For 100 years, New South Wales has battled Victoria for the mantle of being the Aussie heartbeat of hockey, but that heartbeat shows signs of slowing.
New South Wales and Victoria first met in 1909 and played for a cup donated by John Goodall, his cup now the third oldest national cup in the world after the revered Stanley and Allan Cups.
Victoria has had several golden periods over the past century, but due to a lack of ice rinks, a cold hard fact of the sport (literally and figuratively), those south of the Murray have played a frustrating game of musical chairs, with only one tiny tired rink in South East Melbourne to serve all ice sports outside of a similar rink in Bendigo.
This will change sooner rather than later, with a world-class double-rink facility to open in 2010 in Melbourne’s swanky Docklands.
New South Wales is swimming in ice rinks by comparison, although Erina and Baulkham Hills are estranged and running rebel leagues.
Despite the riches in cold stuff, the three teams best-placed to miss out on the 2009 Australian Ice Hockey League finals are (Liverpool) Sydney Ice Dogs, (Penrith) Bears and ACT’s Canberra Knights.
On current placings it could be the “Year of the Other States”, with Newcastle’s North Stars being the only team representing NSW against Gold Coast Blue Tongues, Adelaide Adrenaline and the Melbourne Ice.
It’s too soon to pick any finals placings yet though, as the AIHL has only just reached its half-way point. The Ice Dogs especially, have a good chance to break back into the top four and are known for being strong season finishers, having twice rescued a season that looked doomed to an early finish.
The Ice Dogs failed to break their recent losing streak last weekend when in Gold Coast, and the Blue Tongues leap-frogged the Adrenaline into second place thanks to the six points won.
This weekend the Blue Tongues are away, where they are traditionally poor performers, and first stop is the Dog kennel at Liverpool. The Ice Dogs must win this game to turn their season around.
The Melbourne Ice are in Adelaide for a double, and losses for Melbourne, may open the door for an Ice Dogs recovery.
The North Stars host the Knights and Dogs at home this weekend, and should they continue their winning streak (currently at nine games) these two teams will be in a difficult position.
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