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HELLYER LADDER

Team	GP	W	L	PTS
Ice	4	4	0	12
Thunder	6	4	2	12
Bears	4	3	1	9
Mustangs	2	1	1	3
Ice Dogs	5	1	4	3

RURAK LADDER

Team	GP	W	L	OTW	OTL	PTS
Northstars	4	3	0	1	0	11
Lightning	6	3	3	0	0	9
Adrenaline	3	1	1	0	1	4
Brave	6	1	5	0	0	3
Rhinos	4	0	4	0	0	0

SCORING LEADERS

Jeremiah
Addison (PER)

Player	Points
Aiden Wagner (NNS)	18
Wehebe Darge (NNS)	15
francis Drolet (NNS)	15
Zane Jones (PER)	13

GOALIE LEADERS

N Novysedlak (BRE)

1.000

Goalie	SV%
Rhys Pelliccione (PER)	.950
Tatsunoshin Ishida (MIC)	.933
Leo Bertein (PER)	.905
Charles Smart (NNS)	.903

Smart choice by Adelaide

Thursday, June 4, 2015 - Submitted by Tina Girdler

If casual Australian hockey fans hadn’t heard of Adelaide Adrenaline’s goalie Charlie Smart prior to the start of the 2015 season, they have by now.

After being awarded Best Goalkeeper by the IIHF and best player for team Australia at this year’s U20 IIHF Division II Group B Championships, the rookie net-minder is now making his presence on the ice known in the AIHL.

Entering the 2015 quest for the Goodall Cup, Adrenaline coach Ryan O’Handley was approached by the then 18-year old Perth native looking to ensure he found ice-time in a league dominated by import goaltenders.

“Growing up my dad's advice to me was to play as much hockey as I possibly could and that's what has worked for me,” Smart said. “It came down to playing in Perth behind an import goalie or playing in Adelaide with local goalies, so it was pretty easy to choose.”

For O’Handley, it was an easy choice to bring the youngster over to give him his shot at making the Adrenaline’s top squad.

“I was already familiar with Charlie and I had heard great things about his play during the U20 world championships,” O’Handley said. “We told him he could come over and compete for a spot and he has done that.”

With eight games under his belt, Smart has proven he deserves the job recording six wins, including one shutout, to be ranked second in the league for GAA on 2.52 and fourth for save percentage on .914.

With the Melbourne Mustangs the only other team in the league fielding two local goalies, the Adrenaline took a comprehensive look at the AIHL and made the move to play Smart in tandem with the seasoned Peter King.

“It is really a long term view of the sport,” O’Handley said. “Our organisation has adopted the philosophy that this is the Australian Ice Hockey League and if we don’t provide opportunities for Australian goaltenders to play in this league we are not going to have any Australian goaltenders in the future.”

With the Adrenaline second in the standings, the move has paid dividends with Smart the highest ranked local goalkeeper and settling into the league comfortably.

“I could not expect more out of any player,” O’Handley said. “He is a 19-year old kid, but if he continues to improve, and with some more experience, I expect we are going to see one of the top goaltenders we have ever produced in Australia.”

After last week’s impressive performance against the Sydney Ice Dogs, including a highlight reel-worthy pad save that keep his team not only in the game but the confidence for a come-from-behind victory, the future looks ever brighter for both Smart and the young local talent to come.

And if you were one of those people that didn’t know his name before, you do now.

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