Observations from Opening Weekend: These two brothers are must-watch hockey

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The opening week of the 2025 AIHL season has already sparked plenty of discussion, countless storylines being built and trends being rewritten.

From the two grand finalists each losing their first game of the season to a five-goal outpour from the latest star Japanese import, there’s plenty to break down.

So, let’s dissect the action from the weekend just gone and dive into the finer details you may have missed. Here are this week’s three key takeaways you need to know about.



The Kuleshov Brothers are the future of Australian ice hockey

“Prodigy” isn’t a term that should be thrown around lightly yet that’s the best way to describe 18-year-old Ivan Kuleshov and his 20-year-old brother Dmitri. The duo, often deployed on the same line, left Melbourne fans in awe over this weekend with puck handling skills rarely seen at their age in the Australian ice hockey scene, dazzling defenders with silky passing, rapid shot releases and brilliant edge work.

Every time the Kuleshov’s got the puck on their stick, the Rhinos looked dangerous, their agile skating used to cycle the puck and generate goal scoring opportunities at the front of the net.

One moment that stood out was in the early stages of the 1^st period, Ivan Kuleshov immediately exploiting the older defensive core of the Mustangs with a quick burst into the offensive zone. He glided behind the net and then dished the puck out past the goalie crease for a high danger slot shot, but Mustangs' goaltender Anthony Kimlin made an excellent recovery to block it away.

The second instalment of the Kuleshov show came 11 minutes into the 2^nd period of Saturday’s game. Dmitri had been creating high danger chance after high danger chance for the Rhinos and was finally rewarded, sneaking to the back post on a 2-on-1 to roof a one-timer from Tomas Landa for Central Coast’s only goal of the game.

Rhinos head coach Ron Kuprowsky was impressed with the connection and creativity displayed by the brothers on Saturday night.

“The boys have an automatic connection, obviously as brothers playing together, they click. We all had a rough game [against the Mustangs] so we didn’t see them at the top of their game, but when they click together, you’re going to see some really good passing and shooting from them.”

That’s exactly what travelling Rhinos fans saw the next day. The brothers’ skillset is built for 3-on-3 hockey, so when the Rhinos forced overtime in the dying moments of Sunday’s game, the Kuleshov’s became inherently more dangerous.

It would be Ivan who’d go on to score the overtime winner in Central Coast’s stunning upset of the Ice, baiting Ice goaltender Mackenzie Hill with a crisp deke on a breakaway before lifting the puck over his shoulder for the win.

Both of these brothers have dominated in World Juniors tournaments for Australia, but now the AIHL is getting its turn to witness the Kuleshov Show at its very best.

Imports remain as league’s biggest impact players

In 2023, the AIHL’s top five point-scorers were imports with eight making up the top ten. In 2024 this trend continued, this time the top six players in points all being imports. And while it’s only been one week into the season, the AIHL is on pace to see a similar story unfold again in 2025, with Japanese import Yu Hikosaka most notably scoring seven goals in the Thunder’s two victories over Newcastle to open their season.

That includes an outrageous five-goal domination of the Northstars in Saturday’s affair, producing perhaps the goal of the weekend with an unsaveable toe-drag snapshot that rocketed into the top left corner of the net.

However, it’s not only Hikosaka that should be making headlines. Canadian import Zack Phillips slotted in beautifully onto the Mustangs top line, finishing with a goal and three assists in his official debut for the club. Carson Miller, another Canadian import, sits second in the league with seven points after two games for the Lightning, continuing the dominant play he showcased in his short stint at the Sydney Bear in 2024 where he tallied 22 points in nine games.

Italian import Brandon McNally made his presence felt instantly for Canberra as they begin their title defence, flying home with a six-point debut weekend under his belt, and the Melbourne Ice will be looking to respond strongly to their opening week loss when import goaltender Tatsunoshin Ishida returns to the blue paint for them soon.

The dominance and importance of import players has been seen in the AIHL for some time now, and week one proves 2025 will be no different.



The Brisbane Lightning need to be taken seriously

The Lightning shocked many by stealing a win and overtime loss against the reigning champions Brave, but new captain Aaron Wanat won’t be one of them.

Wanat is a long-time figure at the Lightning, entering his fourth year in the black and white jersey. His leadership and passion for the club has proven to make him the right pick to captain Brisbane, his ability to energise and instil resilience into one of the league’s youngest teams already visible.

“It’s a huge honour [to be named captain],” Wanat said to Brisbane Lightning media on Sunday. “Being here for the last three years and trying to do my best every time for the boys, I try to be a leader and lead by example.”

It’s why Brisbane shouldn’t be counted out despite having a young team, anchored by AIHL rookie goaltender Matus Trnka and 19-year-old Luka Ouimette and 23-year-old Alex May in defence. Wanat has already displayed the capability to lead a team over the AIHL’s best.

“I’m feeling pretty good [after this weekend]. We got four out of six points this weekend, and while it was a tough weekend, that’s all you can ask for,” Wanat said.

“I’ve really liked how the boys battled back, we always stayed up in the moments when things weren’t going our way and that’s how you get good bounces later on. We stuck with it and kept the effort high.”

The Lightning have two massive fixtures ahead of them next week, taking on the Mustangs and Ice at O’Brien Icehouse in Melbourne.

“Our mindset coming in is to control what we can, be a fast team, be hard to play against and keep the effort up. It’s all 60 minutes. We got to have everybody going all the time in order to be successful.”