This afternoon, Sunday April 13th, the Melbourne Mustangs take to the ice in their first Australian Ice Hockey League game of 2014.
They will take on defending champions the Sydney Ice Dogs. When the Mustangs last played at their home ground, the Medibank Ice House to wrap up season 2013, they did so with an impressive shootout win over the Newcastle North Stars.
The Mustangs may have finished just outside of the top four last year, but they are aiming to make amends in season 2014.
Big expectations come with big pressure. There remains a steady core of players left over from 2013 consisting of Jamie Bourke, Sean Jones, Pat O’Kane, Brendan McDowell, Michael McDowell, Fraser Carson, Michael James, Steve and Andrew Belic, Alex, Hall, Adrian Nash, Andrew Fitzgerald, Matt Stringer, Brendan Oakes, Damien Bright.
Additions come in the form of Viktor Gibbs Sjodin, Ethan Cornford and a third set of brothers, Vinnie and Joey Hughes and the return of another Mustang, Jack Wolgemuth.
Coach Brad Vigon and assistant Mark Connelly have had a year together putting their ideas and the systems they wanted implemented into place.
There were signs their plans were working – the team was extremely competitive in games regardless of what the scoreboard might have said. Whether it led to a win or a loss, the Mustangs always worked as a team and showed no fear.
Still, there was always something they could work on after each game and areas that needed improvement and a little tweaking. Each time, they came back better and stronger.
Although their two games in the pre-season weren’t a pretty sight it was hardly time to hit panic mode. After all, when a team is learning to work together and find chemistry it’s not all going to click in seconds.
Facing off against the Ice Dogs marks the beginning of the next chapter. These two sides have certainly built quite a rivalry of their own and the season series favoured the Sydneysiders three games to one
It’s going to be a tough, tense encounter between these two teams. Mustangs have a chance to show last year wasn’t just a one off, they are here to compete and mix it with the best of them and what better way than to topple the current champions?
MattO
Guest
Good game today. Sydney's goalie is a bit of a hothead. Cracked the sads yesterday and today! Seemed like minor things too. I'm now am AIHL convert
Victoria Liu-Pearson
Roar Guru
Thank You MattO. I went to today's game involving the Mustangs. and as expected it was tense and exciting, Great win by the Stangs too. Impressive all over the Ice Dogs. Gave away a couple of soft goals though. There's definitely some dislike in these two teams by the way it went down. Woohoo Mustangs! 6-3 was the final score. I did miss the Ice Dogs v Ice game the day before though was following it via Twitter
MattO
Guest
Nice to see the AIHL get a run! Went to my first game yesterday, Sydney looked very very impressive. Crisp puck movement and lightning on the rush. The Ice seemed to have more territory and had way more powerplays, and still got rolled. Can't wait to go back today to check out the Stangs!
Victoria Liu-Pearson
Roar Guru
Thank You Cliffclavin! It's definitely a nicer pace to watch, though as the games get more popular and interested not sure if the ice house can hold a lot. Hehe.
cliffclavin
Guest
Great article. Keep em coming I have been to one ice hockey game per season since the new ice rink in melbourne opened a few years back, its a great arvo out... the games are lightening quick. Looking forward to getting down to another mustangs game this month