Melbourne Ice, Adelaide A’s, Sydney Bears, Western Sydney Ice Dogs, Canberra Knights, Central Coast Rhinos and the Newcastle North Stars.
Image on the right: Dave Upton of the Blue Tongues battles for the puck along the boards with Dunwoodie of the Ice Dogs.
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Posted by admin on 18th, 2008
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
The Australian Ice Hockey League has been informed by the Adelaide Avalanche that due to financial and administrative reasons, the Avalanche are withdrawing from the remainder of the 2008 season.
The AIHL Board is currently investigating various options in regards to the team’s continuance in the AIHL.
It is very unlikely that this weekend’s games will go ahead involving the Avalanche, who were the visiting team at Canberra (Knights) and Penrith (Bears). Should it be possible to retain the Adelaide team in the 2008 season, all efforts will be made to reschedule these games.
Investigations and meetings are ongoing and more information will be forthcoming in the next 7-10 days regarding the fate of the Adelaide Avalanche.
Author: Rowan Lean
Article Source: Hockey Pulse
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Posted by admin on 16th, 2008
With a huge win over The Bears in their season home opener, the pressure was on the Blue Tongues to once again prevail over the league leaders. Having been introduced to the smaller rink and hard checking style of play produced by Gold Coast, The Bears were expected to hit back, and fast, against the Blue Tongues in their second game of the double header.
The Bears did not disappoint, coming at the Blue Tongues early in the game and changing their tactics to not only start playing a physical game, but also stamping their authority over the control of the game. Both teams seemed to lack the energy they had during Saturday’s game, and some simple rookie errors caused a line change for the Gold Coast team, starting to run two lines instead of three. Despite The Bears claiming control of the puck for majority of the first period however, it was Dave Upton of the Blue Tongues who netted the only goal of the first.
Tempers flared in the second, with roughing calls on both teams, and it was clear that neither team were giving up on their race to be the next to pot a goal. Both Sydney’s goaltender John Daugulis and Gold Coast’s Simo Mustonen had their work cut out for them in net as each team made shot after shot on goal. However, once again the Blue Tongues made some silly mistakes, costing them dearly on the penalty kill. It was The Bears that led going into the third, winning the period 3 goals to the Gold Coast’s lone goal, ending the period 3-2.
Excitement ruled the third, as the Blue Tongues tied up the scores on 3 a piece, before The Bears took advantage of a lapse in concentration and took the lead once more at 4-3 with little more than 8 minutes left in the game. The Blue Tongues never gave up, and with just under 2 minutes left, tied the game 4-4.
Anticipation was high in the stands as the teams took to the face off after a penalty was called on The Bears, giving the Blue Tongues a powerplay with a minute left in the third. Their fans behind them, Gold Coast focused on the job at hand and with 46 seconds left in the game, defenseman Ross Howell netted the game winning goal. The Bears failed to even up the scores in the dying seconds of the game, giving the Blue Tongues their third victory in the last three games.
The first star of the game was Blue Tongues Captain and centre, Billy Crumm. Second star of the game was Blue Tongues Defenseman, Don Burke and third star of the game was Bears’ Roberto Franchini.
Next weekend, the Blue Tongues face the Newcastle North Stars on June 21 & 22 at Gold Coast Iceland, Bundall. Games start at 3.30pm.
Article Source: Gold Coast Blue Tongues
Tags: IceHockey, AIHL, Blue Tongues, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sydney Bears, Gaetan Royer, Brian Lachance
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Posted by admin on 15th, 2008
The Bartercard Gold Coast Blue Tongues have done what many believed to be the impossible. After starting out 5-0 on the road, they have come back to win back-to-back games against the AIHL league leading Sydney Bears. The game, a hard checking, end-to-end battle came right down to the wire, with the final puck going in the net just 40 seconds before the end of the third period while the Blue Tongues were on the Power Play.
The Blue Tongues now have a week to recover before playing the Newcastle Inski North Stars next weekend.
Bartercard Gold Coast Blue Tongues Ice Hockey Club
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Posted by admin on 15th, 2008
Bundall, Qld - The Bartercard Gold Coast Blue Tongues played the Sydney (Penrith) Bears tonight in a regular season league fixture of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). The Bears, who have dominated the league so far this season had an 11-1 record going into this game, and were playing a Blue Tongues team who had played their season so far on the road, going 5-2. These 2 teams are the extreme oppsosites on the AIHL ladder, with the bears holding the #1 spot and the Blue Tongues coming dead last.
Import Gaetan Royer (from Quebec Radio X) and locals Dave Upton and Ben Spillane helped drive the Blue Tongues to an almost white-wash of the Bears, with the Tongues winning 9-1. Royer netted 4 goals on the evening with Spillane netting 2.
The 2 teams will play each other again tomorrow.
Bartercard Gold Coast Blue Tongues Ice Hockey Club
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