# 2006 AIHL season

The 2006 AIHL season was the seventh season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It ran from 8 April 2006 until 27 August 2006, with the Goodall Cup finals following on 2 and 3 September 2006. The Melbourne Ice won the V.I.P. Cup after finishing the regular season first in the league standings. The Newcastle North Stars won the Goodall Cup for the third time by defeating the Adelaide Avalanche in the final.

## Regular season

The regular season began on 8 April 2006 and ran through to 27 August 2006 before the top four teams advanced to compete in the Goodall Cup playoff series.

### Standings

| Team | GP | W | SOW | SOL | L | GF | GA | GDF | PTS |
| Melbourne Ice | 28 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 138 | 87 | +51 | 65 |
| Adelaide Avalanche | 28 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 134 | 84 | +50 | 57 |
| Western Sydney Ice Dogs | 28 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 101 | 84 | +17 | 56 |
| Newcastle North Stars | 28 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 143 | 95 | +48 | 49 |
| Sydney Bears | 28 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 145 | 112 | +33 | 48 |
| Brisbane Blue Tongues | 28 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 129 | 138 | -9 | 32 |
| Central Coast Rhinos | 28 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 97 | 169 | -72 | 18 |
| Canberra Knights | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 79 | 197 | -118 | 11 |
| Qualified for the Goodall Cup playoffs | V.I.P. Cup winners |
Source

### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

List shows the ten top skaters sorted by points, then goals. Current as of 3 September 2006
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | POS |
| Marcel Kars | Newcastle North Stars | 20 | 29 | 37 | 66 | 40 | C |
| Jesse Pyatt | Newcastle North Stars | 21 | 32 | 31 | 63 | 34 | C |
| Vladan Stransky | Sydney Bears | 24 | 27 | 30 | 57 | 50 | F |
| Jean-Philippe Brière | Brisbane Blue Tongues | 22 | 28 | 26 | 54 | 36 | C |
| Vladimir Rubes | Sydney Bears | 25 | 20 | 34 | 54 | 48 | F |
| Brad Wanchulak | Adelaide Avalanche | 23 | 26 | 27 | 53 | 12 | F |
| Greg Oddy | Adelaide Avalanche | 23 | 17 | 33 | 50 | 68 | C |
| Mitch Strang | Central Coast Rhinos | 25 | 22 | 22 | 44 | 56 | LW |
| Trevor Sherban | Newcastle North Stars | 25 | 11 | 31 | 42 | 95 | D |
| Andy Luhovy | Sydney Bears | 22 | 14 | 23 | 37 | 48 | F |

#### Leading goaltenders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage with a minimum 40% of the team's ice time. Current as of 3 September 2006
| Player | Team | MIP | SOG | GA | GAA | SVS% | SO |
| Matthew Ezzy | Newcastle North Stars | 989 | 722 | 69 | 3.49 | 0.904 | 1 |
| D'arcy Munro | Western Sydney Ice Dogs | 1035 | 621 | 66 | 3.19 | 0.894 | 2 |
| Michael Clements | Sydney Bears | 487 | 320 | 35 | 3.59 | 0.891 | 0 |
| Stuart Denman | Melbourne Ice | 989 | 526 | 65 | 3.29 | 0.876 | 1 |
| Nigel Ward | Adelaide Avalanche | 988 | 504 | 64 | 3.24 | 0.873 | 1 |

## Goodall Cup playoffs

The 2006 playoffs was scheduled for 2 September with the Goodall Cup final held on 3 September 2006. Following the end of the regular season the top four teams advanced to the playoff series which was held at the IceArenA in Adelaide, South Australia. 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 Newcastle North Stars (3rd title) who defeated host team the Adelaide Avalanche 4–0 in the final.
| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Newcastle North Stars | 6 | | | |
| 4 | Melbourne Ice | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Melbourne Ice | 1 | Newcastle North Stars | Newcastle North Stars | 4 |
| | | | Adelaide Avalanche | Adelaide Avalanche | 0 |
| 3 | Western Sydney Ice Dogs | 2 | Adelaide Avalanche | Adelaide Avalanche | 0 |
| 2 | Adelaide Avalanche | 5 | | | |
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