The 2010 AIHL season was the 11th season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It also marked the 10th Anniversary since the league’s inception in 2000. The league ran from 24 April 2010 until 22 August 2010, with the Goodall Cup finals following on 28 and 29 August 2010. The Newcastle North Stars won the H Newman Reid Trophy after finishing the regular season first in the league standings. Melbourne Ice won the Goodall Cup for the first time by defeating the defending champions Adelaide Adrenaline in the final.

Teams In 2010 the AIHL had 7 teams competing in the league.

2010 AIHL teamsTeam City Arena Head Coach Captain Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide IceArenA Mike Gainer Greg Oddy Canberra Knights Canberra Phillip Ice Skating Centre David Rogina Mark Rummukainen Gold Coast Blue Tongues Gold Coast Iceworld Boondall Kevin Sands Ross Howell Melbourne Ice Melbourne Medibank Icehouse Paul Watson Lliam Webster Newcastle North Stars Newcastle Hunter Ice Skating Stadium Don Champagne Robert Starke Sydney Bears Penrith Penrith Ice Palace Vladimir Rubes Michael Schlamp Sydney Ice Dogs Sydney Liverpool Catholic Club Ice Rink Mark Stephenson Anthony Wilson

League business

During the off-season, the AIHL held its AGM where four board positions were filled following the retirement of three members. Chairman, Tim Frampton, was re-elected. The AGM agenda included the new stadium for Melbourne, scheduling, sponsorship, and referee management for the 2010 season. Other topics included IHA relations and a proposed new team from Brisbane. The AIHL Bears renamed to the Sydney Bears. The team was previously known as the Sydney Bears between 1997 and 2007.

In January, the AIHL released the season schedule. Seven teams would compete in eighty-four matches between April and August. The opening round of the season would kick off on the Anzac Day Weekend.

In February, the new ice sports stadium in Melbourne was opened. Named the Icehouse, the new stadium boasts two Olympic-sized ice rinks and is the third rink in Australia to be fully glassed. The new facility is the home of the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia. In late February it was announced the Melbourne Ice would relocate to the new stadium in Docklands from the Olympic Ice Skating Centre, Oakleigh South.

In March, the AIHL announced a change to how the Finals host would be selected. Rather than a combined member and board vote, the hosting rights would be put up for open tender. The League also welcomed back the Goodall Cup after a one year absence. Ice Hockey Australia made the request for the league to take back the Cup and the organisation voted to restore the Goodall Cup as the Championship winning prize for the AIHL. The newly minted AIHL Champions Trophy was renamed and re-purposed by the AIHL to become the H Newman Reid Trophy and would be handed to the regular season premiers. 2009 AIHL Champions, the Adelaide Adrenaline, were etched into the Goodall Cup.

During the season, the Gold Coast Blue Tongues signed an agreement with the Southern Stars Ice Hockey Club to play two home games in Brisbane at the olympic sized Acacia Ridge ice rink. AIHL Vice President Joshua Puls tendered his resignation citing an over commitment with Victoria's disadvantaged communities and a perceived conflict of interest after accepting an appointment as Patron of the Melbourne Ice as his reasons for the decision. The Sydney Ice Dogs also announced the launch of Ice Dogs TV featuring highlights from 2010 Ice Dogs home games as well as player interviews and other content. In July, the league announced the new Melbourne Icehouse had been selected from the tender and would be the host venue for the 2010 Finals series.

Regular season April Game Date Time Away Score Home Location Attendance Recap 1 24 April 17:00 Melbourne Ice 4 – 5 (SO) Newcastle North Stars Newcastle 900 2 24 April 17:30 Sydney Bears 5–3 Canberra Knights Canberra 3 25 April 17:00 Melbourne Ice 3–4 Sydney Bears Penrith

May Game Date Time Away Score Home Location Attendance Recap 4 1 May 16:00 Canberra Knights 5–6 Gold Coast Blue Tongues Gold Coast 5 1 May 17:00 Newcastle North Stars 7 – 6 (SO) Sydney Bears Penrith 60 6 1 May 17:45 Sydney Ice Dogs 1–4 Melbourne Ice Melbourne 1100 7 2 May 15:30 Sydney Ice Dogs 2 – 3 (SO) Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide 8 2 May 16:00 Canberra Knights 6–4 Gold Coast Blue Tongues Brisbane 9 8 May 17:30 Sydney Ice Dogs 3–8 Canberra Knights Canberra 10 8 May 17:45 Sydney Bears 2–9 Melbourne Ice Melbourne 11 9 May 15:30 Sydney Bears 1–14 Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide 12 9 May 17:00 Sydney Ice Dogs 6 – 7 (SO) Newcastle North Stars Newcastle 700 13 15 May 16:00 Adelaide Adrenaline 1–5 Gold Coast Blue Tongues Gold Coast 14 15 May 17:00 Sydney Bears 2–1 Sydney Ice Dogs Liverpool 15 15 May 17:30 Melbourne Ice 5–1 Canberra Knights Canberra 16 16 May 16:00 Adelaide Adrenaline 3–6 Gold Coast Blue Tongues Gold Coast 17 16 May 17:00 Melbourne Ice 9–2 Sydney Ice Dogs Liverpool 18 16 May 17:00 Newcastle North Stars 2–3 Sydney Bears Penrith 19 22 May 16:30 Sydney Ice Dogs 5–7 Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide 20 22 May 17:00 Canberra Knights 2–4 Sydney Bears Penrith 21 23 May 16:15 Sydney Ice Dogs 0–7 Melbourne Ice Melbourne 1000 22 23 May 17:00 Sydney Bears 0 – 1 (SO) Newcastle North Stars Newcastle 800 23 29 May 16:30 Canberra Knights 2–3 Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide 24 29 May 17:00 Gold Coast Blue Tongues 1–4 Sydney Ice Dogs Liverpool 25 30 May 16:15 Canberra Knights 1–6 Melbourne Ice Melbourne 26 30 May 17:00 Gold Coast Blue Tongues 1–7 Sydney Bears Penrith

June Game Date Time Away Score Home Location Attendance Recap 27 5 June 16:00 Sydney Ice Dogs 2–5 Gold Coast Blue Tongues Gold Coast 28 5 June 17:00 Adelaide Adrenaline 3 – 4 (SO) Newcastle North Stars Newcastle 29 5 June 17:30 Sydney Bears 4–3 Canberra Knights Canberra 30 6 June 16:00 Sydney Ice Dogs 0–3 Gold Coast Blue Tongues Gold Coast 31 6 June 17:00 Adelaide Adrenaline 1–2 Sydney Bears Penrith 32 12 June 17:00 Newcastle North Stars 6–2 Sydney Ice Dogs Liverpool 33 19 June 16:30 Gold Coast Blue Tongues 7 – 8 (SO) Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide 34 19 June 17:00 Melbourne Ice 5–6 Newcastle North Stars Newcastle 700 35 19 June 17:30 Sydney Ice Dogs 1–3 Canberra Knights Canberra 36 20 June 16:30 Gold Coast Blue Tongues 2–5 Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide 37 20 June 17:00 Melbourne Ice 1–4 Sydney Bears Penrith 38 26 June 17:00 Gold Coast Blue Tongues 5–3 Sydney Ice Dogs Liverpool 39 26 June 17:30 Newcastle North Stars 6–2 Canberra Knights Canberra 40 26 June 17:45 Adelaide Adrenaline 6–4 Melbourne Ice Melbourne 41 27 June 16:15 Adelaide Adrenaline 0–2 Melbourne Ice Melbourne 42 27 June 17:00 Gold Coast Blue Tongues 4–2 Sydney Bears Penrith

July Game Date Time Away Score Home Location Attendance Recap 43 3 July 16:00 Melbourne Ice 5–4 Gold Coast Blue Tongues Gold Coast 44 3 July 17:00 Newcastle North Stars 7–3 Sydney Ice Dogs Liverpool 45 3 July 17:30 Adelaide Adrenaline 5 – 4 (SO) Canberra Knights Canberra 46 4 July 16:00 Melbourne Ice 4–2 Gold Coast Blue Tongues Brisbane 47 4 July 17:00 Adelaide Adrenaline 3 – 2 (SO) Sydney Ice Dogs Liverpool 48 4 July 17:00 Canberra Knights 5–7 Newcastle North Stars Newcastle 700 49 10 July 16:00 Sydney Bears 2–4 Gold Coast Blue Tongues Gold Coast 50 10 July 17:45 Newcastle North Stars 2–9 Melbourne Ice Melbourne 51 10 July 17:00 Canberra Knights 7–8 Sydney Ice Dogs Liverpool 52 11 July 16:30 Newcastle North Stars 3–1 Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide 53 11 July 16:00 Sydney Bears 2 – 3 (SO) Gold Coast Blue Tongues Gold Coast 54 17 July 16:30 Melbourne Ice 8 – 7 (SO) Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide 55 17 July 17:00 Sydney Bears 2–8 Sydney Ice Dogs Liverpool 56 17 July 17:30 Newcastle North Stars 6–3 Canberra Knights Canberra 57 18 July 16:30 Melbourne Ice 3–4 Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide 58 18 July 17:00 Sydney Bears 1–6 Newcastle North Stars Newcastle 59 24 July 16:30 Newcastle North Stars 5 – 4 (SO) Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide 60 24 July 17:30 Gold Coast Blue Tongues 3–2 Canberra Knights Canberra 61 25 July 16:15 Newcastle North Stars 1 – 2 (SO) Melbourne Ice Melbourne 62 25 July 17:00 Sydney Ice Dogs 2–4 Sydney Bears Penrith 63 25 July 17:30 Gold Coast Blue Tongues 4–5 Canberra Knights Canberra 64 31 July 16:00 Newcastle North Stars 3–1 Gold Coast Blue Tongues Gold Coast 65 31 July 17:45 Canberra Knights 0–5 Melbourne Ice Melbourne

August Game Date Time Away Score Home Location Attendance Recap 66 1 August 16:00 Newcastle North Stars 8–3 Gold Coast Blue Tongues Gold Coast 67 1 August 16:30 Canberra Knights 5–7 Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide 68 1 August 17:00 Sydney Ice Dogs 2–5 Sydney Bears Penrith 69 7 August 17:00 Adelaide Adrenaline 4–10 Sydney Ice Dogs Liverpool 70 7 August 17:00 Canberra Knights 2–12 Newcastle North Stars Newcastle 71 7 August 17:45 Gold Coast Blue Tongues 2–5 Melbourne Ice Melbourne 72 8 August 16:15 Gold Coast Blue Tongues 3–6 Melbourne Ice Melbourne 73 8 August 17:00 Adelaide Adrenaline 0–3 Sydney Bears Penrith 74 14 August 17:00 Sydney Ice Dogs 0–4 Newcastle North Stars Newcastle 850 75 14 August 17:30 Melbourne Ice 3 – 2 (SO) Canberra Knights Canberra 76 15 August 17:00 Melbourne Ice 6–3 Sydney Ice Dogs Liverpool 77 15 August 17:00 Canberra Knights 0–11 Sydney Bears Penrith 78 21 August 16:30 Sydney Bears 5 – 4 (SO) Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide 79 21 August 17:00 Canberra Knights 2–10 Sydney Ice Dogs Liverpool 80 21 August 17:00 Gold Coast Blue Tongues 3–11 Newcastle North Stars Newcastle 850 81 22 August 16:15 Sydney Bears 3–7 Melbourne Ice Melbourne 82 22 August 17:00 Gold Coast Blue Tongues 3–8 Newcastle North Stars Newcastle 800 I Double points game.

Standings TeamNewcastle North Stars 24 14 7 1 2 131 74 57 57Melbourne Ice 24 15 3 1 5 122 65 57 52Sydney Bears 24 12 1 3 8 82 90 −8 41Adelaide Adrenaline 24 8 5 5 6 107 92 15 39Gold Coast Blue Tongues 24 9 1 1 13 84 107 −23 30Canberra Knights 24 5 0 3 16 79 131 −52 18Sydney Ice Dogs 24 4 0 3 17 74 120 −46 15 Qualified for the Goodall Cup playoffsH Newman Reid Trophy winners Source

Statistics Scoring leaders List shows the ten top skaters sorted by points, then goals.

Player Team Newcastle North Stars 25 41 47 88 24 F Newcastle North Stars 25 33 54 87 28 F Newcastle North Stars 25 22 40 62 82 F Adelaide Adrenaline 26 19 29 48 18 F Gold Coast Blue Tongues 23 17 19 46 87 F Melbourne Ice 26 24 22 46 95 F Melbourne Ice 23 25 20 45 10 F Adelaide Adrenaline 24 20 24 44 67 F Gold Coast Blue Tongues 23 18 26 44 63 F Melbourne Ice 24 16 28 44 66 D

Leading goaltenders Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage.

Player Team Newcastle North Stars 1023:00 763 69 3.04 91.0 2 Sydney Bears 793:10 534 49 2.78 90.8 2 Gold Coast Blue Tongues 393:15 336 36 4.12 89.3 0 Melbourne Ice 1020:00 518 60 2.65 88.4 2 Adelaide Adrenaline 921:00 566 73 3.57 87.1 0

Goodall Cup playoffs The playoffs were held between 28 and 29 August with all three games being played at the Icehouse in Melbourne. Melbourne Ice won the final and the Goodall Cup (1st title) after defeating the then defending champions Adelaide Adrenaline 6–4. The Ice took an early lead in the final before going behind twice. A strong finish to the match saw the Goodall Cup return to Victoria for the first time in 27 years. Melbourne Ice's Canadian born forward, Jason Baclig, was named the finals most valuable player (MVP) and was awarded the inaugural Kendall Finals MVP trophy.

All times are UTC+10:00

Semi-finals

Final

References

External links The Australian Ice Hockey League