The Melbourne Ice have “broken the curse” and are the first team to be both minor premiers and AIHL Champions, taking home the Goodall Cup on Sunday afternoon after defeating the Newcastle North Stars.
Image courtesy of The Age
Congratulations Melbourne Ice, 2011 AIHL Champions.
Of course, we all know that Matt Amado is in fact NOT Dave Upton, but apparently the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) don’t.
Today during the online stream of the AIHL semi-finals when the AIHL announced the league MVP runner ups, they showed an image of Dave Upton when announcing Matt Amado. There is quite simply no excuse for such a simple mistake to be made.
This error was not the only problem today though, as the entire live stream itself was unusable for the entire first period of semi-final 1 between the Melbourne Ice and Adelaide Adrenaline. To their credit the stream was fixed as soon as possible and provided great quality video and audio of the games.
Hopefully they will have corrected the Matt Amado image by tomorrows stream of the AIHL Final game between the Newcastle North Stars and Melbourne Ice.
The 2011 AIHL regular season has wrapped up this last weekend, with the Melbourne Ice taking out the H Newman Reid Trophy for the top team after the regular season. They finished the season with an impressive 21 wins and 7 losses, giving them 65 points, 6 ahead of the second placed Newcastle North Stars. So a big congratulations to the Ice for their victory.
Finals Seeding
The Finals will consist of 2 semi-finals on the Saturday and the Final on Sunday. The 2 semi’s will see the Melbourne Ice face the Adelaide Adrenaline and the Newcastle North Stars take on the Sydney Ice Dogs. The final will be played between the victors of these contests. The Finals are always fast-paced exciting hockey, so be sure to be there or catch the games streamed live online.
The Blue Tongues Season
Another Tongues season has come and gone and it’s been full of highs and lows.
Standout Players
Without a doubt the most standout player on the Tongues this season was Tobias Falk. Falk exemplified the true team-first playmaker. His passing was exceptional, his skating smooth and as it turned out in the latter half of the season, his shot was deadly accurate. Playing alongside Matt Amado most the season, Falk went from setup guy to being the #1 fan favorite import on the team.
As far as rookies go, Alex Hall had a fantastic season. His 11 points were (i believe) the highest of all rookies in the league this season, and saw a lot of quality ice time. Hall has amazing potential and will continue to grow and be a force on the Blue Tongues in future years.
Luke Fiveash may not have started the season with the Blue Tongues, but he finished it with an almost zealous cult following. His acrobatic style and spectacular saves helped the team win vital games and carried them into a true race for the Finals.
Dave Upton needs to introduction to fans. Since 2005 when Dave played for the team as a fresh faced 15 year old, Dave has always been a core member of the team. Sadly, all things must end and Dave’s time with the Blue Tongues has ended as he heads to Sydney for work. We wish Dave the very best of luck and hope that one day we’ll see him back in the Blue Jersey!
The Good
Defeating the Melbourne Ice has to be one of the standout moments for the fans. The history between the clubs and the intensity of the games made that series a true one for the books. Another game to remember is the second last of the season where the Tongues defeated the Newcastle North Stars in Newcastle; something that has only happened twice in their club history.
Seeing the Mustangs IHC enter the AIHL is a highlight, not for the Blue Tongues but for hockey in general. The growth of the league is fantastic and the Mustangs did well in their first season.
The Bad
Walker-Gate, a name coined after the Ice Dogs were given a reprieve for playing an unsanctioned Nathan Walker early in the season has gone on too far. People need to get over it.
Chemistry issues early in the season caused early Tongues games to end in less than desirable scorelines. Add that to the coaches desire to play Kane “can’t stop a puck” Easterbrook for 6 games more than he should have all but put the Blue Tongues in a very tough position. CJ Anderson was forced to sit on the bench and watch Kane fumble his way through games, when in reality he should have been playing.
Team disruption issues caused by non-passing star imports caused alleged rifts among the team, and also in the Stands. Fans were heard commenting about how scoring chances were lost because people would not pass. Then there were the rumours that some players would not play on a line with some others, causing what appeared to be major chemistry issues on the ice.
The Ugly
The Mustangs game on the Saturday will be remembered for one thing; a coach so out of control he lost the game for his team. I have heard people talk about how the Stangs were goons that game, and i want to point out that the team simply followed the example led by their coach at the time. As soon as he was ejected from the game the Mustangs settled down and played much better hockey. Don’t hate the Mustangs for that game, as it takes 2 to tango.
A forfeiture is hard to take, especially when it could be argued that it cost a spot in the finals. The Sunday game against the Ice Dogs was cancelled due to a malfunction at the Gold Coast Rink. Both teams agreed it was unplayable and the league ruled the match a forfeit. This was not the first time this had happened, and the Melbourne Ice were forced to forfeit a game a few seasons back for the same reason. People need to stop hating the Ice Dogs for that situation, as the Ice Dogs and Tongues BOTH agreed that the ice was unplayable. As i understand it (having read the full report) the Dogs did not petition for the forfeit, that was the leagues decision. As i said in an earlier blog post, don’t hate the league for the decision, hate the Gold Coast rink for being so crap and if you must, hate the team for choosing to play out of that rink.
Looking Forward…
It’s the long off-season we go through now. 6 months of no AIHL hockey for us Blue Tongues fans, gives us plenty of time to speculate on what could happen. How will the team look without Dave Upton? Who will the new imports be? Will the Blue Tongues play at the Gold Coast? Will this be the last season captain Ross Howell laces up the skates? We sure hope not!
The AIHL are rumoured to be bringing in rink standards as of next season and the Gold Coast rink is well below this standard. Contrary to popular belief, the league CAN rule the rink below standard and force the Blue Tongues to find a new rink. As a fan of this team i hope those in charge are taking this possibility very seriously. The good news is, there are always rinks up in Brisbane which are well above standard.
The Blue Tongues season may be over, but don’t forget that the 2011 AIHL Finals are this weekend, the 3rd and 4th September, 2011. Full details can be found here.
The pointy end of the season is truly upon us. The Blue Tongues have wrapped up their home games for the season and now have just 4 games left to play, all against tough opponents in even tougher venues.
As it stands right now the Blue Tongues are in 4th position on the ladder, just 1 point ahead of the Adelaide Adrenaline and 7 points back from a 3rd place Sydney Ice Dogs. The Adrenaline are the biggest threat for the Tongues and have the advantage of an easier schedule.
Here is how the 2 teams break down of the final 4 games including the record against those teams this season.
Gold Coast Blue Tongues
Away – Melbourne Ice (1 win, 1 loss, 1 shootout loss)
Away – Melbourne mustangs (3 wins)
Away – Newcastle North Stars (2 losses)
Away – Newcastle North Stars
Adelaide Adrenaline
Away – Canberra Knights (1 win, 1 loss)
Away – Sydney Bears (1 shootout win, 2 wins)
Home – Canberra Knights
Home – Sydney Ice Dogs (1 win, 2 losses)
The Blue Tongues don’t really have any easy teams to face, except maybe the Mustangs.
Tobias Falk has been consistently good all season for the Tongues and deserves to be #1 choice for team MVP
They know they can defeat the Ice as this last weekend showed, and they have the confidence of knowing that they can compete with the Ice down in Melbourne. The North Stars are the key to this series I believe, as the Tongues history against Newcastle, in Newcastle has not been good at all over the years. That said, Matt Ezzy has been very normal this season so as long as our boys can bring the firepower they should compete. The last time they played the North Stars they did so without a full roster and zero team chemistry, so the next 2 games could be vastly different. The Tongues should pick up a win against the Mustangs and I believe they should pick up a win against the North Stars. That gives a short estimate of at least 6 of a possible 12 points.
The Adrenaline on the other hand are playing well and have a relatively easy run of things. The Bears are an easy team for them based on past history with the Knights and Ice Dogs being the key to their season. The game against the Bears will almost certainly be a win (although would love it not be). The Ice Dogs I believe will win once again and based on games this season they should split the 2 games against the Knights. That gives the Adrenaline a short estimate of 6 points from 12.
If both teams pick split their series, the Tongues will remain 1 point ahead and will secure that finals spot.
Right now it’s too close to call.
Warning: If you’re wearing rose coloured glasses, leave now. If you’re a ra-ra fan, leave now. If you were at yesterday’s game and are pissed that we lost, please read on.
It’s not often I’ll start a blog post with a disclaimer, but as there are those who feel fans should not speak ill of a team they support, i wanted to give them a heads up so they can leave now before being blessed with my words of wisdom.
Yesterday’s loss to the Melbourne Ice was a tough one to take. The Tongues played hard for most the game, but fell into a serious lack of discipline at times which cost us dearly. The Melbourne Ice are one of the smartest teams in the AIHL. They knew which players to go after and they targeted our weaknesses, and right on queue the Tongues responded in kind. In short, they fell into the Ice’s plans and suffered accordingly.
But it was with 5 minutes left in the first period where the wheels fell off the bus, and the blame should fall squarely on the shoulders of Matt Amado and Alex Boyd.
Those not at the game, here’s how it went down. Amado drops the stick and challenges Joey Hughes to a fight. Hughes is all for it and goes at Amado. Amado cowers from the fight and tries to get away. Meanwhile, Alex Boyd jumps off the bench and has a go at Hughes. Game misconducts are handed out and the Tongues end up with a 5 minute penalty kill. The Ice go on to score the game winning goal on that powerplay.
It was a stupid penalty to take and an absolutely gutless play. If you’re going to challenge a guy to a fight, either man up and hit him or expect to get knocked the hell out. It was a pathetic cowardly move by Amado and his team mates should be disgusted with him for that. And as for Boyd, to jump off the bench and get involved is a cardinal sin and sheer stupidity. It is an act unbecoming a player at this level! For a so-called MVP player, Amado displayed a total lack of thought on what was a classless play. It was selfish, gutless and it cost us a goal, and the game!
That chain of events entirely changed the game completely. Sure, the reffing was atrocious towards both teams, but that play was the game changer.
Positives from the game…
Adam Geric being back in the lineup adds a much needed defensive forward punch to the squad. Jack Conner was playing really well and that goal by Dave Upton was a thing of pure beauty. Luke Fiveash was shaky in the first period, but stellar when we needed him to be and has been a consistent presence between the pipes for the Tongues. It would be nice to see CJ start a game, but as they say, when a goalie is hot, you keep playing him. At least Kane isn’t playing. Tobias Falk has been consistently solid all season and deserves to be the top nominee for an MVP award. On defense Bob Sannemo has been incredible and helps drive the special teams incredibly well. I also want to send a special kudos to those guys who give 110% every single game and never get the credit they deserve, so this is to the likes of Ben Spillane, Ross Howell, Cam Trew, Alex Hall and others who play depth roles. You guys make this team what it is. Superstars may score the goals, but without you guys playing the depth roles, they would have no ability to do so. So as a fan, thank you. We do notice you on the ice, and we appreciate every single thing you do for this team.
This last weekend was the final home game of the season. It’s sad that we wont see our boys again at home until next season, but this season is not over, and our boys are more than capable of being in the finals this season. Good luck in the next few weeks guys… GO TONGUES!
As always, comments are welcome below.
