The 2009 AIHL season was the tenth season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It ran from 25 April 2009 until 23 August 2009, with the AIHL finals following on 29 and 30 August 2009. The Newcastle North Stars won the H Newman Reid Trophy (backdated) after finishing the regular season first in the league standings. Adelaide Adrenaline won the Goodall Cup (backdated) for the first time by defeating the Newcastle North Stars in the final.

2009 AIHL season
LeagueAustralian Ice Hockey League
SportIce hockey
Duration25 April 2009 – 30 August 2009
Regular season
H Newman Reid TrophyNewcastle North Stars
(2nd title)
Season MVPBrad Smulders
(Blue Tongues)
Top scorerBrad Smulders (76 points)
(Blue Tongues)
Goodall Cup
ChampionsAdelaide Adrenaline
  Runners-upNewcastle North Stars
Finals MVPCass Delsar (Adrenaline)
AIHL seasons
← 2008
2010 →

League business

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The 2009 season will be reduced to seven teams after the Central Coast Rhinos dropped out due to changes made in the licensing model.[1] Two teams were renamed for the start of the season, Western Sydney Ice Dogs, dropped the Western part of the title to become the Sydney Ice Dogs[2] and the Adelaide A's have been renamed for the start of the season, playing under the new name of Adelaide Adrenaline.[1] The Sydney Ice Dogs have also been forced to relocate to Liverpool's Catholic Club's ice rink after their former home at Baulkham Hills rink withdrew from the league.

On 25–26 July there was a week's break for the Junior Men's national tournament, known as the Brown Tournament.

Regular season

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Game No. Home team Score Away team Location Date Report
1 Sydney 6–1 Gold Coast Liverpool Saturday, 25 April [1]
2 Canberra 5–2 Bears Canberra Saturday, 25 April [2]
3 Newcastle 5–3 Sydney Newcastle Sunday, 26 April [3]
4 Bears 0–7 Gold Coast Penrith Sunday, 26 April [4]
Game No. Home team Score Away team Location Date Report
5 Melbourne Ice 3–4 Newcastle Melbourne Saturday, 2 May [5]
6 Bears 1–5 Sydney Penrith Saturday, 2 May [6]
7 Adelaide 7–3 Newcastle Adelaide Sunday, 3 May [7]
8 Sydney 2–3 SO Canberra Liverpool Sunday, 3 May [8]
Game No. Home team Score Away team Location Date Report
9 Canberra 1–5 Melbourne Canberra Saturday, 9 May [9]
11 Newcastle 5–1 Gold Coast Newcastle Saturday, 9 May [10]
12 Sydney 6–1 Bears Liverpool Saturday, 9 May [11]
13 Newcastle 8–5 Gold Coast Newcastle Sunday, 10 May [12]
14 Bears 4–3 SO Melbourne Penrith Sunday, 10 May [13]
Game No. Home team Score Away team Location Date Report
39 Gold Coast 2–3 SO Newcastle Gold Coast Saturday, 16 May [14]
16 Adelaide 8–1 Canberra Adelaide Saturday, 16 May [15]
42 Gold Coast 4–5 SO Newcastle Gold Coast Sunday, 17 May [16]
18 Melbourne 5–2 Canberra Melbourne Sunday, 17 May [17]
41 Bears 1–5 Sydney Penrith Sunday, 17 May [18]
Game No. Home team Score Away team Location Date Report
20 Gold Coast 8–4 Bears Gold Coast Saturday, 23 May [19]
21 Canberra 5–8 Newcastle Canberra Saturday, 23 May [20]
22 Melbourne 2–5 Adelaide Melbourne Saturday, 23 May [21]
23 Gold Coast 9–5 Bears Gold Coast Sunday, 24 May [22]
24 Melbourne 2–4 Adelaide Melbourne Sunday, 24 May [23]
25 Sydney 1–3 Canberra Liverpool Sunday, 24 May [24]
Game No. Home team Score Away team Location Date Report
26 Canberra 2–5 Newcastle Canberra Saturday, 30 May [25]
27 Melbourne 4–5 SO Sydney Melbourne Saturday, 30 May [26]
28 Adelaide 8–3 Sydney Adelaide Sunday, 31 May [27]
Game No. Home team Score Away team Location Date Report
30 Gold Coast 4–2 Adelaide Gold Coast Saturday, 6 June [28]
31 Newcastle 7–3 Bears Newcastle Saturday, 6 June [29]
10 Canberra 2–5 Melbourne Canberra Saturday, 6 June [30]
33 Gold Coast 5–2 Adelaide Gold Coast Sunday, 7 June [31]
34 Bears 3–5 Melbourne Penrith Sunday, 7 June [32]
Game No. Home team Score Away team Location Date Report
35 Adelaide 4–2 Bears Adelaide Saturday, 13 June [33]
36 Canberra 6–3 Sydney Canberra Saturday, 13 June [34]
37 Melbourne 6–0 Bears Melbourne Sunday, 14 June [35]
38 Sydney 4–6 Newcastle Liverpool Sunday, 14 June [36]
Game No. Home team Score Away team Location Date Report
15 Gold Coast 9–2 Sydney Gold Coast Saturday, 20 June [37]
40 Adelaide 5–1 Canberra Adelaide Saturday, 20 June [38]
19 Bears 2–6 Newcastle Penrith Saturday, 20 June [39]
17 Gold Coast 8–4 Sydney Gold Coast Sunday, 21 June [40]
43 Melbourne 8–3 Canberra Melbourne Sunday, 21 June [41]
Game No. Home team Score Away team Location Date Report
44 Adelaide 5–2 Melbourne Adelaide Saturday, 27 June [42]
45 Newcastle 9–4 Canberra Newcastle Saturday, 27 June [43]
46 Sydney 4–1 Gold Coast Liverpool Saturday, 27 June [44]
47 Adelaide 1–4 Melbourne Adelaide Sunday, 28 June [45]
48 Bears 3–2 SO Gold Coast Penrith Sunday, 28 June [46]
49 Newcastle 3–2 Sydney Newcastle Sunday, 28 June [47]
Game No. Home team Score Away team Location Date Report
50 Newcastle 3–4 Adelaide Newcastle Saturday, 4 July [48]
51 Canberra 1–4 Sydney Canberra Saturday, 4 July [49]
52 Melbourne 3–4 SO Gold Coast Melbourne Saturday, 4 July [50]
53 Melbourne 5–4 Gold Coast Melbourne Sunday, 5 July [51]
54 Sydney 5–3 Adelaide Liverpool Sunday, 5 July [52]
29 Bears 2–7 Newcastle Penrith Sunday, 5 July [53]
Game No. Home team Score Away team Location Date Report
55 Melbourne 2–5 Newcastle Melbourne Saturday, 11 July [54]
56 Canberra 1–5 Gold Coast Canberra Saturday, 11 July [55]
57 Sydney 5–3 Bears Liverpool Saturday, 11 July [56]
58 Adelaide 5–7 Newcastle Adelaide Sunday, 12 July [57]
59 Canberra 1–3 Gold Coast Canberra Sunday, 12 July [58]
Game No. Home team Score Away team Location Date Report
60 Adelaide 9–3 Gold Coast Adelaide Saturday, 18 July [59]
61 & 62 Newcastle 3–7 Melbourne Newcastle Saturday, 18 July [60]
63 Adelaide 2–4 Gold Coast Adelaide Sunday, 19 July [61]
64 Bears 5–4 SO Canberra Penrith Sunday, 19 July [62]
65 & 32 Sydney 3–5 Melbourne Liverpool Sunday, 19 July [63]
Game No. Home team Score Away team Location Date Report
66 Gold Coast 3–6 Canberra Gold Coast Saturday, 1 August
67 Adelaide 7–3 Bears Adelaide Saturday, 1 August [64]
68 Gold Coast 5–1 Canberra Gold Coast Sunday, 2 August [65]
69 Melbourne 10–3 Bears Melbourne Sunday, 2 August [66]
70 Sydney 3–2 Newcastle Liverpool Sunday, 2 August [67]
Game No. Home team Score Away team Location Date Report
71 Newcastle 5–3 Adelaide Newcastle Saturday, 8 August [68]
72 Canberra 6–4 Bears Canberra Saturday, 8 August [69]
73 & 74 Bears 3–7 Adelaide Penrith Sunday, 9 August [70]
Game No. Home team Score Away team Location Date Report
75 Gold Coast 5–2 Melbourne Gold Coast Saturday, 15 August [71]
76 & 77 Canberra 1–6 Adelaide Canberra Saturday, 15 August [72]
84 Newcastle 5–3 Bears Newcastle Sunday, 23 August [73]
78 Gold Coast 4–9 Melbourne Gold Coast Sunday, 16 August [74]
79 Sydney 5–6 OT Adelaide Liverpool Sunday, 16 August [75]
80 Newcastle 5–2 Canberra Newcastle Sunday, 16 August [76]
Game No. Home team Score Away team Location Date Report
81 Adelaide 1–3 Sydney Adelaide Saturday, 22 August [77]
82 Bears 6–4 Canberra Penrith Saturday, 22 August [78]
83 Melbourne 4–1 Sydney Melbourne Sunday, 23 August [79]

Note: "SO" indicates that a game was won through a shootout. Games schedule sourced from the AIHL.[3]

Standings

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Team GP W SOW SOL L GF GA GDF PTS
Newcastle North Stars 24 17 2 0 5 122 85 +37 55
Melbourne Ice 24 15 0 3 6 113 77 +36 48
Adelaide Adrenaline 24 15 1 0 8 117 75 +42 47
Gold Coast Blue Tongues 24 13 1 3 7 108 86 +22 44
Sydney Ice Dogs 24 10 1 2 11 87 90 −3 34
Canberra Knights 24 4 1 1 18 60 120 −60 15
The Bears 24 1 3 0 20 66 140 −74 9
Qualified for the AIHL playoffs H Newman Reid Trophy winners

Source

Statistics

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Scoring leaders

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List shows the ten top skaters sorted by points, then goals.[4]

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM POS
Brad Smulders Gold Coast Blue Tongues 22 33 43 76 8 F
Éric Lafrenière Newcastle North Stars 22 27 30 57 6 F
Matthew Watkins Melbourne Ice 22 25 29 54 8 C
Adrian Saul Newcastle North Stars 22 14 37 51 28 F
John Halverson Newcastle North Stars 23 31 17 48 106 D
Lliam Webster Melbourne Ice 22 18 28 46 79 F
Steven Kaye Newcastle North Stars 17 18 27 45 30 F
André Selander Gold Coast Blue Tongues 20 22 18 40 93 LW
Jassi Sangha Sydney Ice Dogs 20 17 20 37 87 LW
Vladimir Rubes The Bears 19 16 20 36 35 F

Leading goaltenders

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Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage.[5]

Player Team MIP SOG GA GAA SVS% SO
Matthew Ezzy Newcastle North Stars 928 645 71 3.68 0.890 0
Olivier Martin Adelaide Adrenaline 989 604 69 3.49 0.886 0
Luke Fiveash Gold Coast Blue Tongues 607 356 42 3.46 0.882 1
Stuart Denman Melbourne Ice 965 496 65 3.37 0.869 1
James Herbert Sydney Ice Dogs 871 430 63 3.62 0.853 0

Playoffs

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In 2009, the Goodall Cup, celebrating 100 years of existence, had been taken back from Ice Hockey Australia (IHA) for an amateur interstate tournament and was replaced by the AIHL with the newly commissioned AIHL Champions Trophy.[6]

The 2009 playoffs was scheduled for 29 August 2009 with Championship final held on 30 August 2009.[3] Following the end of the regular season the top four teams advanced to the playoff series which was held at Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Warners Bay, Newcastle, New South Wales.[7] The series was a single game elimination with the two winning semi-finalists advancing to the Championship final. The inaugural AIHL Champions Trophy was won by the Adelaide Adrenaline who defeated the Newcastle North Stars 3–2 in overtime after the two sides finished regulation time locked at 2–2. Adelaide's Cass Delsar, was named the finals most valuable player (MVP) after scoring the overtime winner.[8]

In March 2010, the AIHL and IHA agreed to reinstate the Goodall Cup as the ultimate prize of the AIHL and backdated Adelaide Adrenaline's 2009 championship to the Goodall Cup (first title), etching the South Australian team's name on the cup and officially calling them the 2009 Goodall Cup champions.[6]

All times are UTC+10:00

Semi-finals

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29 August 2009
16:30
Adelaide Adrenaline6–1
(2–0, 3–1, 1–0)
Melbourne IceHunter Ice Skating Stadium, Newcastle
Game reference
Olivier MartinGoaliesStuart DenmanReferee:
Gordon Young
Linesmen:
Jason Forbes
Jim McIntosh
Mantere (Oddy)1 – 0
Beirnes (PP) (Keane, Thilthorpe)2 – 0
Beirnes (Delsar)3 – 0
Mantere (Oddy, Greer)4 – 0
4 – 1Webster (PP) (Watkins, Seckington)
Werner (PP) (Morgan, Mantere)5 – 1
Werner (Darge, Keane)6 – 1
14 minPenalties26 min
34Shots25
29 August 2009
20:00
Gold Coast Blue Tongues3–5
(2–2, 1–1, 0–2)
Newcastle North StarsHunter Ice Skating Stadium, Newcastle
Attendance: 1000
Game reference
Milan NovysedlakGoaliesMatthew EzzyReferee:
Jeff Scott
Linesmen:
Darren Hardy-Hawken
Rick West
0 – 1Kaye (PP) (Lafrenière, Saul)
0 – 2Halverson (SH) (Saul, Starke)
Ivarsson (PP) (Smulders, Selander)1 – 2
Selander (PP) (Smulders, Upton)2 – 2
Smulders (SH) (Ivarsson)3 – 2
3 – 3Morrisson (Murrell)
3 – 4Kaye (Price, Saul)
3 – 5Kaye (Saul, Lafrenière)
18 minPenalties14 min
29Shots39

Final

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30 August 2009
16:00
Adelaide Adrenaline3 – 2 (OT)
(2–1, 0–1, 0–0, 1–0)
Newcastle North StarsHunter Ice Skating Stadium, Newcastle
Attendance: 950
Game reference
Olivier MartinGoaliesMatthew EzzyReferee:
Jeff Scott
Linesmen:
Rick West
Jason Forbes
0 – 1Halverson (Sheffield)
Morgan (PP) (Harding, Werner)1 – 1
Oddy (PP) (Werner)2 – 1
2 – 2Halverson (PP) (Kaye, Saul)
Delsar (Beirnes, Harding)3 – 2
16 minPenalties18 min
34Shots17

References

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  1. ^ a b "AIHL releases 2009 schedule". AIHL. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
  2. ^ "Same teams new identity". AIHL. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
  3. ^ a b "2009AIHL". AIHL. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 October 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
  4. ^ "Scoring Leaders". Australian Ice Hockey League. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  5. ^ "Goalie Leaders". Australian Ice Hockey League. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  6. ^ a b Lambert, Peter (31 March 2010). "AIHL Welcomes Back Goodall Cup". Australian Ice Hockey League. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  7. ^ "Australian Ice Hockey League: VIP 2009 AIHL Finals". Australian Ice Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
  8. ^ Lambert, Peter (30 August 2009). "Adelaide Adrenaline are Australian Champions". Australian Ice Hockey League. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
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