Coach's Report - Sydney Road Trip

by Eric Lien, Adrenaline Head Coach

Having spent a few seasons away from the Adrenaline you forget about the intricacies that the AIHL throws at you when travelling around the country.

One of the biggest issues is that the Adrenaline always have to travel without a full squad to NSW because guys need to be at work on Monday (we have to stay over Sunday night due to airport curfew!).  Add in a growing list of injuries and we're left a little shorthanded.

The fans in Sydney missed out on seeing our full squad but the positive was that it gave our players on our roster a chance to learn, grow and play in all situations. This weekend was no exception. 

SATURDAY vs. the Ice Dogs: 5-4 win

Playing the Ice Dogs is always a daunting proposition due to their unique style of physicality. I have never coached a game (nor do I want to ever again) that had 17 minor penalties in 3 periods of hockey. Throw in a ten minute misconduct, a five minute major and a match penalty and it wasn’t surprising to see that 8 of the 9 goals scored in the game were on special teams (4 Short Handed x 4 on the powerplay). 

With that much room on the big ice surface the combination of MacMillan and Oddy proved to be very difficult to contain. Wehebe Darge was also at his best by scoring two short-handed goals. Darge was a pest all evening and it was awesome.

SUNDAY vs. the Bears: 3-2 win

Sunday was played on the largest ice surface in the league and proved to be much different than the night before. Our attack was relentless for two periods and if not for the Bears goaltender, Anthony Kimlin, this game would have been in the books early. 

The fact that we couldn’t put the Bears away always left us vulnerable to a 3rd period push. Despite an OUTSTANDING game from Peter King, unfortunately the Bears found away to tie the score with three minutes to go.

If you want to hear the ending of the Bears game retold in minute detail please join us for a beer in the VIP room after the Sunday game and saddle up next to David Huxley for ten minutes.

Spoiler alert – Huxley scored the game winner in the shoot-out with a move that left the Australian National Senior Team Goaltender wondering what had just happened. 

Although a contentious issue is whether Huxley stole the move from one of his teammates who scored using the same move earlier in the shoot-out; I guess that will be between Huxley and O’Conner to sort out.

All up it was a great effort from those who were on the trip and it was especially pleasing to see all 16 players contribute. I think we have a good mixture of local veterans and young players along with quality imports that will hopefully see us have a big push in the second half of the season.

Special thank you to Andrew Zolatarov for answering our call to join the team on short notice and he gave us the type of effort that made him appreciated for many years when he wore the Adrenaline colours.

See you all at the IceArenA this weekend for two MASSIVE games vs. the Newcastle North Stars. 

Eric Lien

Head Coach

Adelaide Adrenaline