The AJIHL finals are finally here this week and will be hosted for the first time in Penrith NSW. Make sure you and check out these teams in action after what has been a thrilling State Semi Finals series and season. Entry is free so don’t miss out!!!

Semi Final 1
Saturday 27th February, Melbourne Glaciers (1) vs Sydney Sabres (2), 5pm, Penrith Ice Palace

Semi Final 2
Saturday 27th February, Perth Sharks (3) vs Brisbane Blitz (Wild Card), 7:15pm, Penrith Ice Palace

Qualifying Final
Sunday 28th February, Semi Final 1 Loser vs Semi Final 2 Winner, 8:00AM (Morning), Penrith Ice Palace

Grand Final
Sunday 28th February, Winner of Semi Final 1 vs Winner of Qualifying Final, 5PM, Penrith Ice Palace

This Article proudly brought to you by: Skaters Network.

The Pelicans managed to break their slump with a 5-2 win over the Sharks on Friday night. The Pelicans took a 2-0 lead off the sticks of Joshua Santana and Jonathon Spalding. Kevin Matheiu and Bruno Stolze tied the game up in the second period. Both teams were hungry for a win after the previous weeks losses, but it would be the Pelicans who broke free thanks to the “Jordans”. Jordan Williams pushed the Pelicans ahead with back to back goals to complete a scoring frenzy of a second period. Jordan Grover then netted the final marker in the third to give the Pelicans the big W and create a bit more distance between them and the Sharks in the standings.

The Glaciers streak has ended and what a run it has been. The Sabres defeated the Glaciers Saturday night in Sydney 6-5 in a shootout which was forced by the heroics of Glaciers Corey Stringer with less than 30 seconds remaining. Caleb Butler was up to his usual tricks scoring two goals but his efforts were trumped by Ellesse Carini’s hat-trick after two periods of play and a 4-3 lead to the Sabres. Defenceman Daniel Pataky and Darcy Flanigan both contributing from the blue line for their respective teams. With his team down by one Corey Stringer kept the streak alive a little longer with a clutch goal to force the shootout. Manwarring and Pataky both scored in the shootout to continue their winning streak and put a stop to the Glaciers.

The Wolf Pack and Whalers went head to head as well with Jonathon Hughes earning a shutout in a 6-0 win. The scoring was shared amongst the Wolfpack with five individual scorers Knight, Kubara (2 goals), Zvonicek, Pullen and Nadin.

On Sunday the Sabres defeated the Whalers 4-0. Charlie Yole got his team off to a great start. Fraser Ohlson faced 32 shots and managed to keep his team in the game, but Liam Manwarring (2G) and Ellesse Carini continued their scoring streaks to finish a solid 4-0 victory.

Secondary scoring and solid goaltending was the story of the Wolf Pack this weekend as they finished off their weekend with a 4-0 win over the first placed Melbourne Glaciers 5-1. The Wolf Pack scored four unaswered goals thanks to Charlie Fraser, Jackson Knight, Carter Lawrence and Nick Air.

Next week features the AJIHL intrastate Semi Finals where the winner’s will then take part in the Finals series Feb 27th/28th. Schedule below:

STATE SEMI-FINALS
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WA Semi-final 1
– 19th @ 7.45pm – Sharks – Pelicans – (Cockburn Ice Arena)
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NSW Semi-Final 1
– 20th @ 5.00pm – Sabres vs Wolf Pack – (Penrith Ice Palace)
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VIC Semi-Final 1
– 20th @ 3.45pm – Whalers vs Glaciers – (O’Brien Group Arena)
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NSW Semi-Final 2
– 21st @ 5.00pm – Wolf Pack vs Sabres – (Penrith Ice Palace)
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VIC Semi-Final 2
– 21st @ 3.45pm – Glaciers vs Whalers – (O’Brien Group Arena)
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WA Semi-final 2
– 21st @ 6.00pm – Pelicans vs Sharks – (Xtreme Ice Arena)
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CHAMPIONSHIP (Penrith Ice Palace) *times to be announced
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SEMI-FINAL 1
– 27th – AJIHL SF (Rank 2) vs AJIHL SF (Rank 1)
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SEMI FINAL 2
– 27th – Brisbane Blitz vs AJIHL SF (Rank 3)
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QUALIFYING FINAL
– 28th – Winner (Semi-Final 2) vs Loser (Semi-Final 1)
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GRAND FINAL
– 28th – Winner (Qualifying Final) vs Winner (Semi-Final 1)

This Article proudly brought to you by: Skaters Network.

On Saturday night (February 6th) the Sharks were close to getting out their recent slump losing in a shootout to the Wolf Pack 4-3. Tomek Sak played a big role in his teams efforts scoring two goals and one assist. But it would be Patrick Nadin and Bayley Kubara that would spoil the Sharks night. Both notching a goal each and burying their shootout goals to keep the Wolf Pack up the standings.

Both Liam Manwarring and the Sabres continued their winning streak with a 6-1 win over the Pelicans. Manwarring scoring a hat-trick to get his team fired up. The Sabres scored five unanswered goals. Most of the damage coming in the second period. David Mahood managed to spoil Dale Tilstead’s hopes of a shutout on the powerplay with two minutes remaining in the game.

The Pelicans couldn’t reverse their fortunes on Sunday as the Wolf Pack managed to also win 6-1. Bayley Kubara walking away with three points on the night. Jackson Knight got his team on the board with the first goal of the game before setting up Dylan Lavery two goals later. Stephen McCann decided to help his team score as the Pelicans netminder got a second assist on Jonathon Spaldings effort.

The Sharks and Sabres were next up and Sydney contniued their dominant performance. Cameron Smith scored the first two goals for the Sabres with Liam Manwarring assisting on both goals. Manwarring later added a third marker to launch himself into the top five in AJIHL scoring. Mark McCann faced 32 shots and stood on his head, but it wouldn’t be enough as his team managed only 11 shots in reply. Tyrone Mendoza-Kehlet finished the weekend with a shutout as the Sabres now find themselves in second place.

This Article proudly brought to you by: Skaters Network.

Round 10 was full of AJIHL action all across the country. In Canberra the first ever AJIHL Tier 2 tournament was held featuring the Brisbane Blitz, Adelaide Generals, and Canberra Junior Brave. Brisbane managed to go undefeated through the tournament defeating the Brave 5-1, Generals 4-2 before beating the Generals in the final 3-2 to book their wild card spot at the AJIHL Finals Weekend February 27/28 at the Penrith Ice Palace. The Blitz were led by Anthony Santilli and Henri Mousset who both picked up two points each in the final.

Gavin Birchler led the Glaciers over the Whalers 6-0 contributing a hat-trick. His third goal coming off an impressive shorthanded effort.

Whilst the Glaciers and Whalers followed the same storyline, the Sabres have continued to build up their season. Their timing couldn’t be any better as they get closer to the playoffs. Liam Manwarring was instrumental on Saturday night (Jan 30th) as he notched two goals and an assist in the 4-2 win over the Wolf Pack. Cian O’Reilly and Cameron Smith got their team rolling as the Sabres raced out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Manwarring added an unassisted tally early in the first which would turn out to be the game winning goal. Charlie Frazer and Harrison Good tried to get their team back in the hunt closing the gap by one until Manwarring buried the insurance marker early in the third.

Over in Perth the Pelicans managed to hold on for a 4-3 shootout win over the Sharks. The Pelicans blew a 2-0 lead set up by Jonathon Spalding and Joshua Santana. Tomek Sak and the Stolze brothers teamed up to halve the lead before Spalding added his second of the game replenishing the Pelicans two goal lead. Knapman and Sak managed to score the only goals of the third period to tie the game and force a shootout. Unfortunately they couldn’t finish the job as Pelicans Lachlan Dwyer put home the third shoot out attempt to win the game.

On Sunday back in Sydney the Sabres and Wolf Pack battled out another tough game. Aiden Sillato grabbing two points in a 2-1 win for the Sabres. Ellesse Carini got the first goal of the game assisted by Sillato. Bayley Kubara and Patrick Nadin combined to tie the game but Sillato was on fire putting home the game winner in the second period.