Like a mouse sneaking around for a piece of cheese, the Newcastle Northstars 2025 Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) season has had little noise.
That’s not because the Northstars haven’t been playing terrific, they are one of the inform teams of the AIHL, it has just been done with little fanfare.
Northstars are slowly grinding out a solid AIHL season, opening up a five-point gap between sixth placed Canberra Brave and inching closer to the top four.
Additionally, winning six of their past seven games has put them in a strong position for a back half of the season push.
Newcastle will play finals in 2025; the only question now is ladder position.
Spreading the load
When I look at the 2025 Northstars campaign I can’t help but notice how evenly spread the points and scoring is, only one player inside the top 10 in the league – Francis Drolet on 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists).
Out of the 28 players that have suited up for the Northstars this season, only seven players haven’t registered a point.
It’s this spreading of the workload that is most impressive to me, no one star player is relied upon to put up points or score goals.
Recent signings are starting to wind up production, however there are no players standing alone when it comes to putting the puck into the back of the net.
Showing a team first mentally when in the offensive zone Newcastle has found even contributions across the board.
European connection
As much as the Northstars have been able to spread the load across scoring in 2025, two import signings are starting to show their class.
Evgenii Skachkov and Kim Tallberg have been terrific additions to Hunter Ice Skating Stadium (HISS), providing extra avenues in offence has shifted the Northstars system.
Forward Skachkov sits on 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists), while Tallberg has 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) from the left wing, with both playing seven games each.
Tallberg has found early success playing on a line centred by Drolet, while Skachkov has impressed on the left side of a line centred by veteran Casey Kubara.
Bringing that European scoring presence will be vital for the Northstars and their AIHL Finals push.
Defence starting to tighten things up
A big change in the Northstars season has come from the backend, tightening up things on their own blueline.
Starting the season the Northstars were shipping goals, allowing 43 goals across their first seven games.
However, the Northstars have only allowed 22 goals from their past seven games since.
The trend has continually shifted downwards as the season has progressed and the Northstars got bodies back into the lineup.
Futhermore, Northstars average 4.57 goals against per game, fifth in the competition and highlights their game on both sides of the puck.
Northstars defensive pairings have been bolstered with the arrival Brian Funes and Ryan Annesley from the Sydney Bears, and Czechia veteran Karel Kubát.
Funes pairing up with Ethan Hawes, while Kubát has looked strong alongside Hunter Ellen as the defence depth starts to shine through.
Melbourne Ice might be taking all the headlines at the top of the AIHL standings, however Newcastle are starting to make some noise of their own.
With their biggest test to come during week 11, as they welcome the Ice to HISS on Saturday for a blockbuster clash.
Leave a Reply