A year ago, the Bears watched the Newcastle North Stars hoist the pre-season Wilson Cup into the air. By the end of the AIHL regular season, the league was watching the North Stars raise the Goodall Cup into the air.
On the morning of the 2016 Wilson Cup Final, the Australian team including Michael Schlamp, Cameron Todd, Richard Tesarik and Anthony Kimlin were celebrating gold in the IIHF Division IIB World Championship. Could the Bears complete their pre-season in style against the Sydney Ice Dogs on Saturday 16 April?
The message from the Bears was clear from the opening puck drop. Geoff Irwin almost scored within the opening 20 seconds and did score within the first minute of the game with help from Tomas Landa.
After spending some time in the penalty box, Irwin scored again for the Bears a few minutes later with a short handed goal. The Bears were short handed after a slashing call against goalie James Downie (served by a team mate). This time, Irwin did all the work himself.
Between the two teams, there were 8 different penalties assessed during the first period. Special teams certainly had a workout as can be expected in a physical game. With the clock running down for the first 20 minutes of play, Bears had the game under control with many other chances not being converted. In the shadow of the buzzer, the Ice Dogs clawed back, scoring with 10 seconds left on the scoreboard. This echoed the previous game where the Ice Dogs equalised with 13.7 seconds to go in period 3 at Liverpool.
Period 2 was a different game. There were no goals and only 2 penalties assessed, albeit 2 different offences to Bears defenceman Spencer Austin. Both goalies and defencemen were keeping the attacks honest with no result for the forwards.
With 20 minutes between the Bears and possibly collecting silverware, the large crowd from both teams watched intently, waiting for something to happen. Was there going to be a lot of goals and penalties? Was someone going to explode and change the game for their team?
The final addition to the scoreboard was a late goal to Tomas Landa with assistance from Billy Cliff and Spencer Austin for the Bears. By this stage, the Bears were certainly on top but could not afford to relax. The 2016 Ice Dogs would not give up and were threatening to the end but the margin was too wide.
With the Bears celebrating the win of the Wilson Cup, winning 3-1, they remained undefeated in regulation time. The only minor blip on the Bears radar was a shootout win by the Ice Dogs in the previous match at Liverpool. While it was good for the team to have some silverware in their hands, the entire team and their supporters realise that the regular season starts at 5pm on Sunday April 24 against CBR Brave at Penrith Ice Palace.
Story - Eric Brook
Photo - Andrew Bourne.
MUSTANGS
BRAVE
ICE
THUNDER
RHINOS
NORTHSTARS
ADRENALINE
LIGHTNING
