Ice Dogs set sights on the Brave

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Only two games into their Goodall Cup defence, the Sydney Ice Dogs’ seen a few highs and lows. Having had the Easter weekend off, the Sydney-siders are 1-1 after defeating the Melbourne Ice 9-2 before going down to the Melbourne Mustangs 6-3.

The Ice Dogs came out strong against a depleted Melbourne Ice team who were missing six players to national team duty. Simon Barg helped the Ice Dogs get off to the perfect start, scoring four goals and seven points in an outstanding performance. Ably supported by Robert Malloy with two goals, John Clewlow with five points and David Dunwoodie with three assists, it was strong message to the rest of the competition. Tim Noting also had his first game between the pipes in Ice Dogs colours, stopping 30 of 32 shots he faced.

General manager Ron Kuprowsky was positive about the way his team played yet remained reserved about the next meeting.

“It was a good game even with their team short-staffed, that kind of game was to be expected,” he said. “It won’t be the same team we play next time that’s for sure so that game was just a once-off.”

Suffering from a back-to-back game hangover, the Ice Dogs couldn’t find a way to shut-down the offensive talent of Mustangs’ players Pat O’Kane, Jamie Bourke and Joseph Hughes on the Sunday. However, the Ice Dogs didn’t just let the Mustangs run away with the game. A pair from Tyler Kubara and play-maker David Dunwoodie assisting on all three Ice Dogs’ goals made sure the Victorians had to work for the win.

With the opening road trip to Melbourne done-and-dusted, sights are set on the visit to the nation’s capital to play the reformed CBR Brave this weekend weekend. Canberra’s opening day jitters in front of their home fans are out of the way now and the Ice Dogs are on notice after the Brave’s strong performance against the North Stars. The Brave will also be looking for the clubs’ first goal and will be looking forward for it to come against the defending champions.

The Ice Dogs will certainly need to bring their a-game if they are to bounce back from their loss against the Mustangs to defeat the Brave. Kuprowsky was confident that it would be a great game against the Brave.

“It’s a 50-minute game and it has to start from the beginning and end at the end, with everything in between being done at 100%,” he said. “We can’t lay our guns down with any of these teams because there’s too much talent.”

Even though the Brave were shut-out by the Newcastle North Stars 2-0, they still had plenty to cheer about. Import goalie Petri Pitkanen made 38 saves in 40 shots and ensured his team kept up with the North Stars. The players were physical and took it to the North Stars through stretches of the game.

The Sydney Ice Dogs will take on the CBR Brave at Phillip Swimming & Ice Skating Centre on Saturday night at 5.30 AEST. The game will be livestreamed by Ascension Sports. 

* Photo by M.J Wragg Photography