# 2012–13 AJIHL season

The 2012–13 AJIHL season is the first season of the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League. It ran from 20 October 2012 until 17 February 2013, with the finals running from 3 March 2013 until 10 March 2013. The AJIHL is the highest Australian national junior ice hockey competition.

## League business

On 18 September 2012 Ice Hockey Australia announced the formation of the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League with the league starting its inaugural season on 20 October 2012. On 22 September 2012 they announced that the league would consist of four teams for the first season – Melbourne Blackhawks, Melbourne Red Wings, Sydney Lightning and the Sydney Maple Leafs, with teams being operated by their respective state governing body, the Victorian Ice Hockey Association and the New South Wales Ice Hockey Association respectively. Games are set to be held in the Melbourne, Penrith and Sydney.
Following the games on 9 December 2012 there is an eight-week stoppage to allow for the festive period and for the 2013 IIHF World U20 Championships program which runs from December until the end of January.

## Regular season

The regular season began on 20 October 2012 and ran through to 17 February 2013 before the teams compete in the playoff series.

### October

| Game | Date | Time | Away | Score | Home | Location | Attendance |
| 1 | 20 October 2012 | 18:45 | Sydney Lightning | 3–5 | Melbourne Blackhawks | Melbourne | 150 |
| 2 | 20 October 2012 | 20:30 | Sydney Maple Leafs | 2–7 | Melbourne Red Wings | Melbourne | 150 |
| 3 | 21 October 2012 | 15:23 | Sydney Maple Leafs | 0–4 | Melbourne Blackhawks | Melbourne | 60 |
| 4 | 21 October 2012 | 17:00 | Sydney Lightning | 5–3 | Melbourne Red Wings | Melbourne | 60 |

### November

| Game | Date | Time | Away | Score | Home | Location | Attendance |
| 6 | 9 November 2012 | 20:00 | Melbourne Red Wings | 1–2 | Melbourne Blackhawks | Melbourne | 75 |
| 5 | 10 November 2012 | 19:00 | Sydney Maple Leafs | 0–4 | Sydney Lightning | Penrith | |
| 7 | 11 November 2012 | 17:00 | Sydney Lightning | 5–4 | Sydney Maple Leafs | Penrith | |
| 8 | 11 November 2012 | 14:30 | Melbourne Blackhawks | 3–4 | Melbourne Red Wings | Melbourne | 94 |
| 10 | 23 November 2012 | 20:00 | Melbourne Blackhawks | 2–4 | Melbourne Red Wings | Melbourne | 52 |
| 9 | 24 November 2012 | 19:00 | Sydney Lightning | 4–3 (SO) | Sydney Maple Leafs | Penrith | |
| 11 | 25 November 2012 | 19:30 | Sydney Maple Leafs | 1–4 | Sydney Lightning | Penrith | |
| 12 | 25 November 2012 | 13:15 | Melbourne Red Wings | 3–1 | Melbourne Blackhawks | Melbourne | 75 |

### December

| Game | Date | Time | Away | Score | Home | Location |
| 13 | 1 December 2012 | 17:00 | Melbourne Blackhawks | 4–3 | Sydney Lightning | Penrith |
| 14 | 1 December 2012 | 18:45 | Melbourne Red Wings | 2–1 | Sydney Maple Leafs | Penrith |
| 15 | 2 December 2012 | 08:30 | Melbourne Blackhawks | 6–3 | Sydney Maple Leafs | Penrith |
| 16 | 2 December 2012 | 17:00 | Melbourne Red Wings | 2–3 (SO) | Sydney Lightning | Penrith |
| 18 | 7 December 2012 | 20:00 | Melbourne Red Wings | 2–4 | Melbourne Blackhawks | Melbourne |
| 17 | 8 December 2012 | 17:00 | Sydney Maple Leafs | 2–1 | Sydney Lightning | Penrith |
| 19 | 9 December 2012 | 17:00 | Sydney Lightning | 4–5 | Sydney Maple Leafs | Penrith |
| 20 | 9 December 2012 | 13:15 | Melbourne Blackhawks | 5–2 | Melbourne Red Wings | Melbourne |

### February

| Game | Date | Time | Away | Score | Home | Location | Attendance |
| 21 | 2 February 2013 | 17:00 | Sydney Lightning | 2–1 | Sydney Maple Leafs | Penrith | |
| 22 | 2 February 2013 | 20:02 | Melbourne Blackhawks | 3–5 | Melbourne Red Wings | Melbourne | 84 |
| 23 | 3 February 2013 | 17:00 | Sydney Maple Leafs | 3–4 (SO) | Sydney Lightning | Penrith | |
| 24 | 3 February 2013 | 13:15 | Melbourne Red Wings | 3–1 | Melbourne Blackhawks | Melbourne | 59 |
| 25 | 16 February 2013 | 17:00 | Melbourne Blackhawks | 4–0 | Sydney Lightning | Penrith | |
| 26 | 16 February 2013 | 18:45 | Melbourne Red Wings | 5–6 | Sydney Maple Leafs | Penrith | |
| 27 | 17 February 2013 | 08:30 | Melbourne Red Wings | 4–3 | Sydney Lightning | Penrith | |
| 28 | 17 February 2013 | 17:00 | Melbourne Blackhawks | 0–3 | Sydney Maple Leafs | Penrith | |

## Standings

| Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GDF | PTS |
| Melbourne Red Wings | 14 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 47 | 41 | +6 | 25 |
| Melbourne Blackhawks | 14 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 44 | 36 | +8 | 24 |
| Sydney Lightning | 14 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 45 | 41 | +4 | 21 |
| Sydney Maple Leafs | 14 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 34 | 52 | −18 | 14 |
Source

## Player statistics
### Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in regular season points.
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Brendan McDowell | Melbourne Red Wings | 14 | 26 | 7 | 33 | +24 | 14 |
| Austin McKenzie | Melbourne Blackhawks | 14 | 20 | 11 | 31 | +26 | 48 |
| Matt Stringer | Melbourne Red Wings | 12 | 10 | 12 | 22 | +19 | 8 |
| Scott Clemie | Sydney Maple Leafs | 14 | 10 | 7 | 17 | +14 | 18 |
| Tyler Kubara | Sydney Maple Leafs | 9 | 7 | 12 | 19 | +16 | 2 |
| Paul Lazzarotto | Melbourne Blackhawks | 14 | 11 | 7 | 18 | +15 | 0 |
| Jack Carpenter | Melbourne Blackhawks | 14 | 5 | 11 | 16 | +14 | 46 |
| Todd Cameron | Sydney Lightning | 11 | 7 | 8 | 15 | +11 | 38 |
| Steven Naidovski | Sydney Maple Leafs | 12 | 6 | 4 | 10 | +8 | 24 |
| Chris Fahy | Melbourne Red Wings | 8 | 0 | 10 | 10 | +6 | 39 |

### Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in regular season goals against average.
| Player | Team | GP | TOI | W | L | OTL | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
| McKenzie Hill | Melbourne Blackhawks | 12 | 538:52 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 29 | 2 | .836 | 2.77 |
| James McKendrick | Melbourne Red Wings | 13 | 525:51 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 35 | 0 | .844 | 3.00 |
| Rhett Kelly | Sydney Lightning | 9 | 316:06 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 1 | .847 | 3.08 |
| Jake Burgess | Sydney Maple Leafs | 8 | 361:22 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 26 | 1 | .845 | 3.24 |
| Marco Tomasello | Sydney Lightning | 9 | 313:13 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 0 | .793 | 3.33 |

## Playoffs

The 2013 playoffs started on 3 March 2013 with the final being held on 9 and 10 March 2013. Following the end of the regular season the teams will play their opposing state team in the semi-finals. The winners move on to play each other in a best-of-two final being held at the Medibank Icehouse in Melbourne. Melbourne Red Wings and Sydney Maple Leafs both progressed to the finals after winning their semi-final game. The Maple Leafs won the first game of the finals while the Red Wings won the second game tying the two game series. As a result, the two teams entered a sudden death overtime period. Scott Clemie scored the game-winning goal in the 13th minute of the period, with the Maple Leafs winning the first AJIHL season. Clemie was named the AJIHL Finals MVP.