Preview: Bears @ Ice

Sydney Bears conclude their Melbourne road trip with the Fox Sports Game Of The Week against Melbourne Ice at O'Brien Group Arena on Sunday 17 July.

This will be the 4th & final time that the teams will meet in the regular season. Ice won both games in May against the Bears in Brisbane (shootout win on Saturday, regulation win on Sunday). Meanwhile, Bears won the most recent game of the series 3 weeks ago in Melbourne in a shootout. 

The previous day, Bears take on Melbourne Mustangs while the Ice would be interested spectators at best. Ice are comfortable in first position on the standings before this game with 48 points from 20 games (13-1-3-3). Before the weekend, Bears are in 6th position on 22 points after 18 games (3-7-5-3).

Finally someone defeated the Ice in regulation time this season. Someone was the Newcastle North Stars last Saturday who won 3-2 against the Ice in Melbourne. The scoreline and result was reversed on Sunday with the Ice defeating the North Stars 3-2.

At home for a double header last weekend, Bears lost both games in tight affairs. On Saturday, Mustangs won 4-3. On Sunday, Bears came back from 2-0 down to send the game to a shootout against the Adelaide Adrenaline. Adrenaline won the shootout, giving Bears their only point for the weekend.

Simply, Bears need to keep winning to be any chance of keeping up with the Top 4 if they want to feature in the AIHL Finals at the end of August. The team enjoy playing in Melbourne and are keen to take the points back home with them on Sunday afternoon. 

This game is the Fox Sports Game Of The Week which will be shown on Thursday 21 July. As a result, there is no livestream. 

Story: Eric Brook

Photo: MJ Wragg Photography