The 2005 AIHL season was the sixth season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It ran from 16 April 2005 until 28 August 2005, with the Goodall Cup finals following on 3 and 4 September 2005. The Adelaide Avalanche won the V.I.P. Cup after finishing the regular season first in the league standings. The Newcastle North Stars won the Goodall Cup for the second time by defeating the Adelaide Avalanche in the final.
Regular season The regular season began on 16 April 2005 and ran through to 28 August 2005 before the top four teams advanced to compete in the Goodall Cup playoff series.
Standings
Team Adelaide Avalanche 26 19 1 0 2 4 133 77 +56 60 Newcastle North Stars 26 14 2 1 4 5 113 77 +36 50 Western Sydney Ice Dogs 26 11 1 2 2 10 102 106 -4 40 Sydney Bears 26 11 0 2 1 12 93 94 -1 38 Canberra Knights 26 11 2 0 0 13 96 102 -6 35 Brisbane Blue Tongues 26 8 1 4 0 13 112 112 0 33 Melbourne Ice 26 9 0 2 2 13 112 116 -4 33 Central Coast Rhinos 26 4 1 2 2 17 69 146 -77 19 Qualified for the Goodall Cup playoffsV.I.P. Cup winners Source
Statistics Scoring leaders List shows the ten top skaters sorted by points, then goals. Current as of 4 September 2005 Player Team Newcastle North Stars 24 28 26 54 60 F Newcastle North Stars 25 13 36 49 65 D Adelaide Avalanche 23 23 24 47 50 F Canberra Knights 21 23 23 46 22 F Newcastle North Stars 24 21 21 42 160 RW Canberra Knights 26 10 31 41 50 F Adelaide Avalanche 23 16 23 39 50 F Newcastle North Stars 15 22 22 37 16 LW Melbourne Ice 21 14 22 36 32 F Newcastle North Stars 26 9 27 36 86 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 4 September 2005 Player Team Newcastle North Stars 1128 747 71 3.15 0.925 2 Adelaide Avalanche 777 449 55 3.54 0.878 1 Central Coast Rhinos 1084 891 120 5.54 0.865 0 Canberra Knights 1035 603 84 4.06 0.861 0 Adelaide Avalanche 425 212 30 3.53 0.858 0
Goodall Cup playoffs
The 2005 playoffs was scheduled for 3 September with the Goodall Cup final held on 4 September 2005. Following the end of the regular season the top four teams advanced to the playoff series which was held at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Newcastle, New South Wales. 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 Newcastle North Stars (2nd title) who defeated the Adelaide Avalanche 3–1 in the final. Newcastle's goaltender Matt Ezzy was awarded the grand final game puck post-game by coaching director Rob Barnes for his display in the final and throughout the season despite having a shoulder injury that would require surgery post-season. In a first for the league and ice hockey in Australia, the 2005 Finals was broadcast live on the internet via webcam with live instant text play-by-play provided by Peter Lambert. Over 110,000 hits were registered over the Finals weekend with supports watching from as far away as North America.
All times are UTC+10:00
Semi-finals
Final
References
External links Official AIHL website