The Weekly Faceoff is a regular column talking about all things Tongues, in and around the AIHL.
Another week is done and dusted. Another weekend of AIHL games in the books and another team or 2 in the NHL sent to play golf.
Period 1: Blue Tongues Drop 2 In Adelaide
Image Courtesy Of http://www.adelaideadrenaline.com.au
It took a few games, but the Blue Tongues are finally on the points board… barely. The team traveled to Adelaide this last weekend to face off against the Adelaide Adrenaline; a team we historically struggle against on the road. The boys forced a shootout in the Saturday game but could not capitalise in the shootout and ended up dropping the game 5-4. The positive is they managed to pick up a point and get on the points board. Sunday was a bit different with the Adrenaline allegedly dominating most of the game, resulting in the Blue Tongues losing 5-3. For the Blue Tongues, this puts some early season strain on the team, who are 2nd last in the league with just 1 point after 4 games. Only the Sydney Bears have a worse record (1 win from 5 games). In a league where teams like the Melbourne Ice, Newcastle North Stars and Melbourne Mustangs have blasted out of the gates, it is going to take some seriously big (consistent) wins to get the Tongues up into a finals contending position.
Period 2: AIHL Awards
I know it’s very early in the season to raise this, but watching the NHL playoffs got me thinking; why doesn’t the AIHL have annual awards? We may not be a professional league like the NHL, but we do still have rookies, MVP players and killer netminding. It would be great if the AIHL were to create annual awards, and name them after great Australian Hockey Players from the past. I would propose an AIHL equivalent to the Calder, Vezina, Conn Smyth, Lady Byng and Rocket Richard. Of course, there would have to be a way to maybe limit certain awards to local players only, or the majority of awards will always go to imports. Just a thought anyway.
Period 3: AIHL Update
The North Stars finally dropped a game this last weekend, falling 6-4 to the Ice Dogs. The Mustangs gave the Ice their first loss of the season also, beating them 5-4 in a shootout. Interestingly, it is the Ice Dogs who have the leagues best GAA, who after 5 games have let in on average, 3.40 goals per game. They back that up with 5.00 GFA. The North Stars, who have a league leading 6.00 GFA are third in GAA with 3.75 goals against per game.
The AIHL Standings as of today are:
| TEAM | GP | W | L | OTW | OTL | PTS | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle North Stars | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 48 | 30 |
| Melbourne Ice | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 27 | 18 |
| Mustangs Ice Hockey Club | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 34 | 32 |
| Sydney Ice Dogs | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 25 | 17 |
| Adelaide Adrenaline | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 21 | 26 |
| Canberra Knights | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 25 |
| Gold Coast Blue Tongues | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 23 |
| Sydney Bears | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 24 |
Overtime: NHL Playoffs
No doubt you’ve been following the NHL playoffs so are aware of the spanking that the Tampa Bay Lightning put on the Washington Capitals, sending them packing in 4 straight games. Just when people were getting over the shock of that, the Boston Bruins did the same, sweeping the (Stanley Cup favorites) Philadelphia Flyers out of the post season. In the West things are a still going. The Canucks look good, but have struggled a little against the Predators defense. They hold a 3-2 lead in their series. Just today the Red Wings pulled off a 4-3 win against the Sharks to keep their chances alive. The Sharks lead that series 3-2. The big question is, regardless of who wins in the West, are they good enough to stop the Bolts or Bruins?
The Weekly Faceoff is a regular weekly blog talking about all things Tongues, in and around the AIHL.
The Bartercard Gold Coast Blue Tongues have had a busy few weeks preparing for the start of the 2011 AIHL Season.
Signed Imports
The Blue Tongues made 2 new announcements in the last week or so. The first was the return off Alex Boyd to the lineup for 2011. Alex is currently playing Rugby in Canada but will return for the start of the season. Also named to the season were 6 key local players; Dave Upton, Cam Trew, Ben Spillane, Marco Bertossa, Ross Howell and Brad Young.
Bartercard Naming Rights
Just today the Blue Tongues announced the return of Bartercard as the primary / naming rights sponsor for the team.
Intersquad Games
Get a glimpse of the 2011 Blue Tongues before the season starts at the 6 pre-season intersquad games which have been scheduled. These 6 games will see the Blue Tongues battle it out against each other as part of their training / team selection process. Last seasons games were exciting and gave a good view of what the team could bring down the road. Dates are listed on the Blue Tongues official website.
The Weekly Faceoff is a regular weekly blog talking about all things Tongues, in and around the AIHL.
The 2011 AIHL season is just months away, and teams are now in the process of getting their rosters together.
Adam Geric
Adam Geric on the Saskatoon Blades
Late this week the Gold Coast Blue Tongues announced the signing of Adam Geric to the 2011 squad. Geric, a native of Victoria, BC, Canada is a gritty power forward who will bring a strong work ethic and physical aspect to the team. Those who have seen him play compare his style to the likes of past Blue Tongue players, Mike Gough and last season’s Dallas Costanzo. Geric is an experienced player and included on his resume are 2 seasons with the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL.
Melbourne Mustangs
One of the biggest changes to the league this season is the inclusion of the Melbourne Mustangs, the 2nd Victorian team in the AIHL. The Mustangs are an enigma right now and have not had AIHL season experience, however aim to play hard and show they belong in the league. The Mustangs will play their season partially out of the Ice House, where they will share the rink with the Melbourne Ice.
Bring The Pain
With the signing of Adam Geric, the Blue Tongues have some great physicality to the game. The Tongues have always been one of the more physical teams in the AIHL, so it will be interesting to see how the Tongues play this season under new coach, Peter Nixon. We don’t yet know who will be on the final roster, however if the likes of Dave Upton, Ben Spillane and Jon Bale return, the Blue Tongues could be a very hard team to play against once again.
The Gold Coast Blue Tongues website announced yesterday that Coach Kevin Sands is stepping down from his role on the team due to work commitments. His replacement will be former Queensland representative Peter Nixon. Nixon, who was a member of the last Queensland team to win the Goodall Cup in 1977 brings with him a wealth of experience and passion for the sport.
Sands has coached the team for the 3 years since relocating to the Gold Coast in 2008. Under his leadership the team made the playoffs in 2009 for the first time in franchise history. We wish to thank Kevin for his time with the team and wish him well with his new work.
I had an interesting conversation last week with a friend about our Blue Tongues, the AIHL Finals and what it would take to not only make the playoffs, but have a truly good shot at winning it all.
There is no blue pill that will transport this team out of the Matrix. Yoda isn’t going to infuse the boys with the force and as much as we may like the idea, we wont be playing in a fancy rink with 1000 seats, good ice and glass.
What we will have is a team with potential and a very loyal fan base.
So what needs to change? What is it that this Blue Tongues team needs to do to go to the next level? Here are 5 changes which I believe will greatly benefit our team going into the 2011 AIHL season.
Improve Defense
They say offense wins games but defense wins championships. This could not be more true for our Blue Tongues. We know they can score goals year in year out, but the one thing that has been a weakness each season is the defense. Don Burke has been the heart of the team for years, but age has caught up with him and it’s time he stepped down, allowing a younger, more agile skater to take the spot. Last season saw huge strides in the game of Cam Trew who was by far the best local player in many games. Ross Howell and Ben Spillane were solid as always, although it appears that Spillane did not get as much ice time as he deserved. Bringing in import defenseman is a must for our team, although I believe 2 imports should be used for defense, one puck-moving defenseman to help boost the offense on the blue line and one who can shut down the other teams top scorers.
Rest Imports / Play Locals
It doesn’t take a genius to see that our teams coach likes to favour the imports over the locals. Understandably so, as the imports are indeed the better players. Saying that, last season we saw Mike McRae and Dallas Costanzo played to the point of near collapse while locals sat on the bench. Players lose effectiveness when they’re tired and imports are no exception. If our guys are tired, sit them for a shift or 2 and let the local lines play some. It is a risk, as the other team will try and match their lines and put out their offensive guns against our weaker lines, but that’s hockey. A benefit is that our locals get more experience and therefore hopefully improve more. We have some great players who get very little ice time, such as Ben Spillane. It appears to many that “Spills” is used more as the team enforcer than an effective player, which has bewildered fans for the last few seasons; especially those who have been following the Blue Tongues since before they moved south to the Coast.
Choose A Goalie & Have Faith In Them
Those who know me will know that the goalie situation with the Blue Tongues is a point of contention with me, as my previous posts have mentioned. I believe the team needs to have faith in their local netminders and show that by letting them play. 2 years in a row now we’ve sat in the stands and seen Luke Fiveash get shafted from the net; the AIHL finals in 2009 and midway through the season just gone. Using an import spot on the goalie position may appear to be a good idea on the surface, but doing so leaves wholes in the rest of the lineup, especially the defense. We already have 2 good goalies in Fiveash and Anderson, so maybe it is time we play them, have faith in them and start to build the team around them in net.
Coaching Change
There are probably over a hundred reasons why a coaching change could be needed on a hockey team. With the case of the Blue Tongues I believe it’s simply that a change is as good as a holiday. This team has a lot more potential than the stats and standings show. The coach deserves major kudos for how he has greatly improved his coaching over the last 3 seasons, however decisions on and off the ice have many fans wondering if maybe a new coach / leadership is needed in order for the team to move to the next level.
New Rink
This really is a given and applies to most teams in the league, but in many ways more so for the Blue Tongues. If you’ve not come up to the Gold Coast and seen our rink, you are in for a shock. The rink is simply unacceptable for a national league team. The ice surface is terrible, there are no shower facilities and overall, it is a health / safety risk. The problem is, building a new rink is costly and the team seems to struggle to bring in sponsors as it is, so getting the level of sponsorship needed to fund a new rink may simply be a pipe-dream at this time. Move the team back to Brisbane (Acacia Ridge)? That would definitely be a HUGE improvement to the facility issue however it would mean the team would be based back in Brisbane again, something I fear the current ownership would neither want nor allow.
Like Frodo and the Fellowship walking through Moria, we now face the long dark of the AIHL off-season. Let us hope the team does not have a cave troll.
