In less than 2 days time, old friends, trans-tasmin brothers, and fellow ANZACs will go into battle to defend their countries honor.  No, i’m not talking about the Bledisloe Cup, i’m referring to the Australian representative team heading over to face off against the Kiwis in a 2-game Ice Hockey matchup!

Unlike the Bledisloe, where the All Blacks are by far the better team (go on, admit it, you know it’s true), the Ice Blacks are not so fortunate.  Over the years, they have never beaten Australia, something that as a fellow kiwi, i can’t say i’m all too pleased about.

So how is this year different to any other year?  Well, the Aussie team is not actually THE Aussie team, instead it’s a rep team put together from the Newcastle North Stars and Sydney Bears AIHL teams.  This rep team isn’t just some mix-match either, they have some solid import players such as John Halverson and great Australian local players in Rubes, Stransky and Matt Ezzy.

That said, the Kiwis are ready.  They know they’re the underdog, and they’re ok with that.  One thing is certain, this coming weekend things will heat up on the Ice in Dunedin, NZ!

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Harsh subject, I know, but apt. 23 seconds into the first, and the packed out crowd were up on their feet and cheering for the first goal of the game. Throughout the period the Newcastle fans who came up to give their boys some support were chanting “Ezzy Ezzy Ezzy OI OI OI”. Of course Gold Coast fans hit back, repeating the chant exactly the same way after the two Blue Tongues goals that followed in the period! It was intense and exciting to watch, with our boys in blue just hammering Matt Ezzy, checking the North Stars left, right and centre and just generally outplaying them in every way.

In the second period, Newcastle fought back, with a goal by their go-to man, import John Halverson. The end-to-end hockey was impressive, with both teams giving up the puck in their own zone to strong defensive play by both teams. Newcastle scored again, and at the end of the second period? 3-2 Gold Coast. We were still in it, and still looking very, very good. Those 3 points were ours!

In the third, we scored “an insurance goal”, giving us a 2 goal lead over the North Stars. It was brilliant! The BT fans were chanting “EZZY EZZY EZZY OI OI OI!”, the Newcastle fans were silent. So silent, their team turned around (the fans were on the seats behind their bench) and yelled at them to start cheering for some encouragement! It all seemed to be going Gold Coast’s way…

And then a lapse in the defensive core occurred, and for some reason, Gold Coast were unable to stop John Halverson from getting his stick on the puck. He wasn’t shut down, he wasn’t guarded by our defensemen. He was allowed the puck, and we paid the price dearly. 2 goals by Halverson in the last 2 mins of the game meant we once again went to a shootout. And while we scored twice on Ezzy (thank you Dave Upton and Brad Smulders!), Luke Fiveash couldn’t stop the Newcastle shooters from scoring on him.

In the four game and 24 point series against the North Stars, we came away with 0 W 2 L 2 OTL and a lonely 2 points.

So where do we go from here?

Next weekend we play The Bears. Last time we faced The Bears, Luke Fiveash shut them out, and our skaters put 7… that’s right seven goals on them! Therefore we need plenty of offense, but we can’t be complacent on defense. The Blue Tongues must protect their goalie and shut down the opposition’s shooters. Ideally, they should also try to reduce the number of turnovers and missed passes they have too. Saying that, practice makes perfect and all they can do is come out firing!

Until next game….

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