2007 AIHL season
The 2007 AIHL season was the eighth season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It ran from 14 April 2007 until 26 August 2007, with the Goodall Cup finals following on 1 and 2 September 2007. The Adelaide Avalanche won the V.I.P. Cup after finishing the regular season first in the league standings. The Bears won the Goodall Cup for the second time by defeating the Newcastle North Stars in the final.
2007 AIHL season | |
---|---|
League | Australian Ice Hockey League |
Sport | Ice hockey |
Duration | 14 April 2007 – 2 September 2007 |
Regular season | |
V.I.P. Cup | Adelaide Avalanche (4th title) |
Season MVP | Tommy Powell (Ice) |
Top scorer | Brad Wanchulak (69 points) (North Stars) |
Goodall Cup | |
Champions | The Bears |
Runners-up | Newcastle North Stars |
Finals MVP | Pekka Kankaanranta (The Bears) |
Regular season
The regular season began on 14 April 2007 and ran through to 26 August 2007 before the top four teams advanced to compete in the Goodall Cup playoff series.[1]
Standings
Team | GP | W | SOW | SOL | L | GF | GA | GDF | PTS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adelaide Avalanche | 28 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 124 | 99 | +25 | 56 |
Melbourne Ice | 28 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 111 | 84 | +27 | 53 |
Newcastle North Stars | 28 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 117 | 96 | +21 | 53 |
The Bears | 28 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 113 | 87 | +26 | 49 [lower-alpha 1] |
Brisbane Blue Tongues | 28 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 126 | 111 | +15 | 46 [lower-alpha 1] |
Western Sydney Ice Dogs | 28 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 113 | 99 | +14 | 42 [lower-alpha 1] |
Canberra Knights | 28 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 87 | 132 | -45 | 20 |
Central Coast Rhinos | 28 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 80 | 163 | -83 | 8 |
Qualified for the Goodall Cup playoffs | V.I.P. Cup winners |
Notes:
Scoring leaders
List shows the ten top skaters sorted by points, then goals. Current as of 2 September 2007[2]
Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | POS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brad Wanchulak | Newcastle North Stars | 23 | 31 | 38 | 69 | 26 | F |
Matt Amado | Brisbane Blue Tongues | 20 | 39 | 23 | 62 | 56 | F |
Tomas Landa | The Bears | 25 | 20 | 42 | 62 | 49 | F |
Greg Oddy | Adelaide Avalanche | 20 | 24 | 19 | 43 | 109 | F |
Ryan Remillard | Adelaide Avalanche | 23 | 22 | 20 | 42 | 24 | F |
Vladimir Rubes | The Bears | 24 | 15 | 26 | 41 | 34 | F |
Håkan Olsson | Central Coast Rhinos | 22 | 11 | 27 | 38 | 28 | C |
Brian Ballman | Adelaide Avalanche | 21 | 17 | 20 | 37 | 40 | LW |
Robert Starke | Newcastle North Stars | 26 | 7 | 28 | 35 | 67 | D |
Thomas Powell | Melbourne Ice | 23 | 16 | 18 | 34 | 4 | F |
Leading goaltenders
Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage with a minimum 40% of the team's ice time. Current as of 2 September 2007[3]
Player | Team | MIP | SOG | GA | GAA | SVS% | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Matthew Ezzy | Newcastle North Stars | 992 | 674 | 69 | 3.48 | 0.898 | 3 |
Lanny Ramage | Western Sydney Ice Dogs | 681 | 431 | 46 | 3.38 | 0.893 | 0 |
Pekka Kankaanranta | The Bears | 1103 | 584 | 69 | 3.13 | 0.882 | 2 |
Olivier Martin | Adelaide Avalanche | 994 | 594 | 70 | 3.52 | 0.882 | 1 |
Stuart Denman | Melbourne Ice | 1039 | 536 | 66 | 3.18 | 0.877 | 1 |
Notes
- The Newcastle North Stars vs Canberra Knights game scheduled for 10 June was postponed by six weeks, due to power cuts caused by wild storms.
- The Adelaide Avalanche set an impressive record on 1 July against West Sydney, scoring four goals (all even-strength) in just thirty-four seconds; the comparable record in the NHL is eighty seconds, and is over sixty years old.
- The inaugural MVP award was presented to Tommy Powell of the Melbourne Ice. While Powell ranked only tenth amongst scorers (23 games, 16 goals, 18 assists), he dominated Melbourne's attack during the first half of the season, when they were at their most successful.
Goodall Cup playoffs
The 2007 playoffs was scheduled for 1 September with the Goodall Cup final held on 2 September 2007.[1] Following the end of the regular season the top four teams advanced to the playoff series which was held at the Penrith Ice Palace in Penrith, 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 The Bears (2nd title) who defeated the Newcastle North Stars 3–2 in overtime after the two teams finished regulation time locked at 2–2. Bear's goaltender, Pekka Kankaanranta, was named the finals most valuable player (MVP).[4]
Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
1 | The Bears | 4 | |||||||
4 | Adelaide Avalanche | 1 | |||||||
The Bears | 3 | ||||||||
Newcastle North Stars | 2 | ||||||||
3 | Newcastle North Stars | 6 | |||||||
2 | Melbourne Ice | 3 | |||||||
All times are UTC+10:00
Semi-finals
1 September 2007 16:00 | The Bears | 4–1 (2–0, 0–0, 2–1) | Adelaide Avalanche | Penrith Ice Palace |
Game reference | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pekka Kankaanranta | Goalies | Olivier Martin | Referee: Rob Duchemin Linesmen: Tim Bell Gordon Young | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
26 min | Penalties | 37 min | |||||||||||||||
25 | Shots | 29 |
1 September 2007 19:00 | Newcastle North Stars | 6–3 (2–0, 2–1, 2–2) | Melbourne Ice | Penrith Ice Palace |
Game reference | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Matthew Ezzy | Goalies | Stuart Denman | Referee: David Ast Linesmen: Ivan Manco Tomas Zavisky | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 min | Penalties | 33 min | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | Shots | 32 |
Final
2 September 2007 16:00 | The Bears | 3–2 (OT) (0–0, 1–0, 1–2, 1–0) | Newcastle North Stars | Penrith Ice Palace |
Game reference | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pekka Kankaanranta | Goalies | Matthew Ezzy | Referee: David Ast Linesmen: Ivan Manco Tomas Zavisky | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
14 min | Penalties | 16 min | |||||||||||||||
27 | Shots | 17 |
References
- "2007 AIHL Schedule". theaihl.com. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
- "2007 AIHL season: League leading players". theaihl.com. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
- "2007 AIHL season: League leading goalies". theaihl.com. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
- "2007 AIHL Grand Final Boxscore". theaihl.com. 2 September 2007. Retrieved 25 September 2018.