NEWCASTLE NORTHSTARS (3-7-2-2) at SYDNEY BEARS (2-6-2-3)

Venue: Macquarie Ice Rink (Google Maps)
Tickets: Available at the rink or from the Bears Shop.

The Sydney Bears need to get back to winning form after a miserable run of form in recent weeks, culminating in last night's 13-3 defeat in Canberra. They head into tonight hoping that this can be the turning point in their season and a contiunued push towards the top four can be built off the back of a big performance in front of their home support.

Newcastle themselves are languishing in the bottom half of the standings and will be looking to turn that around as their season passes it's halfway point. They were left stunned by the Sydney Ice Dogs on Friday night, going down 7-2 and will be itching to at least take one win away from the Macquarie Ice Rink this weekend.

BEARS’ KEYS TO VICTORY

FORGET LAST NIGHT: Whilst it's fair to say you could use the thrashing to light a fire under the players, the best approach may be to forget it happened. Start tonight with a fresh outlook and try to come out of this game with the best possible result as opposed to getting caught up in the defeat.

LIMIT SHOTS: If Downie is in net for the double-header this weekend, the Bears need to ensure they limit the shots on their young goaltender. He likely needs to find his feet in the crease once more and regain some confidence after a shelling in Canberra. 

TEAMWORK: Plain and simple, the Sydney Bears need to come out with their heads held high and play as a team. Maybe a bit of a shake-up is required with their lines or maybe no changes are neccesary. Either way, it's imperative that they come together in an attempt to end their losing streak.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

James Downie (Goaltender) – Last night was a night to forget for the seventeen year old goaltender, making his first start of the season. Provided he is in net again tonight, he will be a player to watch as he'll no doubt be looking to bounce back and regain some confidence. It's not easy being a young Australian goaltender but Downie clearly has the strength of character to succeed, not wanting to remain pulled in Canberra despite a significant number of goals conceded.

LAST TIME OUT

April 29 - Bears 2 at Northstars 5

Despite putting up a strong showing on the shot counter, especially in the second and third period, it wasn't the Sydney Bears' night in Newcastle last time out. Zane Jones, Joe Harcharik and Matt Marantz pushed the home team out by three goals before Vlad Rubes netted his 400th AIHL point.

Tomas Landa brought the scores back to 3-2 in the third before another pair of goals, the second in an empty net ended the Bears' chances. The game saw the debuts of imports Nick Rivait, Tyler Noseworthy and Jackson Brewer who had all arrived just in time to play

NEWCASTLE NOTES

Their title defence seems to be on the rocks this season as the reigning champions find themselves ahead of the pack on games played and not sitting in the top four spots. The loss of Dayne Davis in the net seems to have affected them, though their young tandem of Nick Mizen and Charlie Smart have shown strong play at times this year.

One thing that hasn't been lacking from Newcastle this year is goalscoring. Felix Poulin (9G, 15A) has been scoring routinely from defence, whilst the Sydney Bears know all about Joey Harcharik (7G, 12A) from previous seasons. Stephen Kuhn (4G, 14A) and despite only having been here three games, recent import Kale Kerbashian (2G, 4A) is backing that group up strongly too.

FUN FACT

The Sydney Bears and Newcastle Northstars have both hosted the AIHL All-Star Weekend in previous seasons, with the teams' captains serving as the All-Star captains.

Michael Schlamp won't renew rivalries with his counterpart from the 2015 event though as Brian who has since moved to Canberra, suiting up now with the CBR Brave.