The 2004 AIHL season was the fifth season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It ran from 1 May 2004 until 29 August 2004, with the Goodall Cup finals following on 4 and 5 September 2004. The Newcastle North Stars won the V.I.P. Cup after finishing the regular season first in the league standings. The Western Sydney Ice Dogs won the Goodall Cup for the first time by defeating the Newcastle North Stars in the final.
Regular season The regular season began on 1 May 2004 and ran through to 29 August 2004 before the top four teams advanced to compete in the Goodall Cup playoff series.
Standings
Team Newcastle North Stars 20 15 2 2 0 1 93 50 +43 51 Western Sydney Ice Dogs 20 11 0 0 2 7 92 71 +21 35 Sydney Bears 20 8 1 1 4 6 68 71 -3 31 Adelaide Avalanche 20 7 1 1 2 9 64 68 -4 29 Melbourne Ice 20 5 1 2 0 12 53 71 -18 20 Canberra Knights 20 3 1 2 0 14 53 109 -56 14 Qualified for the Goodall Cup playoffsPremiership winners Source
Statistics Scoring leaders List shows the ten top skaters sorted by points, then goals. Current as of 5 September 2004 Player Team Western Sydney Ice Dogs 17 20 21 41 14 F Newcastle North Stars 17 19 19 38 51 F Western Sydney Ice Dogs 18 17 21 38 18 F Adelaide Avalanche 17 12 18 30 40 C Newcastle North Stars 19 16 11 27 46 F Adelaide Avalanche 17 16 10 26 110 C Western Sydney Ice Dogs 19 15 11 26 20 F Newcastle North Stars 19 12 14 26 26 C Sydney Bears 17 11 13 24 12 F Newcastle North Stars 18 10 14 24 62 D
Leading goaltenders Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage with a minimum 40% of the team's ice time. Current as of 5 September 2004 Player Team Newcastle North Stars 778 488 39 3.15 0.920 0 Sydney Bears 728 493 59 3.54 0.880 0 Adelaide Avalanche 632 405 49 5.54 0.879 0 Western Sydney Ice Dogs 272 134 18 4.06 0.866 0 Melbourne Ice 725 466 65 3.53 0.861 0
Goodall Cup playoffs
The 2004 playoffs was scheduled for 4 September with the Goodall Cup final held on 5 September 2004. Following the end of the regular season the top four teams advanced to the playoff series which was held at the Erina Ice Arena in the Central Coast, New South Wales region. 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 Western Sydney Ice Dogs (1st title) who defeated the Newcastle North Stars 3–1 in the final.
All times are UTC+10:00
Semi-finals
Final
References
External links Official AIHL website