2011 AIHL season

The 2011 AIHL season is the 12th season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It ran from 14 April 2011 until 28 August 2011, with the Goodall Cup finals following on 3 and 4 September. The Melbourne Ice won the H Newman Ried trophy after finishing first in the regular season standings with 65 points. The Ice also won the Goodall Cup final series after defeating the Newcastle North Stars in the final.
==League business==
During the off-season the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) announced two new teams would be joining the league. The Mustangs IHC were announced to become the eighth team in the AIHL starting in the 2011 season. The Mustangs are based at Docklands, Victoria, the home of the Melbourne Ice. The ninth team, Perth Thunder, were accepted into the league as a provisional member. The Thunder will play exhibition games against other AIHL teams during the 2011 season in order to gain the vote to be accepted for the 2012 season. At the Annual General Meeting it was proposed to increase the length of the games periods from 15 minutes to 20 minutes to be inline with International Ice Hockey Federation rules however the proposal was unsuccessful due to reasons such as costs to the teams and the ability to fill the four lines with AIHL-level players.
On 10 July the game between the Gold Coast Blue Tongues and the Sydney Ice Dogs was cancelled due to an unsafe surface at the Blue Tongues home venue, Bundall Iceland. The AIHL deemed that the Blue Tongues have forfeited the game against the Ice Dogs 5–0, with the Ice Dogs being awarded the full three points.
From 20–21 August the Australia men's national ice hockey team will field a team at the 2011 New Zealand Winter Games so only two games will be held for that weekend.
===Player transfers===
Date	Player	New team 	Previous team 	
 	 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Toledo Walleye 	
 	 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Braehead Clan 	
 	 	Sydney Bears 	Hull Stingrays 	
 	 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Canberra Knights 	
 	 	Sydney Bears 	Camrose Kodiaks 	
 	 	Melbourne Ice 	Quad City Mallards 	
 	 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	HC Milevsko 	
 	 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	 	
 	 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	 	
 	 	Newcastle North Stars 	Dundee Stars 	
 	 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Peter North Stars 	
 	 	Melbourne Ice 	Quad City Mallards 	
 	 	Sydney Bears 	HYS The Hague 	
 	 	Newcastle North Stars 	Rødovre Mighty Bulls 	
 	 	Newcastle North Stars 	Nijmegen Devils 	
 	 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	Odessa Jackalopes 	
 	 	Sydney Bears 	Concordia Stingers 	
 	 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Wasquehal Lions 	
 	 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Marian University 	
 	 	Sydney Bears 	Bristol Pitbulls 	
 	 	Canberra Knights 	Bloomington PrairieThunder	
 	 	Canberra Knights 	Indiana Blizzard 	
 	 	Canberra Knights 	Laredo Bucks 	
==Exhibition games==
During the season three teams competed against the AIHL's provisional member, Perth Thunder, in order for the Thunder to gain entry into the league for the following season. In May the Thunder travelled to Adelaide to compete in two games against the Adelaide Adrenaline. They drew the first game 2–2 and won the second 3–0. In June the Melbourne Ice travelled to Perth to compete in two games against the Thunder at the Cockburn Ice Arena. The Ice won the first game 4–3 and lost the second game 3–6 after letting in six goals to none in the final period. In September the Newcastle North Stars traveled to Perth to play the Thunder in a two game series. The Thunder won both the first and second game 4–2.
==Regular season==
The Melbourne Ice won the H Newman Reid Trophy after finishing first in the regular season standings with 65 points. Last years winners, the Newcastle North Stars finished second with 59 points. Jason Baclig of the Melbourne Ice was named the 2011 AIHL MVP edging out the Gold Coast Blue Tongues' Matt Amado and Sydney Ice Dogs' Matt Monaghan.
===April===
Game	Date 	Time 	Away 	Score 	Home 	Location 	Attendance	Recap
1 	14 April	20:00	Melbourne Ice 	8 – 4 	Mustangs IHC 	Melbourne 	 	
2 	16 April	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline 	3 – 7 	Newcastle North Stars 	Newcastle 	800 	
3 	16 April	19:30	Mustangs IHC 	6 – 2 	Sydney Bears 	Penrith 	 	
4 	17 April	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline 	3 – 2 (SO)	Sydney Bears 	Penrith 	 	
5 	17 April	17:00	Mustangs IHC 	6 – 7 	Newcastle North Stars 	Newcastle 	700 	
6 	23 April	17:30	Newcastle North Stars	7 – 3 	Canberra Knights 	Canberra 	 	
7 	23 April	17:45	Sydney Ice Dogs 	2 – 6 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
8 	24 April	16:15	Sydney Ice Dogs 	6 – 3 	Mustangs IHC 	Melbourne 	 	
9 	28 April	20:00	Sydney Bears 	2 – 4 	Newcastle North Stars 	Newcastle 	600 	
10 	30 April	16:00	Newcastle North Stars	6 – 2 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	Gold Coast	 	
11 	30 April	17:30	Melbourne Ice 	6 – 5 	Canberra Knights 	Canberra 	 	
12 	30 April	17:45	Adelaide Adrenaline 	3 – 5 	Mustangs IHC 	Melbourne 	250 	
===May===
Game	Date 	Time 	Away 	Score 	Home 	Location 	Attendance	Recap
13 	1 May 	16:00	Newcastle North Stars 	7 – 6 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	Gold Coast	150 	
14 	1 May 	16:15	Adelaide Adrenaline 	2 – 5 	Mustangs IHC 	Melbourne 	 	
15 	1 May 	17:00	Melbourne Ice 	3 – 2 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	 	
16 	7 May 	16:30	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	4 – 5 (SO)	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
17 	7 May 	17:00	Newcastle North Stars 	4 – 6 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	 	
18 	7 May 	17:30	Sydney Bears 	3 – 5 	Canberra Knights 	Canberra 	 	
19 	7 May 	17:45	Mustangs IHC 	5 – 4 (SO)	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
20 	8 May 	16:30	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	3 – 5 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
21 	8 May 	17:00	Canberra Knights 	1 – 9 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	 	
22 	8 May 	17:00	Newcastle North Stars 	6 – 2 	Sydney Bears 	Penrith 	 	
23 	14 May	16:00	Canberra Knights 	3 – 6 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	Gold Coast	 	
24 	14 May	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline 	3 – 4 	Newcastle North Stars 	Newcastle 	850 	
25 	14 May	17:45	Sydney Bears 	3 – 4 (SO)	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
26 	15 May	16:00	Canberra Knights 	1 – 8 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	Gold Coast	 	
27 	15 May	16:15	Sydney Bears 	5 – 3 	Mustangs IHC 	Melbourne 	 	
28 	15 May	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline 	2 – 4 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	 	
29 	21 May	17:00	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	3 – 8 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	 	
30 	21 May	17:30	Sydney Bears 	5 – 10 	Canberra Knights 	Canberra 	 	
31 	21 May	17:45	Newcastle North Stars 	4 – 5 (SO)	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
32 	22 May	16:15	Newcastle North Stars 	2 – 5 	Mustangs IHC 	Melbourne 	 	
33 	22 May	17:00	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	6 – 3 	Sydney Bears 	Penrith 	 	
34 	28 May	16:30	Sydney Ice Dogs 	0 – 2 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
35 	28 May	17:00	Melbourne Ice 	4 – 5 	Newcastle North Stars 	Newcastle 	 	
36 	28 May	17:45	Canberra Knights 	5 – 4 	Mustangs IHC 	Melbourne 	 	
37 	29 May	16:15	Sydney Ice Dogs 	3 – 9 	Mustangs IHC 	Melbourne 	 	
38 	29 May	16:30	Canberra Knights 	2 – 7 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
39 	29 May	17:00	Melbourne Ice 	8 – 1 	Sydney Bears 	Penrith 	 	
===June===
Game	Date 	Time 	Away 	Score 	Home 	Location 	Attendance	Recap
40 	2 June 	20:00	Mustangs IHC 	1 – 5 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
41 	4 June 	16:00	Mustangs IHC 	5 – 8 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	Gold Coast	 	
42 	4 June 	17:00	Sydney Bears 	5 – 4 (SO)	Newcastle North Stars 	Newcastle 	800 	
43 	4 June 	17:30	Sydney Ice Dogs 	8 – 4 	Canberra Knights 	Canberra 	 	
44 	4 June 	17:45	Adelaide Adrenaline 	3 – 2 (SO)	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
45 	5 June 	16:00	Mustangs IHC 	4 – 6 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	Gold Coast	 	
46 	5 June 	16:15	Adelaide Adrenaline 	2 – 4 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
47 	5 June 	17:00	Canberra Knights 	6 – 8 	Sydney Bears 	Penrith 	 	
48 	11 June	17:30	Mustangs IHC 	5 – 2 	Canberra Knights 	Canberra 	 	
49 	12 June	17:00	Canberra Knights 	3 – 9 	Newcastle North Stars 	Newcastle 	 	
50 	12 June	17:00	Mustangs IHC 	1 – 8 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	 	
51 	18 June	16:00	Adelaide Adrenaline 	5 – 0 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	Gold Coast	 	
52 	18 June	17:00	Mustangs IHC 	4 – 9 	Newcastle North Stars 	Newcastle 	900 	
53 	18 June	17:30	Melbourne Ice 	7 – 4 	Canberra Knights 	Canberra 	 	
54 	19 June	16:00	Adelaide Adrenaline 	4 – 3 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	Gold Coast	 	
55 	19 June	17:00	Melbourne Ice 	7 – 3 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	 	
56 	19 June	17:00	Mustangs IHC 	3 – 4 (SO)	Sydney Bears 	Penrith 	 	
57 	25 June	16:30	Sydney Bears 	3 – 6 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
58 	25 June	17:00	Newcastle North Stars 	7 – 4 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	 	
59 	25 June	17:30	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	10 – 3 	Canberra Knights 	Canberra 	 	
60 	25 June	17:45	Melbourne Ice 	7 – 3 	Mustangs IHC 	Melbourne 	 	
61 	26 June	16:45	Sydney Bears 	2 – 3 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
62 	26 June	17:30	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	5 – 7 	Canberra Knights 	Canberra 	 	
===July===
Game	Date 	Time 	Away 	Score 	Home 	Location 	Attendance	Recap
63 	2 July 	16:30	Melbourne Ice 	5 – 6 (SO)	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
64 	2 July 	17:00	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	0 – 5 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	 	
65 	2 July 	17:30	Newcastle North Stars 	4 – 14 	Canberra Knights 	Canberra 	 	
66 	3 July 	16:30	Melbourne Ice 	2 – 3 (SO)	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
67 	3 July 	17:00	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	7 – 5 	Sydney Bears 	Penrith 	 	
68 	9 July 	16:00	Sydney Ice Dogs 	1 – 7 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	Gold Coast	 	
69 	9 July 	16:30	Mustangs IHC 	3 – 5 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
70 	9 July 	17:00	Newcastle North Stars 	4 – 2 	Sydney Bears 	Penrith 	 	
71 	9 July 	17:45	Canberra Knights 	2 – 8 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
72 	10 July	16:00	Sydney Ice Dogs 	5 – 0 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	Gold Coast	— 	—
73 	10 July	16:45	Canberra Knights 	5 – 8 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
74 	10 July	16:30	Mustangs IHC 	4 – 3 (SO)	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
75 	16 July	17:00	Melbourne Ice 	4 – 3 	Newcastle North Stars 	Newcastle 	 	
76 	16 July	17:00	Sydney Ice Dogs 	6 – 4 	Sydney Bears 	Penrith 	 	
77 	16 July	17:30	Adelaide Adrenaline 	4 – 6 	Canberra Knights 	Canberra 	 	
78 	17 July	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline 	1 – 3 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	 	
79 	17 July	17:00	Melbourne Ice 	8 – 4 	Sydney Bears 	Penrith 	 	
80 	23 July	16:00	Sydney Bears 	4 – 5 (SO)	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	Gold Coast	 	
81 	23 July	16:30	Newcastle North Stars 	5 – 3 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
82 	23 July	17:30	Mustangs IHC 	2 – 8 	Canberra Knights 	Canberra 	 	
83 	24 July	16:00	Sydney Bears 	2 – 5 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	Gold Coast	 	
84 	24 July	16:15	Newcastle North Stars 	4 – 6 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
85 	24 July	17:00	Mustangs IHC 	1 – 3 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	 	
86 	30 July	17:00	Canberra Knights 	0 – 4 	Newcastle North Stars 	Newcastle 	 	
87 	30 July	17:00	Sydney Bears 	2 – 5 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	 	
88 	30 July	17:45	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	2 – 3 (SO)	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
89 	31 July	16:15	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	6 – 4 	Mustangs IHC 	Melbourne 	 	
90 	31 July	17:00	Sydney Ice Dogs 	4 – 3 (SO)	Newcastle North Stars 	Newcastle 	 	
91 	31 July	17:00	Canberra Knights 	3 – 2 	Sydney Bears 	Penrith 	 	
 I Game was forfeited due to poor ice conditions.
===August===
Game	Date 	Time 	Away 	Score 	Home 	Location 	Attendance	Recap
92 	6 August 	16:00	Melbourne Ice 	3 – 5 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	Gold Coast	 	
93 	6 August 	16:30	Sydney Bears 	1 – 10 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
94 	6 August 	17:30	Sydney Ice Dogs 	6 – 4 	Canberra Knights 	Canberra 	 	
95 	6 August 	17:45	Newcastle North Stars 	3 – 2 	Mustangs IHC 	Melbourne 	 	
96 	7 August 	16:00	Melbourne Ice 	5 – 3 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	Gold Coast	 	
97 	7 August 	16:15	Sydney Bears 	2 – 3 	Mustangs IHC 	Melbourne 	 	
98 	7 August 	16:30	Newcastle North Stars 	3 – 2 (SO)	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
99 	13 August	17:00	Sydney Bears 	0 – 7 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	 	
100 	13 August	17:30	Adelaide Adrenaline 	7 – 4 	Canberra Knights 	Canberra 	 	
101 	13 August	17:45	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	1 – 6 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
102 	14 August	16:15	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	4 – 2 	Mustangs IHC 	Melbourne 	 	
103 	14 August	17:00	Sydney Ice Dogs 	1 – 3 	Newcastle North Stars 	Newcastle 	 	
104 	14 August	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline 	7 – 3 	Sydney Bears 	Penrith 	 	
105 	20 August	17:00	Canberra Knights 	2 – 3 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	 	
106 	21 August	17:00	Sydney Ice Dogs 	4 – 2 	Sydney Bears 	Penrith 	 	
107 	27 August	16:30	Canberra Knights 	5 – 7 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
108 	27 August	17:00	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	4 – 2 	Newcastle North Stars 	Newcastle 	 	
109 	27 August	17:45	Sydney Ice Dogs 	6 – 5 (SO)	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
110 	28 August	16:15	Canberra Knights 	2 – 5 	Mustangs IHC 	Melbourne 	 	
111 	28 August	16:30	Sydney Ice Dogs 	2 – 4 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
112 	28 August	17:00	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	1 – 2 	Newcastle North Stars 	Newcastle 	 	
==Standings==
	Qualified for the playoffs
Team 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Melbourne Ice 	28	18	3	5	2 	146	93 	+53	0.774	65
Newcastle North Stars 	28	18	1	3	6 	132	106	+26	0.702	59
Sydney Ice Dogs 	28	17	2	0	9 	124	90 	+34	0.655	55
Adelaide Adrenaline 	28	12	5	2	9 	117	94 	+23	0.571	48
Gold Coast Blue Tongues	28	13	1	2	12	120	115	+5 	0.512	43
Mustangs IHC 	28	8 	2	1	17	107	132	–23	0.345	29
Canberra Knights 	28	8 	0	0	20	119	167	–48	0.286	24
Sydney Bears 	28	2 	2	3	21	83 	151	–68	0.155	13
Source
==Playoffs==
The 2011 playoffs started on 3 September 2011, with the Goodall Cup final being held on 4 September 2011. Following the end of the regular season the top four teams advance to the playoff series. Melbourne Ice who finished first in the standings was drawn against the Adelaide Adrenaline who finished fourth, while the other semi-final was played between the second and third ranked teams Newcastle North Stars and Sydney Ice Dogs. The series was a single game elimination with the two winning semi-finalists advancing to the Goodall Cup final. All three games were held at the National Ice Sports Centre (Icehouse) in Melbourne, Victoria. The Melbourne Ice won the Goodall Cup for a second year in a row after defeating the Newcastle North Stars in the final. Joseph Hughes of the Melbourne Ice was named the finals MVP.
All times are UTC+10:00
===Sem-finals===
===Final===
==Statistics==
===Scoring leaders===
List shows the ten top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
Player	Team 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	Canberra Knights 	28	32	53	85	50 	F
 	Canberra Knights 	26	32	45	77	62 	F
 	Newcastle North Stars 	28	36	39	75	24 	F
 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	27	42	27	69	67 	F
 	Melbourne Ice 	28	36	32	68	20 	F
 	Newcastle North Stars 	28	34	31	65	26 	F
 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	28	29	36	65	26 	F
 	Newcastle North Stars 	28	28	29	57	72 	F
 	Melbourne Ice 	28	25	31	56	121	F
 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	24	19	34	53	87 	F
===Leading goaltenders===
Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage with a minimum of ten games played.
Player	Team 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	540 	343	38 	3.17	88.9	0
 	Newcastle North Stars 	1221	800	92 	3.39	88.5	1
 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	1159	671	82 	3.18	87.8	2
 	Gold Coast Blue Tongues	450 	340	47 	4.70	86.2	0
 	Sydney Bears 	950 	755	109	5.16	85.6	0
==Team Photos==
2011SydBea.jpg|Sydney Bears
2011NewNS.jpg|Newcastle North Stars
2011MelMus.jpg|Mustangs IHC
==References==
==External links==
*The Australian Ice Hockey League
Category:2011 in hockey
Category:AIHL seasons