Sydney Bears travel to Melbourne on June 25/26 to play Melbourne Ice (Saturday) and Melbourne Mustangs (Sunday) at O'Brien Group Arena.
Saturday's game against the Ice is the Canada Day Classic presented by Air Canada. Bears have won this game for the last 2 years and traditionally enjoy playing in Melbourne.
With last weekend's shootout win against the Newcastle North Stars & other results going their way, the Bears have lept into 6th place on the AIHL ladder (1-5-4-2, 13 points). While there is still only 1 win in regulation, the Bears have been in 6 shootouts in 12 games prior to the Melbourne weekend, winning 4. A 6 point weekend in Melbourne with wins against both Melbourne teams will be of massive benefit to the Bears, jumping from 13 points to 19 points.
Bears/Ice have played twice during the regular season. In mid May, both teams traveled to Brisbane as the Battle Of Brisbane. Home games for the Bears, the Ice won both games as they continued their winning streak.Saturday's game was a 3-2 (SO) win to the Ice while on Sunday, they won 3-1 in regulation. Ice have not lost this season in regular time, earning 38 points in 15 games (10-0-3-2).
Last weekend, the Ice traveled to NSW and won both games. In Newcastle on Saturday, Ice won narrowly 3-2 against Newcastle North Stars. Traveling to Liverpool on Sunday, Ice had a comprehensive 8-1 win against the Sydney Ice Dogs.
Despite the large gap on the ladder between the two teams, look for a close, hard fought game. Bears/Ice series concludes in Melbourne on Sunday 17 July.
As this game is the Fox Sports Game Of The Week (to be screened on Thursday June 30), there is no live stream.
Story: Eric Brook
Photo: Injected Ideas Photography
MUSTANGS
BRAVE
ICE
THUNDER
RHINOS
NORTHSTARS
ADRENALINE
LIGHTNING
