2014 AIHL season

The 2014 AIHL season is the 15th season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It ran from 12 April 2014 until 24 August 2014, with the Goodall Cup finals following on 30 and 31 August. The Melbourne Mustangs won both the H Newman Reid Trophy for finishing first in the regular season, and the Goodall Cup after defeating the Melbourne Ice in the final.
==League business==
In October 2013 it was confirmed that the Gold Coast Blue Tongues would remain suspended for the 2014 season. The team have until the 2015 season before their license is reviewed. On 26 February 2014 Canberra Knights owner John Raut announced that the team had folded operations effective immediately and would not be competing in the upcoming 2014 season. Raut cited financial costs, lack of local players and poor performance as the reasons behind the move. The following day it was announced that the player group headed by captain Mark Rummukainen had approached the league with plans on taking on the clubs license. The following month the league announced that they had granted a provisional license to a Canberra consortium, which involved the player group, to take on the license and replace the Knights in the 2014 season. The new team was announced as the CBR Brave. The Melbourne Mustangs announced in March 2014 that they had signed a deal with MOAT: Mental Health Services who will become the teams naming sponsors for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. The team's name will change to MOAT: Melbourne Mustangs Ice Hockey Club. Air Canada expanded their sponsorship of the AIHL to the entire 2014 season after last year sponsoring the 2013 finals series. They also announced they will continue to show a highlights package of the 2013 finals series as part of their in-flight entertainment until the end of June. They will then replace it with the 2014 Canada Day Classic between the Sydney Bears and Melbourne Mustangs and the 2014 AIHL finals series.
===Exhibition games===
The first exhibition game was held in November 2013 with the Sydney Bears playing a match against former AIHL team, the Central Coast Rhinos. The Rhinos who previously played in the AIHL from 2005 to 2008 went on to win the game 8–4. A second game involving the Bears and Rhinos was held in March 2014 with the Bears winning 8–2. In February 2014 it was announced that the pre season tournament, the Wilson Cup, would be revived. The tournament was last played in 2009 and was won by the Rhinos. The 2014 edition features the Newcastle North Stars, Sydney Bears and the Sydney Ice Dogs. The tournament features a round robin of the three teams and finishes with a final between the top two placed teams. In started on 16 March and finished on 5 April. In the opening game of the Wilson Cup the North Stars defeated the Bears 4-3 in a shootout. The North Stars however lost game two to the Ice Dogs 5-4 in a shootout. In the last game of the round robin the Ice Dogs defeated the Sydney Bears 8-1 and they finished first in the standings. The Ice Dogs were drawn against the North Stars in the final who finished the round robin in second place. The Ice Dogs defeated the North Stars 4-2, winning their first Wilson Cup title. On 27 March the Melbourne Ice and Melbourne Mustangs held an exhibition game at the Medibank Icehouse with the Ice defeating the Mustangs 8-3. On April 3 and 5 the Australian national team held two exhibition games against the Mustangs and Ice. The two games were played at the Medibank Icehouse and were held as part of the teams preparation for the 2014 IIHF World Championship Division II Group A tournament being held in Serbia from the 9 to 15 April. Australia won both of the games, defeating the Mustangs 9-3 and the Ice 4-1.
==Regular season==
The regular season started on 12 April 2014 and ran through to 1 September 2014 before the top four teams compete in the Goodall Cup playoff series. Game 35 between the Newcastle North Stars and the Sydney Ice Dogs had to be postponed due to the North Stars bus breaking down en route to Liverpool. The game was later rescheduled for 22 June 2014 and will be played at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Newcastle. Game 77 between the Adelaide Adrenaline and CBR Brave had to be postponed after the Adrenalines team bus crashed en route to the Phillip Ice Skating Centre. Head Coach Ryan O'Handley and some players were taken to hospital however none of the injuries were serious. Game 79 which was set to be held the following day between the Adrenaline and the Sydney Bears was also postponed. On 31 July it was announced that both games had been cancelled as the teams involved had been unable to reschedule the games. As a result the AIHL Commission awarded each team one point for the cancelled games, with the Adrenaline getting one point from each game and the Brave and Bears awarded one point each from their respective games.
The Melbourne Mustangs won the H Newman Reid Trophy after finishing first in the regular season with 54 points. In the final week of the regular season the AIHL released the list of finalists for the 2014 awards. Mathieu Ouelette of the CBR Brave, Jack Wolgemuth of the Melbourne Mustangs and the Sydney Ice Dogs’ Simon Barg were nominated as the Most Valuable Player, with Barg going on to win the award. Petri Pitkänen of the CBR Brave, Mathieu Dugas of the Perth Thunder and the Sydney Bears’ Daniel Palmkvist were nominated for the Goaltender of the Year award with Petri Pitkänen being named the winner. Niko Suoraniemi of the Adelaide Adrenaline, John Kennedy of the Newcastle North Stars and the Melbourne Mustangs' Jack Wolgemuth were nominated for the Defenceman of the Year award with Wolgemuth being announced the winner. Jeremy Brown of the Melbourne Ice, Jamie Woodman of the Perth Thunder and the Newcastle North Stars Hayden Sheard were all nominated as the Rookie of the Year award with Jeremy Brown taking the award. David Dunwoodie of the Sydney Ice Dogs won the award for Local Player of the Year.
===April===
Game	Date 	Time 	Away 	Score 	Home 	Location 	Attendance	Recap
1 	12 April	17:00	Sydney Ice Dogs 	9 – 2 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	1000 	
2 	12 April	17:30	Newcastle North Stars	2 – 0 	CBR Brave 	Canberra 	800 	
3 	13 April	16:00	Sydney Ice Dogs 	3 – 6 	Melbourne Mustangs 	Melbourne 	800 	
4 	13 April	17:00	Sydney Bears 	4 – 0 	Newcastle North Stars	Newcastle 	800 	
5 	19 April	17:00	Melbourne Mustangs 	2 – 3 (SO)	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	1500 	
6 	26 April	16:30	Melbourne Ice 	3 – 0 	Perth Thunder 	Perth 	 	
7 	26 April	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline 	4 – 0 	Newcastle North Stars	Newcastle 	 	
8 	26 April	17:30	Sydney Ice Dogs 	2 – 6 	CBR Brave 	Canberra 	800 	
9 	27 April	15:30	Adelaide Adrenaline 	6 – 5 (SO)	Sydney Bears 	Baulkham Hills	350 	
10 	27 April	16:30	Melbourne Ice 	3 – 0 	Perth Thunder 	Perth 	 	
===May===
Game	Date 	Time 	Away 	Score 	Home 	Location 	Attendance	Recap
11 	3 May 	16:30	Perth Thunder 	4 – 3 (SO)	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
12 	3 May 	17:00	Sydney Ice Dogs 	2 – 4 	Melbourne Mustangs 	Melbourne 	550 	
13 	3 May 	18:00	Newcastle North Stars	1 – 3 	Sydney Bears 	Baulkham Hills	300 	
14 	4 May 	15:30	Perth Thunder 	0 – 1 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
15 	4 May 	16:00	Sydney Ice Dogs 	2 – 5 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	900 	
16 	10 May	16:30	Sydney Bears 	4 – 3 (SO)	Perth Thunder 	Perth 	 	
17 	10 May	17:00	Melbourne Ice 	5 – 3 	Melbourne Mustangs 	Melbourne 	1300 	
18 	10 May	17:00	Newcastle North Stars	5 – 3 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	300 	
19 	10 May	17:30	Adelaide Adrenaline 	5 – 2 	CBR Brave 	Canberra 	 	
20 	11 May	16:30	Sydney Bears 	3 – 2 	Perth Thunder 	Perth 	 	
21 	11 May	17:00	CBR Brave 	4 – 2 	Newcastle North Stars	Newcastle 	 	
22 	11 May	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline 	4 – 10 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	200 	
23 	17 May	16:30	Newcastle North Stars	6 – 3 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
24 	17 May	17:00	Melbourne Ice 	6 – 3 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	 	
25 	17 May	17:30	Perth Thunder 	1 – 5 	CBR Brave 	Canberra 	 	
26 	17 May	18:00	Melbourne Mustangs 	2 – 1 	Sydney Bears 	Baulkham Hills	250 	
27 	18 May	15:30	Newcastle North Stars	2 – 3 (SO)	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
28 	18 May	15:30	Melbourne Ice 	4 – 2 	Sydney Bears 	Baulkham Hills	250 	
29 	18 May	17:00	Melbourne Mustangs 	2 – 7 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	250 	
30 	18 May	17:00	Perth Thunder 	4 – 5 (SO)	CBR Brave 	Canberra 	 	
31 	24 May	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline 	2 – 6 	Melbourne Mustangs 	Melbourne 	450 	
32 	24 May	17:00	CBR Brave 	5 – 2 	Newcastle North Stars	Newcastle 	700 	
33 	24 May	18:00	Sydney Ice Dogs 	6 – 2 	Sydney Bears 	Baulkham Hills	850 	
34 	25 May	16:00	Adelaide Adrenaline 	3 – 2 	Melbourne Mustangs 	Melbourne 	300 	
36 	31 May	16:30	Sydney Ice Dogs 	5 – 7 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
37 	31 May	17:00	Perth Thunder 	2 – 5 	Melbourne Mustangs 	Melbourne 	500 	
38 	31 May	17:30	Melbourne Ice 	2 – 1 (SO)	CBR Brave 	Canberra 	800 	
===June===
Game	Date 	Time 	Away 	Score 	Home 	Location 	Attendance	Recap
39 	1 June 	15:30	Sydney Ice Dogs 	2 – 0 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
40 	1 June 	15:30	Newcastle North Stars	4 – 1 	Sydney Bears 	Baulkham Hills	300 	
41 	1 June 	16:00	Perth Thunder 	4 – 1 	Melbourne Mustangs 	Melbourne 	350 	
42 	1 June 	17:00	Melbourne Ice 	2 – 4 	CBR Brave 	Canberra 	 	
43 	5 June 	16:00	Melbourne Mustangs 	8 – 3 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	1200 	
44 	7 June 	16:30	Adelaide Adrenaline 	1 – 7 	Perth Thunder 	Perth 	 	
45 	7 June 	17:00	Melbourne Mustangs 	2 – 5 	Newcastle North Stars	Newcastle 	900 	
46 	7 June 	17:30	Sydney Bears 	1 – 4 	CBR Brave 	Canberra 	800 	
47 	8 June 	15:30	Melbourne Mustangs 	5 – 3 	Sydney Bears 	Baulkham Hills	 	
48 	8 June 	16:30	Adelaide Adrenaline 	2 – 6 	Perth Thunder 	Perth 	 	
49 	14 June	17:00	Melbourne Ice 	4 - 7 	Newcastle North Stars	Newcastle 	 	
50 	14 June	17:30	Sydney Bears 	6 – 8 	CBR Brave 	Canberra 	 	
51 	15 June	15:30	Melbourne Ice 	6 – 4 	Sydney Bears 	Baulkham Hills	450 	
52 	15 June	17:00	CBR Brave 	3 – 6 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	220 	
53 	21 June	16:30	Melbourne Mustangs 	5 – 3 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
54 	21 June	17:00	Perth Thunder 	5 – 0 	Newcastle North Stars	Newcastle 	 	
55 	21 June	16:30	Sydney Bears 	1 – 2 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	300 	
56 	21 June	17:00	CBR Brave 	2 – 3 (SO)	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	1000 	
35 	22 June	17:00	Newcastle North Stars	4 – 1 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Newcastle 	 	
57 	22 June	15:30	Perth Thunder 	5 – 6 	Sydney Bears 	Baulkham Hills	300 	
58 	22 June	15:30	Melbourne Mustangs 	6 – 3 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
59 	22 June	16:00	CBR Brave 	6 – 5 (SO) 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	1000 	
60 	28 June	17:00	Sydney Bears 	3 – 1 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	950 	
61 	28 June	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline 	6 – 2 	Newcastle North Stars	Newcastle 	 	
62 	28 June	17:30	Sydney Ice Dogs 	4 – 1 	CBR Brave 	Canberra 	900 	
63 	29 June	16:00	Sydney Bears 	2 – 1 	Melbourne Mustangs 	Melbourne 	850 	
64 	29 June	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline 	3 – 2 (SO) 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	350 	
===July===
Game	Date 	Time 	Away 	Score 	Home 	Location 	Attendance	Recap
65 	5 July 	16:30	Newcastle North Stars	5 – 7 	Perth Thunder 	Perth 	 	
66 	5 July 	16:30	Melbourne Ice 	0 – 4 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
67 	5 July 	17:00	CBR Brave 	7 – 4 	Melbourne Mustangs 	Melbourne 	700 	
68 	5 July 	17:00	Sydney Bears 	2 – 4 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	400 	
69 	6 July 	15:30	Melbourne Ice 	2 – 3 (SO)	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
70 	6 July 	16:00	CBR Brave 	3 – 4 	Melbourne Mustangs 	Melbourne 	380 	
71 	6 July 	16:30	Newcastle North Stars	1 – 4 	Perth Thunder 	Perth 	 	
72 	12 July	17:00	Sydney Bears 	0 – 4 	Melbourne Mustangs 	Melbourne 	450 	
73 	12 July	17:00	CBR Brave 	4 – 5 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	450 	
74 	13 July	16:00	Sydney Bears 	1 – 10 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
75 	13 July	17:00	Sydney Ice Dogs 	5 – 4 (SO)	Newcastle North Stars	Newcastle 	700 	
76 	19 July	17:00	Newcastle North Stars	3 – 6 	Melbourne Mustangs 	Melbourne 	700 	
77 	19 July	17:30	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Cancelled 	CBR Brave 	Canberra 	 	
78 	19 July	18:00	Perth Thunder 	4 – 1 	Sydney Bears 	Baulkham Hills	300 	
79 	20 July	15:30	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Cancelled 	Sydney Bears 	Baulkham Hills	 	
80 	20 July	16:00	Newcastle North Stars	4 – 5 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
81 	20 July	17:00	Perth Thunder 	3 – 5 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	250 	
82 	26 July	16:30	CBR Brave 	3 – 1 	Perth Thunder 	Perth 	 	
83 	26 July	16:30	Sydney Bears 	4 – 6 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
84 	26 July	17:00	Melbourne Ice 	2 – 4 	Newcastle North Stars	Newcastle 	 	
85 	27 July	15:30	Sydney Bears 	1 – 8 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
86 	27 July	16:30	CBR Brave 	5 – 3 	Perth Thunder 	Perth 	 	
87 	27 July	17:00	Melbourne Ice 	3 – 2 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	300 	
===August===
Game	Date 	Time 	Away 	Score 	Home 	Location 	Attendance	Recap
88 	2 August 	16:30	Melbourne Mustangs 	3 – 1 	Perth Thunder 	Perth 	 	
89 	2 August 	17:30	Newcastle North Stars	2 – 3 	CBR Brave 	Canberra 	 	
90 	3 August 	15:30	CBR Brave 	12 – 4 	Sydney Bears 	Baulkham Hills	250 	
91 	3 August 	16:30	Melbourne Mustangs 	7 – 4 	Perth Thunder 	Perth 	500 	
92 	3 August 	17:00	Sydney Ice Dogs 	3 – 5 	Newcastle North Stars	Newcastle 	 	
93 	9 August 	17:00	Adelaide Adrenaline 	2 – 4 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
94 	9 August 	17:00	Perth Thunder 	4 – 5 	Newcastle North Stars	Newcastle 	 	
95 	9 August 	17:30	Melbourne Mustangs 	4 – 2 	CBR Brave 	Canberra 	 	
96 	9 August 	18:00	Sydney Ice Dogs 	8 – 0 	Sydney Bears 	Baulkham Hills	400 	
97 	10 August	16:00	Adelaide Adrenaline 	1 – 3 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
98 	10 August	17:00	Melbourne Mustangs 	2 – 4 	CBR Brave 	Canberra 	 	
99 	10 August	17:00	Perth Thunder 	8 – 2 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	250 	
100 	10 August	17:00	Sydney Bears 	2 – 6 	Newcastle North Stars	Newcastle 	 	
101 	14 August	17:00	Melbourne Ice 	5 – 1 	Melbourne Mustangs 	Melbourne 	1500 	
102 	16 August	16:30	Sydney Ice Dogs 	3 – 1 	Perth Thunder 	Perth 	 	
103 	16 August	16:30	CBR Brave 	2 – 5 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
104 	16 August	17:00	Newcastle North Stars	3 – 6 	Melbourne Mustangs 	Melbourne 	900 	
105 	17 August	15:30	CBR Brave 	2 – 6 	Adelaide Adrenaline 	Adelaide 	 	
106 	17 August	16:00	Newcastle North Stars	2 – 7 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
107 	17 August	16:30	Sydney Ice Dogs 	6 – 3 	Perth Thunder 	Perth 	 	
108 	23 August	17:00	Perth Thunder 	5 – 4 (SO)	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	 	
109 	23 August	17:00	Melbourne Mustangs 	4 – 1 	Newcastle North Stars	Newcastle 	 	
110 	23 August	18:00	CBR Brave 	3 – 2 	Sydney Bears 	Baulkham Hills	 	
111 	24 August	16:00	Perth Thunder 	3 – 2 	Melbourne Ice 	Melbourne 	550 	
112 	24 August	17:00	Melbourne Mustangs 	3 – 4 (SO) 	Sydney Ice Dogs 	Liverpool 	550 	
===Standings===
	Qualified for the playoffs
Team 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Melbourne Mustangs 	28	17	0	0	3	8 	108	88 	+20	54
Melbourne Ice 	28	14	3	0	3	8 	104	88 	+16	51
CBR Brave 	28	14	2	1	2	9 	106	89 	+17	49
Sydney Ice Dogs 	28	14	2	0	1	11	116	97 	+19	47
Adelaide Adrenaline 	28	10	5	2	1	10	94 	90 	+4 	43
Newcastle North Stars	28	11	0	0	2	15	87 	106	–19	35
Perth Thunder 	28	9 	2	0	2	15	94 	94 	0 	33
Sydney Bears 	28	6 	1	1	1	19	68 	125	–57	22
Source
==Goodall Cup playoffs==
The 2014 playoffs started on 30 August 2014, with the Goodall Cup final being held on 31 August. Following the end of the regular season the top four teams advanced to the playoff series with the Melbourne Mustangs and CBR Brave making their debut playoff appearance, along with the other two finalists the Melbourne Ice and Sydney Ice Dogs. All three games were held at the Medibank Icehouse in Docklands, Victoria, the home of the Melbourne Ice and Melbourne Mustangs. The series will be a single game elimination with the two winning semi-finalists advancing to the Goodall Cup final. The finals were sponsored by Air Canada who also sponsored the 2013 playoffs. The Melbourne Mustangs won the Goodall Cup for the first time after defeating the Melbourne Ice in the final. Viktor Gibbs Sjödin of the Melbourne Mustangs was named the finals MVP.
===Semi-finals===
All times are UTC+10:00
===Final===
==Notes==
1: Game 77 between the Adelaide Adrenaline and CBR Brave was cancelled after the Adrenalines team bus crashed en route to the Phillip Ice Skating Centre. Game 79 which was set to be held the following day between the Adrenaline and the Sydney Bears was also cancelled. The games which were initially postponed were announced by the AIHL as cancelled after the teams involved had been unable to reschedule the games. As a result the AIHL Commission awarded each team one point for the cancelled games, with the Adrenaline getting one point from each game and the Brave and Bears awarded one point each from their respective games.
==References==
==External links==
*The Australian Ice Hockey League
Category:2014 in ice hockey 
2014