The Sydney Ice Dogs have sounded a warning to the rest of AIHL as they seek back-to-back Goodall Cups, dominating the Melbourne Ice 9-2 in the season opener on Saturday night.
Although expected to be a close game, the Ice were missing six players to the Ice Dogs' three due to the Australian tilt at the Division 2 Group A World Championships in Serbia.
The Ice Dogs' defence was solid, led by goalie Timothy Noting who had an outstanding night between the pipes, saving 30 of the 32 shots that came his way. The Ice Dogs’ penalty kill unit was also effective, despite Melbourne capitalising on two of their nine opportunities.
Meanwhile, Melbourne goalie Gustaf Huth had a rough night, benching himself midway through the second period when the Ice Dogs led 4-1, handing goalie duties over to teammate Rick Ashton.
The Ice Dogs' scoring started early - Simon Barg got one past Huth two minutes into the game, beating him low and on the stick side with a short-handed goal. In 2013, Barg scored an AIHL record 10 shorthanded goals.
Playing in his 100th AIHL game, Matt Armstrong got the Ice on the board thanks to a brilliant feed from Jason Baclig behind the net with three minutes remaining in the first period.
The tied score didn't last,with Ice Dogs forward Richard Tesarik scoring a backhanded shot with less than a minute left in the period to give the Ice Dogs the 2-1 lead.
The Melbourne Ice started the second period bursting full of energy, hammering Noting with shots but none reaching the back of the net.
However, this resurgence didn’t last long as the Ice Dogs piled on four goals through David Dunwoodie, John Clewlow, Simon Barg and Robert Malloy to stun the Melbourne faithful.
The frenzy continued as the Ice Dogs added a further three in the final twenty minutes, with Jamie Blazevic, then Barg completing his hat-trick, and Malloy scoring his second to ram home a 9-1 advantage.
Matt Armstrong scored his second on a 5-on-3 late in the third, but it was little more than a consolation goal.
Melbourne Ice coach Brent Laver said the Ice Dogs capitalised on everything that was put in front of them, notably in the Ice Dogs’ four-goal second period.
"It just came back to a complete breakdown of structure in that second period,” Laver said. “We lost a bit of confidence, we lost a bit of structure, and they exposed us on that."
Finding positives among the negatives, Laver spoke of the promising debut of rookie Sam Hodic. He praised Hodic’s work rate throughout the seven-goal thrashing, commending him on his remarkable work ethic and resilience.
"He was the shining light in a pretty dark day,” Laver said. “He's showing the rest of the guys the application required [to succeed], and how to bridge the gap that sits between the bottom end of the roster and the top end of the roster”.
Looking to next week’s match up against cross-town rivals in the Melbourne Mustangs next Saturday, Laver said they couldn’t dwell on the loss.
"You don't have time to dwell,” he said. “Come Thursday there's a lot of guys coming back, and we're resetting the agenda."
The Ice Dogs continue their Melbourne road trip, taking on the Mustangs at the Medibank Ice House at 4pm today.
*Photos by M.J Wragg Photography
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