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2003 AIHL season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| title | 2003 AIHL season |
| league | Australian Ice Hockey League |
| sport | Ice hockey |
| color | black |
| color_text | white |
| duration | 3 May 2003 – 7 September 2003 |
| season | Regular season |
| season_champ_name | Premiers |
| season_champs | Adelaide Avalanche (2nd title) |
| MVP | Dylan Martini (Avalanche) |
| top_scorer | Pavel Shtefan (North Stars) |
| finals | Goodall Cup |
| finals_link | Goodall Cup |
| finals_champ | Newcastle North Stars |
| finals_runner-up | Western Sydney Ice Dogs |
| nextseason_year | [2004](2004-aihl-season) |
| prevseason_year | [2002](2002-aihl-season) |
| seasonslistnames | AIHL |
| finals_runner-up = Western Sydney Ice Dogs
The 2003 AIHL season was the fourth season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It ran from 3 May 2003 until 29 August 2003, with the Goodall Cup finals following on 6 and 7 September 2003. The Adelaide Avalanche won the Premiership after finishing the regular season first in the league standings. The Newcastle North Stars won the Goodall Cup for the first time by defeating the Western Sydney Ice Dogs in the final.
League business
In 2003, AIHL President Tony Lane introduced the 'top four' finals (playoff) format that replaced the one off final format used in the first three seasons of the AIHL. The new format saw the top four placed teams in the regular season standings qualify for the finals weekend where first would play fourth and second would face off against third in a single match elimination with the two winning teams advancing to the Goodall Cup final and he two losing teams advancing to the third place play-off, however this only occurred in 2003 and was dropped from the format in future years.
Regular season
The regular season began on 3 May 2003 and ran through to 29 August 2003 before the top four teams advanced to compete in the Goodall Cup playoff series.
Fixtures and results
The 2003 season consisted of 60 fixtures that were scheduled between 3 May and 29 August. Each of the six teams where scheduled to play 20 games, with four games designated double-points games, where the one result counts towards two games, to save on travel costs. Game 58 between the Canberra Knights and Adelaide Avalanche was cancelled due to ice problems at the rink inside Snowdome Adelaide. It was decided game 59 on the Sunday between the two teams would count as a double-points game instead, raising the number of double-points games for the 2003 season to five.
May
| May | Game # | Date | Time | Away | Score | Home | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 May 2003 | 17:30 | Ice Dogs | 8–0 | Knights | Phillip Ice Skating Centre | |
| 2 | 3 May 2003 | 17:00 | Bears | 4–7 | North Stars | Hunter Ice Skating Stadium | |
| 3 | 4 May 2003 | 17:30 | Ice Dogs | 9–6 | Bears | Sydney Ice Arena | |
| 4 | 10 May 2003 | 17:30 | Knights | 3–8 | Ice Dogs | Blacktown Ice Arena | |
| 5 | 10 May 2003 | 18:00 | North Stars | 9–3 | Ice | Olympic Ice Skating Centre | |
| 6 | 11 May 2003 | 15:00 | North Stars | 9–0 | Ice | Bendigo Ice Skating Stadium | |
| 7 | 17 May 2003 | 16:30 | Ice | 3–8 | Avalanche | Snowdome Adelaide | |
| 8 | 17 May 2003 | 17:30 | Bears | 3–5 | Ice Dogs | Blacktown Ice Arena | |
| 9 | 17 May 2003 | 17:30 | North Stars | 7–3 | Knights | Phillip Ice Skating Centre | |
| 10 | 18 May 2003 | 16:15 | Ice | 3–5 | Avalanche | Snowdome Adelaide | |
| 11 | 18 May 2003 | 17:30 | Knights | 3–7 | Bears | Sydney Ice Arena | |
| 12 | 24 May 2003 | 17:30 | Avalanche | 12–1 | Knights | Phillip Ice Skating Centre | |
| 13-14 | 25 May 2003 | 17:30 | Avalanche | 4–3 | Ice Dogs | Blacktown Ice Arena | |
| 15 | 25 May 2003 | 17:00 | Knights | 4–11 | North Stars | Hunter Ice Skating Stadium | |
| 16 | 31 May 2003 | 16:30 | Bears | 1–4 | Avalanche | Snowdome Adelaide | |
| 17 | 31 May 2003 | 18:00 | Knights | 1–7 | Ice | Olympic Ice Skating Centre | |
| 18 | 31 May 2003 | 17:00 | Ice Dogs | 2–4 | North Stars | Hunter Ice Skating Stadium |
June
| June | Game # | Date | Time | Away | Score | Home | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | 1 Jun 2003 | 15:00 | Knights | 0–4 | Ice | Bendigo Ice Skating Stadium | |
| 20 | 1 Jun 2003 | 16:30 | Bears | 2–6 | Avalanche | Snowdome Adelaide | |
| Bye for all teams - Long weekend | |||||||
| 21 | 14 Jun 2003 | 17:30 | Ice Dogs | 3–5 | Knights | Phillip Ice Skating Centre | |
| 22 | 14 Jun 2003 | 18:00 | Avalanche | 4–2 | Ice | Olympic Ice Skating Centre | |
| 23 | 15 Jun 2003 | 15:00 | Avalanche | 4–1 | Ice | Bendigo Ice Skating Stadium | |
| 24 | 15 Jun 2003 | 17:00 | Knights | 1–5 | North Stars | Hunter Ice Skating Stadium | |
| 25 | 15 Jun 2003 | 17:30 | Ice Dogs | 2–4 | Bears | Sydney Ice Arena | |
| 26 | 21 Jun 2003 | 16:30 | Ice Dogs | 3–2 | Avalanche | Snowdome Adelaide | |
| 27-28 | 21 Jun 2003 | 17:30 | Ice | 3–1 | Knights | Phillip Ice Skating Centre | |
| 29 | 21 Jun 2003 | 17:00 | Bears | 1–2 | North Stars | Hunter Ice Skating Stadium | |
| 30 | 22 Jun 2003 | 16:15 | Ice Dogs | 6–7 | Avalanche | Snowdome Adelaide | |
| 31 | 22 Jun 2003 | 17:00 | Ice | 1–7 | Bears | Sydney Ice Arena | |
| Bye for all teams - Brown Trophy tournament |
July
| July | Game # | Date | Time | Away | Score | Home | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | 5 Jul 2003 | 17:30 | Ice | 3–3 | Ice Dogs | Blacktown Ice Arena | |
| 33 | 5 Jul 2003 | 17:30 | Bears | 2–8 | Knights | Phillip Ice Skating Centre | |
| 34 | 6 Jul 2003 | 17:00 | Ice Dogs | 2–8 | North Stars | Hunter Ice Skating Stadium | |
| 35 | 6 Jul 2003 | 17:00 | Ice | 1–3 | Bears | Sydney Ice Arena | |
| 36 | 12 Jul 2003 | 17:30 | Avalanche | 5–2 | Knights | Phillip Ice Skating Centre | |
| 37 | 13 Jul 2003 | 17:00 | Avalanche | 9–5 | North Stars | Hunter Ice Skating Stadium | |
| 38 | 19 Jul 2003 | 16:30 | North Stars | 2–10 | Avalanche | Snowdome Adelaide | |
| 39 | 20 Jul 2003 | 16:15 | North Stars | 4–8 | Avalanche | Snowdome Adelaide | |
| 40 | 26 Jul 2003 | 17:30 | North Stars | 6–5 | Ice Dogs | Blacktown Ice Arena | |
| 41 | 26 Jul 2003 | 17:30 | Bears | 4–1 | Knights | Phillip Ice Skating Centre | |
| 42 | 27 Jul 2003 | 17:30 | North Stars | 3–2 | Bears | Sydney Ice Arena |
August
| August | Game # | Date | Time | Away | Score | Home | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43 | 2 Aug 2003 | 17:30 | Knights | 1–9 | Ice Dogs | Blacktown Ice Arena | |
| 44 | 2 Aug 2003 | 18:00 | Bears | 9–5 | Ice | Olympic Ice Skating Centre | |
| 45 | 3 Aug 2003 | 15:00 | Bears | 5–0 | Ice | Bendigo Ice Skating Stadium | |
| 46 | 3 Aug 2003 | 17:30 | North Stars | 4–2 | Ice Dogs | Blacktown Ice Arena | |
| 47 | 9 Aug 2003 | 17:30 | Ice | 1–11 | Ice Dogs | Blacktown Ice Arena | |
| 48 | 9 Aug 2003 | 17:00 | Avalanche | 10–3 | North Stars | Hunter Ice Skating Stadium | |
| 49-50 | 10 Aug 2003 | 17:00 | Avalanche | 5–6 | Bears | Sydney Ice Arena | |
| 51-52 | 10 Aug 2003 | 17:00 | Ice | 1–9 | North Stars | Hunter Ice Skating Stadium | |
| 53 | 16 Aug 2003 | 17:30 | North Stars | 7–5 | Knights | Phillip Ice Skating Centre | |
| 54 | 16 Aug 2003 | 18:00 | Ice Dogs | 4–3 | Ice | Olympic Ice Skating Centre | |
| 55 | 17 Aug 2003 | 15:00 | Ice Dogs | 5–0 | Ice | Bendigo Ice Skating Stadium | |
| 56 | 17 Aug 2003 | 17:30 | Knights | 2–8 | Bears | Sydney Ice Arena | |
| 57 | 23 Aug 2003 | 17:30 | Bears | 3–6 | Ice Dogs | Blacktown Ice Arena | |
| 58 | 23 Aug 2003 | 16:30 | Knights | Cancelled | Avalanche | Snowdome Adelaide | |
| 59 | 24 Aug 2003 | 16:15 | Knights | 1–12 | Avalanche | Snowdome Adelaide | |
| 60 | 24 Aug 2003 | 17:30 | North Stars | 2–7 | Bears | Sydney Ice Arena |
Key:
Standings
The 2003 AIHL season statistics and standings are incomplete. No one source has all the information and the AIHL has not published official statistics on www.theaihl.com. The Statistics for the following table comes from Elite Prospects with the final placings coming from hockeyarchives.
| Team | GP | W | T | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GDF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Avalanche | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 16 | +27 | **14** |
| Newcastle North Stars | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 17 | +30 | **12** |
| Sydney Bears | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 23 | 34 | −11 | **2** |
| Western Sydney Ice Dogs | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 38 | 24 | +8 | **8** |
| Melbourne Ice | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 20 | 32 | −12 | **4** |
| Canberra Knights | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 16 | 64 | −48 | **0** |
| Qualified for the Goodall Cup playoffs | Premiership winners |
|---|
The statistics for the following table comes from the Newcastle North Stars and includes double point games.
| Team | GP | W | T | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GDF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Avalanche | 18 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 98 | 52 | +46 | **30** |
| Newcastle North Stars | 19 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 101 | 76 | +25 | **28** |
| Sydney Bears | 18 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 74 | 64 | +10 | **22** |
| Western Sydney Ice Dogs | 18 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 90 | 64 | +26 | **21** |
| Melbourne Ice | 19 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 46 | 92 | −46 | **9** |
| Canberra Knights | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 45 | 106 | −61 | **2** |
| Qualified for the Goodall Cup playoffs | Premiership winners |
|---|
Statistics
Scoring leaders
List shows the ten top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | POS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle North Stars | 6 | 8 | 11 | **19** | 2 | F | |
| Newcastle North Stars | 6 | 10 | 7 | **17** | 8 | C | |
| Adelaide Avalanche | 6 | 10 | 7 | **17** | 10 | F | |
| Newcastle North Stars | 6 | 8 | 7 | **15** | 2 | ||
| Sydney Bears | 4 | 5 | 9 | **14** | 0 | F | |
| West Sydney Ice Dogs | 6 | 2 | 10 | **12** | 31 | F | |
| Adelaide Avalanche | 6 | 1 | 11 | **12** | 12 | D | |
| West Sydney Ice Dogs | 6 | 8 | 3 | **11** | 22 | F | |
| Sydney Bears | 6 | 5 | 5 | **10** | 8 | F | |
| Adelaide Avalanche | 5 | 4 | 6 | **10** | 31 | F |
Leading goaltenders
Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage.
| Player | Team | MIP | SOG | GA | GAA | SVS% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Avalanche | 135:00 | 70 | 6 | 2.00 | **91.43** | 0 | |
| Adelaide Avalanche | 135:00 | 70 | 7 | 2.33 | **90.00** | 0 | |
| Newcastle North Stars | 270:00 | 166 | 17 | 2.83 | **89.76** | 0 | |
| West Sydney Ice Dogs | 224:10 | 132 | 16 | 3.21 | **87.88** | 1 | |
| Melbourne Ice | 135:00 | 89 | 15 | 5.00 | **83.15** | 0 |
Goodall Cup playoffs
The 2003 playoffs, known in 2003 as the 'Canadian Club On Ice Finals Series' for sponsorship reasons, was scheduled for 6 September with the Goodall Cup final and 3rd place play-off held on 7 September 2003. Following the end of the regular season the top four teams advanced to the playoff series which was held at the Sydney Ice Arena (then known as the new Sydney Glaciarium, but not to be confused with the original Sydney Glaciarium that closed in 1955) in Sydney. The series was a single game elimination with the two winning semi-finalists advancing to the Goodall Cup final and the two losing teams advancing to the third place play-off. The Goodall Cup was won by Newcastle North Stars (1st title) who defeated the Western Sydney Ice Dogs 4–1 in the final. The hosts, Sydney Bears, who were without their number one goaltender Joel Gibson for the weekend due to injury, secured third spot with a high scoring 10–5 victory over league Premiers Adelaide Avalanche.
|6 September – |Adelaide Avalanche |1 |Western Sydney Ice Dogs |4 |6 September – |Newcastle North Stars |7 |Sydney Bears |4 |7 September – |Western Sydney Ice Dogs |1 |Newcastle North Stars |4 |7 September – |Adelaide Avalanche |5 |Sydney Bears |10
All times are UTC+10:00
Semi-finals
1–1 1–2 1–3 1–4 Brett Thomas (Chris Sekura, Andrew Petrie) Martin Jesko (Andrew White, Anthony Wilson) Jason Haakstad (unassisted) 1–1 1–2 2–2 3–2 4–2 4–3 5–3 6–3 7–3 7–4 (Trevor Battaglia) Pavel Shtefan (Andrew Ogilvie, Daryl Bat) Jake Ludvig (Henry Acres, Pavel Shtefan) Daryl Bat (Trevor Battaglia, Ray Sheffield) Pavel Shtefan (Trevor Battaglia, Henry Acres) Daryl Bat (unassisted) Jake Ludvig Vladan Stransky (Vladimir Rubes, Tyler Lovering) Andrew Truman (Vladimir Rubes) Vladimir Rubes (Murray Wand)
3rd place
0–2 0–3 0–4 1–4 2–4 3–4 4–4 4–5 4–6 4–7 4–8 5–8 5–9 5–10 Greg Oddy Greg Oddy Greg Oddy (Dylan Martini) Derek DeCosty Bret Nelson-Bond (Carl Di Pizza, Paul Shumak) Vladan Stransky (Vladimir Rubes) Vladimir Rubes (Mark Acheson, Dean Eisler) Don Burke Jakub Petr Paul Shumak Jakub Petr Carl Di Pizza Vladimir Rubes
Final
0 – 2 0 – 3 1 – 3 1 – 4 15:56 – Bat (Sheffield, McInnes) 16:50 – McInnes (Sheffield, Shtefan) 36:50 – Ludvig (Duchemin)
References
References
- "AIHL History". hockeywise.com.au.
- "2003 AIHL Schedule". theaihl.com.
- "2003 AIHL Competition Draw". NSW Ice Hockey.
- (24 August 2003). "AIHL Draw 2003 (Dated 1/3/03)". The Sydney Bears.
- (15 June 2003). "AIHL Game Report: Games 22 & 23". Ice Hockey Australia.
- (24 August 2003). "AIHL Game Report: Game 58.59". Ice Hockey Australia.
- "2003 AIHL season standings". eliteprospects.com.
- "Championnat d'Australie 2003". hockeyarchives.info.
- "2003 AIHL Draw". Newcastle North Stars.
- "2003 AIHL Statistics". [[Ice Hockey Australia]].
- Lane, Tony. "First AIHL Finals Series 2003". [[Australian Ice Hockey League]].
- "AIHL Reports: Finals Series". Ice Hockey Australia.
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