A Snapshot into the Australian Ice Hockey League

Courtney Laura
Jul 20, 2017 · 3 min read

The Newcastle Northstars are apart of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). The AIHL is Australia’s top-level ice hockey league and sanctioned by Ice Hockey Australia.

On Saturday night the Northstars faced Adelaide Adrenaline, and while they trailed for two periods, they came back out for the third period and showcased the comeback of the season.

After struggling early in the season, the Northstars showed a new strength throughout this game and Northstars head coach Andrew Petrie stated “Four games ago we made major adjustments to how we played, so all in all I am really very happy. If you look at the record we had in the first 15 versus the record of the last 4, they’re way better than the first fifteen. Points in four games in a row, I’ll take that.”

The crowd was buzzing with the Northstars favorite Zane Jones taking to the ice for the first time in months and he made his presence known throughout the whole game.

Petrie stated “(Zane) did a lot more than we expected him to do, he was supposed to take 2 or 3 shifts a period and ease back into it but it was kind of like trying to reign in a dinosaur. “

“He had some targets he had to hit in practices over the last few weeks and he hit them all so it’s pretty hard to hold him back at that point.” Petrie stated.

Jones said getting back on the ice felt “Phenomenal, I pushed it up a week because I wanted to play the first game at home and it paid off, it was fun. It was nice to get a win in regulation and throw the body around again. I probably could have had 3 or 4 goals all you can do is laugh about it, and don’t take too much too seriously. “

Petrie stated “We had a chat between the 2nd and 3rd period, we got lucky and the floodgates opened and they responded to the chat, either way we had an incredible comeback” reflecting on the progression of the game.

Adelaide had control of the first period scoring two goals to Northstars zero. Capitalizing on their minimal chances, while the Northstars getting numerous shots on, could not find the back of the net.

Adelaide Adrenaline head coach Sami Mentere stated “I think for the first two periods we played really good hockey, but in the third the wheels fell of and got a couple of goals against us and started to panic a bit.”

Second period was penalty filled for both teams, but both defensive ends were strong with each team only netting a single goal.

With some breathtaking saves and big shots on the Northstars were looking sloppy but they lifted following their first goal from Joe Harcharik late in the second.

Third period saw the intensity lift for both teams but especially the Northstars.

Strong physical contact filled this period, particularly from Jones rattling the Adrenaline’s lines. While Adelaide pulled ahead for most of the game, the Northstars pushed forward and the floodgates opened. Netting 6 goals, they ran away with the game in front of a home crowd.

Jonatan Ruth’s goal in the middle of the third contributed signficantly to the lift of the team beating two defenseman on the boards and driving hard to the net to score the Northstars 4th goal to level the score with Adelaide.

Mantere stated “We will try and focus on positives of the first two periods and the way we played, if we keep playing that hockey in three periods and we need to learn from what we did wrong in the third.”

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