PREVIEW: Adrenaline Take on Brave in Inaugural Beyond Blue Cup

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Road trips are becoming an almost weekly exercise for the Adelaide Adrenaline and this week is no exception as the team heads east once again for contests in Canberra and Sydney.

Saturday’s game against the CBR Brave, the second meeting of the season between the teams will be for more than just regular season points as both sides battle it out for the inaugural Beyond Blue cup, an initiative designed to raise awareness and understanding of mental health issues in Australia.

It is a fantastic initiative with terrific support from both sides and if the first game between the Brave and Adrenaline is anything to go by, it should make for a cracking encounter.

The Adrenaline has been nothing if not consistent on the road this season, recording both a win and a loss in all three of their two-game road trips so far, results that have been  crucial for the team in building a solid platform as they move closer an extended period of home games.

Adrenaline Coach, Ryan O’Handley found particular satisfaction with his side’s performance last weekend in Melbourne and praised the team for the way they battled all weekend.

“I’m not disappointed at all, we took four out of six [possible points] and I don’t think we’ve taken four out of six points against the Melbourne Ice in Melbourne in a long time, we had to hang on a bit on Sunday because we were pretty gassed and down to four Defencemen,” O’Handley said.

He also said despite the onslaught of early-season road trips, he has been particularly impressed with the morale of the team.
“It’s actually really good [team morale], it’s always a big concern with many road trips…it does get a bit tough but the guys are handling it alright and seem to be in good spirits but part of that is because we’ve had a bit of success on the road,” O’Handley said.

The team has made a number of line-up changes for the weekend, welcoming back Luke Harding, Darren Corstens and Ryan Remillard with Tyson Boyd also set to travel with the team.

The Adrenaline will however lose Steve Best who is unavailable and Josef Rezek is has travelled back to the Czech for a family matter but will be looking to return next week.

The first game of the weekend, against the Brave, will be played at the Phillip Ice Skating Centre in Canberra with puck drop at 5PM Adelaide time.