Bear Essentials: Emotional Rollercoaster
Welcome back to this week’s edition of Bear Essentials presented by Genesis Edge Law Group, where we recap the weekend that was, examine trends, and preview the week to come. Let’s dive into the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) action.
On Saturday, the defending champion Melbourne Ice looked to beat the Bears for the first time in Sydney since May, 2017. With a full-strength lineup, the Ice looked favourites to take the points and reverse a 4-1 loss to the Bears earlier in the season.
However, the Bears started strong and took a 4-1 lead into the third period. However, the second period saw the Bears’ penalty kill out for prolonged periods of time, and Kimlin faced 23 shots in the middle frame alone.
Additionally, Tomas Landa left the ice with a head injury during the period, forcing the Bears to put the forward lines in a blender.
The Bears’ parade to the penalty box continued into the third, and a pair of power-play goals, along with a pair of even-strength goals, gave the Ice a 5-4 lead with 95 seconds left. An empty-net goal completed a five-goal unanswered run for the Ice in the third period.
A two-game weekend gives teams a chance to shake off disappointment quickly and arrest any trends, and that’s exactly what happened on Sunday.
With the AIHL’s goal-scoring leaders in the Brisbane Lightning arriving after also letting a third-period lead disappear at Erina in an 8-6 loss to the Rhinos, both teams were desperate to correct course.
The Bears scored 37 seconds into the first period, their quickest goal of the season, and it was their sixth game in a row opening the scoring. Both goaltenders, Hayden Plimley for the Bears and Jakob Doornbos for the Lightning, ensured the period ended with a 1-0 scoreline in the Bears’ favour.
Four more unanswered goals followed for the Bears in the second period, and the Bears entered the final frame with a 5-0 lead. The home team scored three more goals, and the Bears fans stood to cheer Hayden Plimley in the final seconds as he celebrated his first career AIHL shutout in style.
What’s Trending
On Sunday, the second line for the Bears of Louis Olive, Dexton Mozell, and Logan Brodie was cooking, combining for three goals and seven assists for 10 total points. The line started the game, scored immediately, and the coaching staff rewarded them with a lot of ice time
Logan Brodie loves playing Brisbane. In each of the past three games against the Lightning, he has produced identical stat lines of exactly two goals and two assists.
Dexton Mozell is quickly cementing himself as a favourite of the fans and coaching staff with his tenacious play. On Sunday, he achieved a new personal best of four points in a single game.
Louis Olive continued his own five-game point streak with a goal and an assist.
Kenshin Hayashi scored two goals on Sunday, bringing his season total to three. All of those goals have been against the Brisbane Lightning.
The third line of Alexander Wardlaw, Noah Moncrieff, and Ruben Nalos was also firing. Moncrieff recorded two assists and was tenacious on the forecheck.
Ruben Nalos also recorded two assists, his first career multi-point game in the AIHL. Perhaps his most significant assist was his second one.
That Nalos assist to 16-year-old forward Hugo Arps, the youngest player in the AIHL, gave Arps a clean path to the net, and he beat Doornbos for his first career AIHL goal. Arps’ goal was the team’s eighth goal of the game, a new season high.
Both Lucas Herrmann and Gustav Remler-Jensen extended their point streaks to 14 and six games, respectively.
And finally, Hayden Plimley became the first Bears’ goaltender since Glen Forbes-White in May 2022 to record a shutout.
What’s Next
The Bears finished the weekend in fourth place in the standings in both points and points percentage. Three teams, including the Bears, have equal points with 30 - Sydney Ice Dogs (3rd - 16GP), Sydney Bears (4th - 17GP), and Canberra Brave (5th - 18GP).
This weekend, the Bears will play the Canberra Brave in a home-and-away series of huge importance to both teams as they chase a Goodall Cup Finals spot. Just two points separate third from seventh in the standings.
Saturday’s game will be played at Macquarie Ice Rink, get your tickets as soon as possible as it’s likely to be yet another sellout. Sunday’s game will shift to the AIS Arena in Canberra.
There are just thirteen games left in the season, seven at home, six on the road. And all of those games are against teams either currently in a finals spot or within three points of the sixth and final spot.
It’s not going to be easy, but few things worthwhile are.
