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HELLYER LADDER

Team	GP	W	L	PTS
Ice	3	3	0	9
Thunder	4	3	1	9
Mustangs	1	1	0	3
Bears	2	1	1	3
Ice Dogs	3	0	3	0

RURAK LADDER

Team	GP	W	L	PTS
Northstars	3	3	0	9
Adrenaline	1	1	0	3
Brave	4	1	3	3
Lightning	4	1	3	3
Rhinos	3	0	3	0

SCORING LEADERS

Aiden
Wagner (NNS)

Player	Points
Jeremiah Addison (PER)	14
Wehebe Darge (NNS)	12
francis Drolet (NNS)	12
Beau Taylor (NNS)	10

GOALIE LEADERS

N Novysedlak (BRE)

1.000

Goalie	SV%
Tatsunoshin Ishida (MIC)	.952
Rhys Pelliccione (PER)	.950
Leo Bertein (PER)	.912
Jeremy Friederich (ADE)	.912

Ice demolish Bears

Monday, July 14, 2014 - Submitted by Dan Hamer

The Melbourne Ice dismantled the visiting Sydney Bears winning 10-1 in a complete performance at the Medibank Icehouse on Sunday afternoon.

Leading the way for the Ice was Matt Armstrong with two goals and two assists, followed by a further eight individual scorers for the home side. Sean Steen scored the lone goal for the Bears, who struggled with Melbourne’s pressure throughout the entire game.

At times, the Bears looked despondent, struggling to maintain pressure on both ends of the rink and having regularly having men in the penalty box. Ultimately, the Ice converted four of their eight power plays while the Bears were unable to convert their two opportunities.

Bears assistant coach Jeff Todd wasn’t impressed with the number of penalties, yet says it wasn’t why the game was lost.

“Penalties aren’t what ultimately cost us the game - Melbourne deserved to win,” Todd said. “They played a better game than us. A lot of the penalties seemed like 50/50 calls that just didn't go our way tonight, and that's just the way things happen sometimes.”

Todd also spoke about his side failing to maintain structure, which ultimately led to their overall game plan being compromised.

“We came in with the same game plan as we had last time against Melbourne when we beat them but we just didn't execute that well tonight and the abundance of penalties weren't helping us at all,” Todd said. ‘To run your systems properly you have to have five guys on the ice, and being on the penalty kill for that long really hurt us. It felt like we were on the penalty kill for most of the game and you can't win hockey games like that.”

While Steen managed to snare one past Ice goalie Gustaf Huth in the dying seconds of the first period, the Bears lacked the opportunities.

After an onslaught of goals from Jason Baclig, Todd Graham, Matt Armstrong and Mitchell Humphries within the first six minutes, Bears goalie Daniel Palmkvist was pulled and Luke Read took his place between the pipes. Read had a commendable performance for the remainder of the game, but failed to stop the onslaught of goals coming his way with six goals from a further 48 shots.

The Ice had a controlled performance, aiming to maintain the pressure throughout the game and playing patiently at the offensive end waiting for the shot instead of forcing it.

Ice head coach Brent Laver had nothing but praise for his side, saying there were “no passengers” throughout the thrashing.

"It was a complete performance from us,” Laver said. “At the start of the second period, my message was all about playing for all fifty minutes. We don't feel like there's been one game where we've really delivered a 50 minute game. This win was so important for us because we were shattered after Sunday night in Adelaide, and we thought that we'd fixed everything up from the day before [losing 0-4 to Adelaide in game 1 of 2]."

“There was effort across the board today and I feel that Toddy Graham set the tone- because it seems as though we've been lacking someone to give us that real spark. We wanted to play fast-break hockey, and I think all three lines contributed well.”

Laver says one of his rookies personified his team’s style of play against the Bears, and was proud of the effort he put forward.

“A personal highlight for me was Rob Clark,” Laver said. “He hasn't dressed for weeks, but for him to be throwing his body into a blocked shot when were up 9-1 is just as good as a hat-trick. It was just sensational."

The final period saw the Bears starting to vent some frustration, with the Ice’s Sean Hamilton and Bears Spencer Austin dropping the gloves halfway through the final period.

Next week the Bears will face the Perth Thunder on Saturday at the Sydney Ice Arena while the Ice face the Newcastle North Stars at the Medibank Icehouse on Sunday.

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