Saturday 19 June sees the Bears return to the Bearsden for their only home game in June against the Newcastle North Stars. The last time these two teams met at Penrith in May, the Bears had a 4-2 lead but ended up losing 6-4.
Saturday 18 June saw the North Stars host the Melbourne Ice, suffering a 3-2 loss. The North Stars have had recent close games against the Mustangs (loss), Thunder (win) and now Ice (loss), all at home. From their 14 games - their halfway point of the season - the North Stars have 22 points (6 wins, 5 losses, 1 shootout win, 2 shootout losses) and are 3rd on the AIHL ladder behind Perth Thunder and Melbourne Ice.
Meanwhile, the Bears last played in Adelaide before the All Star weekend with 5 points out of 6 against the Adelaide Adrenaline. A 6-2 win on Saturday and a 4-3 shootout win on Sunday saw the Bears have their best weekend of the season. From their 11 games to date, the Bears have 1 win, 5 losses, 3 shootout wins & 2 shootout losses.
Effectively, Bears are averaging a competition point per game. Bears have an advantage this weekend becasue they play 1 game while Newcastle play two games and travel to Penrith to play the Bears.
Missing from the Adelaide roadtrip were captain Michael Schlamp and goaltender Anthony Kimlin due to each player serving 2 game suspensions after the Bears game in Canberra. Both players will slot back in to their usual positions.
Speaking of captain Schlamp, he will celebrate AIHL regular season game 200 at this game. Originally playing in Australia for the North Stars, he has spent most of his career in Sydney with the Bears.
Bears Live (audio stream) from 4.30pm
Story - Eric Brook
Photo - Pic By Wulos