PREVIEW: Adrenaline look to upset the Ice

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The Adelaide Adrenaline, proudly presented by Hards Transport, are off to Melbourne tomorrow for a double-header weekend with the Ice.

The Melbourne Ice have yet to play a game this season and will fight for their first points vs. the Adrenaline who are coming off a 4-3 win over the defending champion Newcastle Northstars.

On paper, the Ice are the team to beat this season. They are the reigning minor premiers, have former imports who have naturalised and a crop of Swedish imports who have pre-established chemistry. They will be strong, fast and skilled. 

It will be a tough task for the Adrenaline but the squad is anxious to get on the road and continue to make a statement to the rest of the league. The Adrenaline played exceptionally well as a unit vs. Newcastle and will need to do the same.

The Adrenaline play at 4:30PM ADL Time on Saturday and 3:30PM on Sunday. The Sunday game will be live streamed but on Saturday Adrenaline fans will have to follow twitter and Facebook. 

Here's what to look for on the weekend:

Adelaide's Multi-Line production

One thing Adelaide struggled to do last season was get a second line going. There are early signs 2017 could be different.

In their home opener the second line of Marcel McGuiness, Greg Oddy and Darren Corstens were phenomenal. They connected for three of the four goals and scored them all at critical moments.

Darren Corstens scored a pair of Mortgage Choice Malvern goals, Marcel McGuiness buried the game winner on a break-away and Greg Oddy is looking refreshed and motivated. Who do you try to shut down on this line? If you focus on the 593-point-man Greg Oddy then you open up space for sharp shooter Corstens or the speedy and skillful McGuiness. If you focus on Corstens/McGuiness than the man with the most points of all time is given space. 

Adelaide rolled with Cam Critchlow, Cole MacMillan and Josef Rezek on the top line. They only scored one goal but were banging on the door all night long. All three of the players admitted that they could have, and should have, scored more. The three of them can match up with any line the AIHL has to offer and should be expected to shoulder a large load.

Tyson Boyd, Steve Best, Remy McGuiness and Jake Riley are the other forwards going on the trip. These players will need to have an excellent weekend for the Adrenaline.

There are signs that all can make significant contributions, too. Remy likes to grind down opponents and he has an offensive upside, Best can burn the best of them in Premier League Hockey, Boyd bangs the body around and Jake Riley has great speed and smarts. If the Adrenaline are to beat the Ice it will be a three line effort.

Melbourne's incredible depth vs. Adelaide's blue line

The Adrenaline will need three lines because Melbourne has maybe the deepest roster in the league.

Melbourne will play smart hockey and spread out the Adrenaline on the big rink. If their forwards get going they are almost unstoppable as we saw last year in a 9-1 loss at home. 

The Ice have a trio of Swedes coming in with their import coach Charles Franzen. Their imports are Sebastien Ottosson (Forward), Kristoffer Backman (Forward), Victor Gibbs Sjodin (Forward) and Niklas Dahlberg (Defense).

If they wanted, they could chuck a line together of only Swedes. But their forward depth is scary.

Tommy Powell (392 career AIHL points), Matt Armstrong (392 career AIHL points), Joey Hughes (289 career AIHL points) and Jason Baclig (323 career AIHL points) are all proven prolific scorers in this league. Many of them would be top-liners across the AIHL. The fact they are all naturalised Australians now makes them incredibly threatening. 

They also have 23-year-old Mitch Humphries who had 30 points in 2015 and looks primed for a big year.

That said, Adelaide implemented a very simple system vs. Newcastle. Adelaide will counter punch with a very strong crop of defenseman.

Head coach Sami Mantere says he thinks Adelaide's five travelling defenseman can help get the job done.

"I think we showed last weekend that we've got quality defencemen ready to jump in," he says. "Also our forwards did fine job supporting our defensive structure last game so I'm not too worried about their depth."

Imports Casey Babineau and Morgan McNeill showed last year they are both rugged, hard working and intelligent defenseman. Babineau stretched the Northstars out and had a couple key blocks down the stretch.

Zach Boyle, David Huxley and Ben Gebert round out the blue line and bring tremendous depth and versatility. They will hope to cause fits for the Ice.

"Our goalie Peter King had a big game last weekend so we will call on him again," adds Mantere. "We are looking at playing our game and making Ice try shut us down."

Goaltending Battle

Dayne Davis, who won the last two AIHL championships with Newcastle, transferred to Melbourne Ice in the off-season. He has been a thorn in Adelaide's side and the Adrenaline have not beat him the last six times they have faced him. 

Pete King, who made 33 saves in the last game, will need to have another big effort and make key saves down the stretch. 

Special Teams

The Ice have boasted one of the best special teams - both on Penalty Kill and Power Play - the last few seasons.

The Adrenaline, meanwhile had the worst PK and PP in 2016. This year they are 0/2 on the power play and 1/2 on the penalty kill. If the Adrenaline want to make a run they'll need to convert on opportunities.