The Sydney Ice Dogs and Melbourne Mustangs are set to do battle this Saturday at the Melbourne Ice House in the AIHL finals series, in what will be a mouth-watering affair between the minor premier Melbourne Mustangs and the defending Goodall Cup Champions, the Sydney Ice Dogs.
In a season that has been hard to pick from the outset, the Mustangs have arguably been one of the most consistent teams and have rightfully earned their place atop the AIHL ladder. Not only do the Mustangs boast the second best offence in the league, they are also tied for the lowest goals against alongside the Melbourne Ice with 88.
Robert Malloy and Tim Noting are all too familiar with the Mustangs offensive potency and are aware of what needs to happen if the Ice Dogs are going to be able to hold off the Melbournians.
“They are a quick team, especially off a transition,” said Malloy. “They score a lot of goals because they take so many shots and their D like to jump in the play as well which helps their offensive production.”
“Just have to go out there and put my all into it on the ice,” said Noting. “No holding back. Do my best to save the puck and hope it's enough to help my team win.”
The way the Mustangs have executed their offensive and defensive strategies all season and particularly against the Ice Dogs has drawn praise from Ice Dogs coach Andrew Petrie.
“There was nothing from Sunday’s game that we didn’t expect but I was impressed with the Mustang’s adherence to systems, it’s the best I’ve seen this year,” he said following Sunday’s game. “They execute well, with immediacy and at a high tempo; clearly a well-coached group.”
The Ice Dogs season series against the Mustangs also says it will be a tight match. In the four games the team have played, the Mustangs claimed the first two in Melbourne in the early weeks of the competition 6-3 and 4-2 before the Ice Dogs claimed the third meeting at Liverpool 7-2. However, the real reflection of how these two teams play would be in their latest matchup, a 4-3 shootout result, with the Ice Dogs taking the points and the Mustangs taking the minor premiership. Take away the goal in the shootout and the Ice Dogs and Mustangs have scored 15 regular time goals each in games against each other this season.
The Ice Dogs have overcome plenty of adversity during the 2014 AIHL season to claw their way back to the finals in dramatic fashion over the last two weeks with back-to-back victories over Perth to last weekend’s semi-final preview against the Mustangs.
The Ice Dogs play an attractive, fast-paced, stretch game that has seen plenty of offensive production all season long. There is no surprise that three Ice Dogs players - Simon Barg, David Dunwoodie and John Clewlow - are in the top 10 point scoring leaders in the AIHL.
The Ice Dogs also have great depth throughout the top three lines. This has led them to be the top-ranked offense coming into the play-offs ahead of the Mustangs, who were eight goals behind.
“Here’s the thing about offence and defence – both are generated by the entire playing group,” Petrie said. “One of the first things we established when I joined is that we are going to be an offensive team, we are going to play to our strengths in that way and we are never going to stop trying to be creative.”
The Ice Dogs have had a year to remember on the ice and a year to forget off the ice but with the arrival of Coach Petrie and the focus and commitment growing in the team, the determination to win the Goodall Cup is as strong as ever within the group.
Captain Malloy said the team had come a long way from the beginning of the season.
“Yeah it’s been a wild ride. We had a rough start and a lot of people wrote us off,” he said. “We see it as fuel for the fire. It’s unfortunate how everything unravelled this year but I don’t see how anyone can doubt us with the amount of depth and skill we have on our roster.”
With all the hard work having been done to make it to the semi-finals, the Ice Dogs know as well as anyone that there is 100 minutes of the most intense hockey to be played this year to see if the Sydney-siders can add a second successive Goodall Cup to the trophy case.
While wanting to come out the other side of the adversity they’ve faced at times this season, Malloy, Noting and Petrie said they also want to do it for their fans that have stuck with them this season.
“We appreciate all the love and support this year,” said Malloy, “There have been so many people behind the scenes who have stepped up to make sure the season is a success. Thanks to everyone who came out to our last home game. Hopefully the cup will spend another year on showcase in the LCC.”
“Fans, we will go to Melbourne and give everything to win the cup,” said Noting.
“Be loud! Every one of you is a part of this journey, keep playing a part,” said Petrie. “And thank you.”
The Sydney Ice Dogs take on the Melbourne Mustangs in the first semi-final of the AIHL Finals Series on Saturday at 3pm at the Medibank Icehouse. If you can't be there, be sure to tune into the Livestream of the event.
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