Each week I will highlight things that have caught my attention, got me on the edge of my seat or shifted the needle in the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL).
This week we had a team keeping their finals hopes alive, superstar wins the race, a Northstar shining and a team looking for wins.
All In the Blue Paint articles can be found at andrewkmacdougall.com.au
Adrenaline finals hopes alive
For the first time since April 2023 the Adelaide Adrenaline have swept an away weekend and kept their 2025 finals hopes alive.
Big thanks to Cory Kutina from Network Hockey going back through the stats.
Coy Prevost was the star of the show across two games, finishing with eight points (three goals, five assists) including a beauty on Saturday.
Adrenaline needed maximum points to keep the finals flame alive and that’s what they got.
Inching within eight points of the Melbourne Mustangs with two games in hand, Adrenaline are still sniffing around the top six.
Six games remaining the run home is tough, Adrenaline face Northstars, Thunder and Ice.
However, win those two games in hand and hope the Mustangs slip up and anything can happen.
Tallberg shines for Northstars
It was the weekend of eight pointers as Newcastle Northstars import Kim Tallberg got on a heater in Melbourne.
The Swedish forward was instrumental as the Northstars beat Mustangs 8-1, and on Sunday was everywhere against the Ice in a 5-7 loss.
Finishing with eight points (five goals, three assists), it included a hattrick on Sunday against the league leading Ice.
Furthermore, Tallberg is the Northstars most prolific goal scorer this season and the first player on the roster to hit 20 goals.
Sitting on 22 goals for the season and now just three points behind Evgenii Skachkov for Northstars points leader.
Lightning hitting the skids
Suddenly, the Brisbane Lightning have lost four in a row and have slipped down the AIHL standings.
Lightning have been sitting in and around the top of the standings for most of the season, after week 15 find themselves in fifth place on 33 points.
Back-to-back losses against the Adrenaline has brought them back to the pack, averaging only four goals per game in their past four games.
Most alarming though is the goals against across those four games; Lightning have shipped 6.5 per game in 240 minutes of hockey.
Week 16 sees a trip to Melbourne where things don’t get any easier, can the Lightning get back on track?
Shindle hits the 30 mark
It was marked as the ‘Great Race’ in my week 14 In the Blue Paint article; however the race is now over.
Kolton Shindle is the first player in the AIHL to hit the 30-goal mark and did it in a terrific performance as the Melbourne Ice got back to winning ways.
Two goals in a six-minute burst and Shindle hit the milestone, finishing with three points (two goals, one assist) for the game.
Shindle has been superb for the Ice all season, leading the team in points with 51, averaging 2.4 points per game.
As a result, Shindle has put up points in 20 out 21 games, sitting third in league points with four games remaining.
Mustangs couldn’t get going
Melbourne Mustangs just couldn’t get going as they welcomed the Northstars to O’Brien Icehouse.
Without number one goaltender Anthony Kimlin the task was going to be tough for the two-time Goodall Cup champions.
It feels like a transition season for the Mustangs, as they often field a gameday roster with a lot of young talent.
Tom Papas, Rowan Barrett, Jett Porter and rising star Artem Astafiev all continue to get minutes which can only serve well for the future.
Mustangs will have their eyes on a deep finals run in 2025, however, maybe all isn’t lost as these young stars get valuable ice time.
Furthermore, on their day the Mustangs can beat anyone in the competition, and we all know what can happen come finals time.
You just have to get in.
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