Gordon Goodenough: Yes, we are the unofficial podcast of the Sydney Bears Australian Ice Hockey League team. It's great to have you all with us. My name is Gordon Goodenough. I am joined by Matt Wiggins sporting a very, very nice number seven Gary Roberts jersey. How are you, Matt? Matt: I'm super well, thanks, Gordie. Couldn't resist a little poke at Nathan after, I think, what was the phrase he used? No one of reasonable intelligence is interested or something along those lines. So I Nathan: Sounds about right. Matt: thought I'd visualize it for him tonight. And yeah, got my heritage classic old man's game, Gary Roberts jersey on this evening. Gordon Goodenough: And Nathan, happy birthday, mate. Last week, bit of a surprise one. Snuck in there. Congratulations, mate. Nathan: That's how I operate. thanks. Yeah, congratulations for being another year older. Look, I'll take it. And look, Matt, I couldn't really care less about your attire, mate. Good to see that I've actually come appropriately dressed as per contract. I've just enjoyed a couple of days away in Canberra for work, which has been nice. Also taking in a lot of the roadside rest stops and... getting the full experience on the road. You guys know how I roll there. So yeah, it's been good to be back on the pod with you boys after another very uneventful and quiet week in the AAHL. Matt: Yeah, happy 50th mate. Nathan: Great, thanks mate. That's excellent. we mute this guy tonight? I don't like his attitude. Gordon Goodenough: Before we Matt: I haven't even started yet. Nathan: Great. Buckle up listeners, let's go. Matt: Plug me in Gordon Goodenough: Yep. Matt: and let me loose. Gordon Goodenough: Mate, so we had a wild weekend in the AIHL and Nathan's going to take us through the out of town scoreboard and what's shaping up to be, well it's an exciting episode tonight, but what's shaping up to be an exciting finish to the season. So take us through what happened, Nathan. Nathan: I can do that. The Brave was 6-3 winners over the Rhinos. The Brave shared the scoring around in this one. Bates, Khabara, Steve and Ratcliffe Crowder all posted two points. Tetro with the win in net. Sangho Bay had a two point night for the Rhinos. And a cheap fact there, all goals came at even strength in that game. Very un-AIHL like. The Melbourne Ice had a critical win for them 6-2 over the Dogs in a game Obviously with big finals implications Bronte, Karawana, Erdegen, Schindelbooth and De Spreel had two points. Ashita had a big night in net stopping 41 of 43 for the win. On the Sunday, the Brave completed the home and away double against the Rhinos 6-3. Bates again, big, as well as Casey Cabara. They each had a goal and two assists on the night. Ex-Bear, Scott Clemmie, scored his fifth AIHL goal. Well done, Scotty. And Hasselmann had the winning net in the second game of their back-to-back stopping 23 shots. Calvin Bright scored the game winner for the North Stars as they edged the Perth Thunder 4-3. For the North Stars, the usual suspects popped up. Francis Drolet, Skatchkov, they led the scoring. Ethan Hawes chipped in with a couple of assists. And Trinker... dialed in the win in net. And finally, the Adrenaline had their second regulation win. against the Dogs. Five-one in a really good performance, actually. Koy Privo had two goals. Tim Payne and Colby Johnson both notched two assists. Jeremy Friedrich was really strong in net, allowing one goal on 29 shots for... what was I'm sure a very emotional win for Adelaide and certainly a win that did both us and the ice some favours there. Gordon Goodenough: Anything stand out to you, Matt, from the out of town results? Matt: Yeah, obviously the Adelaide result on Sunday was a surprise, but good result for us, particularly off the back of our six-pointer that we'll talk about shortly. I was just going to tip my hat to Yu Hikasaka. He scored his 23rd of the season for Perth in their game against Newcastle. Yu, formerly of the Red Eagles of Hokkaido, and the NICCO Ice Bucks just bringing that Japanese experience to the AIHL. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah, Wadanabe as well in that game. He's been brilliant for the North Stars, picked up another assist. He's been having a great season as well. I think we've got to get a little bit into that Ice Dogs adrenaline game just because of the impact that it had for us and our season. And I think if you're looking at the schedule as the Ice Dogs, they even mentioned it on the broadcast. know, Eric Bona. Sammy Mentare and Tash Ferrier, they mentioned that you're probably looking at the Adelaide fixture and banking, know, estimating that you're going to get three points. Well, Adelaide outplayed the Ice Dogs a couple of weeks ago at Macquarie, had 60 odd shots on goal and couldn't get the win, but they definitely deserved the win in that game on Sunday. Nathan: Yeah, they look good. They put a lot of pressure on the dog's net. Certainly, I mentioned the stats earlier there, but both the Frederick brothers were great in their respective roles. And you could tell, like the adrenaline were out to really chase that game down. And they were quite relentless. They were skating well, their forecheck was really strong. And I think that was, it was just good hard work. Blue collar performance. And you could tell like on the broadcast, which by the way, they do such a good broadcast. Gordon Goodenough: Hmm. Nathan: Eric is so great behind the mic and it's actually quite a polished experience from that perspective. There's a lot of really good insights that come through on those Adelaide broadcasts. But I thought it was actually a really, really good performance from Adelaide to be fair. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah, they looked really, really good. And like you said, just a good solid performance, full 60 minutes of hockey. Yeah, Friedrich was excellent. Shout out to him. He got engaged, I think a week or maybe two weeks ago, and then follows that up with the AIHL Skaters Network Player of the Week, getting a free stick. It's nice that other players can receive the award now that Cal Costa has left and gone home. So congratulations to Friedrich and I thought they played really well. The Ice Dogs did get, I think it was 2-0 for Adelaide at the time in the second and the Ice Dogs hit a couple of posts. So it could have, you know, that could have changed the complexion of the game. Instead Adelaide increased the lead and go out well deserved winners. Just a random stat, the teams that Adelaide has taken points from this season are in fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh place in the standings. They've taken one point off the Perth Thunder, who are in fourth. They've taken three points off the Melbourne Ice, who are in fifth. They've taken two points off of us, we're in seventh. And they've taken four points off the Sydney Ice Dogs after an overtime loss at Macquarie very early in the season. they've certainly had a bit of success against that middle portion of the table and they're all, you know, particularly Melbourne Ice and Sydney Ice Dogs for us, those are teams we're chasing down. Nathan: Yeah, I've always thought, you the Adrenaline have got some really intriguing players. Like as an import, Tim Payne, who I think joined after the Classic series, I think, if I'm not mistaken. He was really effective. Good wheels he created. He played on both sides of the puck. Obviously saw a lot of ice, certainly. Young Daniel Kadelka, I thought, had a really good game. I've always loved Nathaniel Benson as a player. And Friedrich, Julian Friedrich had some really nice looks in tight. He's a big body as well, very effective, you know, in a net front role. So, yeah, it was nice to see the adrenaline get up and obviously for our purposes as well. Obviously a great result for us. Gordon Goodenough: Excellent. Any further thoughts before we jump into our game on the Sunday guys? So Sunday we played the Melbourne Ice in Melbourne So we went to Melbourne and that was it felt like a must-win game against the ice and take us through first period guys how did you see things Matt: and I'll give you the honours. Nathan: I thought the first period was relatively tight between the two. I think one take out for me was we certainly limited the ice to a lot of perimeter opportunities. Like I'm even referring to our shot map at the moment. The ice and certainly our shot totals in terms of what was recorded in rink by the scorers versus that of our data is a little bit different as it generally is. It's never an exact science, but certainly a lot of shots from the point and certainly very little in the way of high danger opportunities, which is obviously a very good data point for us. I thought the D group in the first period was very, very strong. thought Ty and Ox looked outstanding, again, on both sides of the puck. Ryza was also seeing some minutes and I thought he was really solid. And once again, and I think this has been a really positive theme, you know, over perhaps the last month, feet were moving, guys looked up for it. Again, you know, finishing checks. There was a real effort to back check when the ice went the other way as well, which is always a really positive sign. But from a run of play perspective, I thought it was relatively tight, but obviously we finished that period on... right side of it so yeah it was quite entertaining hockey actually through the first 20 minutes in my opinion. Gordon Goodenough: And Matt, your young Brad Marshawn gets the opening goal and it was a Brad Marshawn Nathan: Ha Gordon Goodenough: type of goal as well. Matt: Yeah, look, I really don't want to become this guy every week who comments on the officiating, but to have that goal waved off initially for goaltender interference, the air in my house was utterly blue, but I'm glad they went to Toronto and got the official review and overturned that goal. But yeah, look, Goose was... was great again. And I also had notes to the same effect as your observations around our RD, Nathan. I thought there were two occasions where Tyrell played David Booth unbelievably well. Booth had got the puck and had Tyrell isolating and was driving at him and he was patient, with him. really, really played the ex-NHL with a huge amount of skill. I think that was Ox's best period I've seen in play this season, the first in Melbourne on Sunday. But a really bright start. My notes say I think that's the best first five minutes I've seen from us this season. Obviously Melbourne found their legs a little bit and the game became a little bit more evenly balanced. yeah, Ryzer sticking up for Kimmer after Caruana had a couple of whacks at him after the whistle was great to see, know, using his veteran smarts there and sending a message. And there was an instance where Goose and Dex really worked hard on our own blue line to fashion a 211, which they weren't able to quite capitalize upon, but all of those good positive signs, hard work, attention to detail, sticking with the assignments was there. thought our work on face-offs was so much better than the last time we were in Melbourne. We saw some incremental improvement last weekend against the Rhinos, but we were winning draws, we were tying people up, boxing them out and maintaining possession after winning that face-off. Look, I think a really, really good first period for us and a very entertaining one to watch as well. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah, shout out to Kevin Sadovsky for getting involved in the post-goal fracas. Helmet off, joying, you know, not backing down, standing up for Goose as well. That was good to see from the team. A bit of a come together moment. And then second period, I'm going to take you to 13 minutes 45. Score is 1-0. David Booth is... all in alone on Anthony Kimlin and kind of almost undresses Kimlin and Kimlin just gets his pad back and his skate stops the puck and then 30 seconds later we go up and score the insurance goal to make it 2-0. In my mind I think that was such a huge turning point of the game. Nathan: Yeah, agreed. We certainly picked up some momentum after, you the ice had some really good opportunities early in the second and either team D or some really flashy stops on some great looks from Kimma sort of shut the door and then obviously going the other way, which I think was on a delayed call, I believe Gordon Goodenough: Yep. Nathan: our second. They're the moments in games. where you lock it down at one end, you nullify some good attack from the opposition, take it the other way and capitalize on an opportunity. Huge moment in the game and a really sort of tone setter, I think, for the rest. know, again, if I'm sort of referring to the shot data from the second, what was different from the first for the ice was during the first period, we were doing a very good job of nullifying their ability to work the puck down low and create chances in tight. That's a real trademark of Melbourne Ice Hockey where they've got, you know, particularly Shindle and Caruana in particular, they love to occupy the crease. They love to create from behind the net. At different intervals of the second, they were really starting to get on the cycle. They were building sustained pressure around Kimmer, but we were able to... sort of fend off a lot of that sustained pressure. And at the other end, and it's a shame that I can't actually sort of show this at the moment, but our slot opportunities, we had about nine or 10 high danger slot opportunities. And we probably had 80, 75 to 80 % of our looks in the second period. We all had marked down as high danger. A lot of sort of bang bang plays as well. had a sheet of moving a lot and some of it was also crowded off the rush as well. We were taking the puck the other way with real intent and I actually thought that second period from both teams with some really high quality hockey actually. Matt: Yeah, it was super exciting to watch. Dex finished with a goal and an assist in the second period, but he also had two solo looks where he was in one-on-one. Some great work on the penalty kill as well from Dex. yeah, super exciting hockey, great advert for the league. I think we saw some smarts from Nick with his patience, the delayed penalty call. He just picked his moment to slide that pass across for Brian to score his fifth. We then had a crossbar from Nick shortly afterwards on the power play, believe. And the power play just looked great. Riser was back on the point. Everything looked controlled. We were snapping the puck around, really getting set up. Kind of night and day from... maybe four or five weeks ago where we were oftentimes struggling to get the power play set up. But I thought that was very encouraging. So obviously Erdogan picked up an injury on the shot follow through from Nick, which caused quite a long delay at the end of the second period. But Dex got his seventh of the season assisted by Tommy and Tyrell. So Tyrell would be up now to assist Gordie. Gordon Goodenough: So he's on at the moment with that point. He's on 99 Korea AIHL points. So pretty impressive for him. Matt: Yep, but we went in 3-0 up shots at that stage with 23-38. Kimma having another monstrous game for us. Little bit disappointed in Aonso. Big man picking on 17-year-old Ruben. Good on you, mate. Nathan: Yeah, he certainly loves a hit from behind, I answer. Matt: Yeah, you keep hoping for brutal boarding. Yeah. Nathan: Yeah, I was really surprised that that wasn't called a major if I'm being fair. and I think the last time we were down in Melbourne there were a couple of very similar plays as well that were all called minors. they're, they're dangerous place for sure. Matt: Yeah. Nathan: we've, we've celebrated Nick's ability, you know, in terms of shooting and execution, all those things. but another great capability that he has was showcased on that goal that was scored by Brian, you know, taking defenders wide with speed, opening up space, great scene pass. And I must say, know, Brian has really shown an ability to. finish those opportunities. He's been quite an efficient shooter for us over the last three to four weeks. And it was just a really nice, nicely executed and set up goal. And it just showcased another weapon that Nick has with speed and passing vision. And then even for Dex's goal where that puck sort of stayed in the zone and he came in with a ton of speed. and finished, I think it was high glove on a Sheida and certainly capped with a really nice celebration as well and the boys were right up at that point at 3-0. Matt: Yeah, that was a super smart play by Tommy Lander, Nathan: It was. Matt: really picked his moment. And then Dex came in as a trailer on that play almost. He sort of skated in with quite a lot of time and space. Tommy had driven them in, maintained control. think he'd drawn a couple of defenders over to him. So that trailer play was pretty to watch. And it's not something we've scored a lot of goals off of in recent weeks. We've scored goals off of the rush and we had a spate of goals in those mucky areas, high danger. So for us to hit the top corner of Dex, you great hands and vision there to beat Ashida. But yeah, lovely to see that trailer play paying off for us. Nathan: Dex actually had a massive period. He won, we've got him down for 63 % in the face-off circle, five shots on goal, four high danger. He had wheels, he probably would have liked to probably put one, maybe two more away. He did have some really high quality looks, but he was really flying. That line was actually quite dominant throughout the course of that period. And I think we've spoken about the Melbourne Ises ability to hit you in waves and they certainly did that at certain points in the second period. But we were certainly doing that maybe even to greater effect, at least from an efficiency perspective. And I think that just made for such a great entertaining period of hockey. And it was just great that we could put the shutter down defensively, obviously off the back of some great stops from Kimmer. And then at the other end of the ice, making the most of some opportunities as well. Matt: Just to finish up on decks and your fancy stats, Nathan, do you have a number for how many Melbourne Ice players decks got under the skin off in the second period? Nathan: I think the number's too big for it to be recorded on this fancy sheet that I've got, which by the way is courtesy of the great Nick Austin, who does a lot of great work for us behind the scenes. big shout out to Nick. But isn't it nice to see Dex, you know, with his chest out, you know, the mouth's moving, the feet are moving. You know, it's high event hockey when Dex is dialed in. So that was great to see. Like he's a real leader from that perspective. He loves the battle. Matt: There's always a cheeky grin or a shrug at the shoulders at the end of most of his interactions with either officials or opponents, which I'm here for every second. Nathan: Yeah, there was actually a great moment on the broadcast. It was right before a face-off in the ice zone and the camera caught Dex up close, like sort of giving the thumbs up to our bench. And he had the grin happening and it was just like this great sort of captured moment of Dex and his personality. which maybe that's just my strange sense of humor, but it was actually a takeout for me. Matt: as we said weeks ago, it's all in the moustache. Nathan: I agree. Gordon Goodenough: I think Lander being back is massive as well and just a shout out to him. First points for him since the 20th of June against the Ice Dogs when he scored that really important goal late in the third period and then his first multi-point game he collected two assists in that game against Melbourne in those first two periods. First multi-point game since the 16th of May that's when We played against the Brisbane Lightning at Boondall. So congrats to him and he looked really effective on that line as well. Nathan: And one thing I actually had noted for that period, and I think you might have mentioned the crossbar on Ashida from sites he met, I really think Ashida was struggling to track Nick shots. He got beat clean quite a number of times, which again is certainly credit to. to Nick and his ability to get off a really tricky shot for goaltenders. You rarely see that with a sheeter. And again, I highlighted the back check. Just noting guys here, Ty, Ox, Finn, Dex, Tommy Lander. There was just such effort away from the puck and off the puck. If a play broke down, if it went the other way with the ice, it was just full effort to get back. And obviously that helps Kim's cause as well. So just good to see everyone sort of operating in sync and everyone, you know, doing the little one percenters to try and make sure that they could sort of keep the ice at bay. Matt: I think Nick's just, we said it last week, Nick's fine. He looks like pre-injury Nick again. And that top line with Brian and Lucas looks so dangerous, but Gustav's just slotted in so well with Dex. know, imagine having to face those two heists shift after shift if you're an opponent. So I think, you know, that little shake up in terms of line composition has really worked well for us. Brian looks super at home Gordon Goodenough: Hmm. Matt: on the wing on that top line and really complements, you know, that little bit of grittiness and his willingness to drive the net really complements Lucas and Nick. So hats off to Riser and Nick over putting the lines partially in the blender and coming up with something that's been very effective. Gordon Goodenough: I think Brian Chambers has been one of our best forwards over the last couple of games. You know, he had four points against the Rhinos last weekend or the weekend before and then he obviously had that really important goal. It was a great shot too. I think 2024 Tatsunoshita probably saves a lot of the goals today. We'll get to We'll get to another one in the third period that I think was he probably want to have back as well. So I don't know whether I know the Melbourne Ice commentators, Michael Clough, you know, they mentioned earlier in the season that they're not sure if Ashida has been carrying an injury or something. But yeah, his goals against average has ballooned this season as opposed to recent years. Matt: Lucas had a short handed chance in the second as well, a nice feed from Dex. And he went five hole on Ishida and he wasn't at all sure that he had made the save. I don't know if you chaps can recall that, but I made a note that Ishida wasn't sure whether he'd stopped it or it had gone in, but Lucas snapped it five hole quite early, I think, on the play. But yeah, he didn't look his usual assured self to me this Sunday, to your point. Gordon Goodenough: So the third period, let's get into it. Finn with E scores at 1758. Nick Sites scores, I believe even though eSportsDesk or the AIHL website has that as shorthanded, it was 4 on 4, or even strength. Then Bronte and Jed Lake score quick once, one on the powerplay, one even strength. And then Ruben Nalos scores one with 514. left in the game. What was your thoughts on the third period guys? Matt: Look, I'm just going to say this quickly and hand over to Nathan. We've just waxed lyrically about the top two lines, but what a shift from the third line for Finn's goal. Huge amount of work, know, character grit. Xander and Ruben picked up the assists, but massive shift from the boys taking advantage of extended ozone time there. So big ups to the third line. Well deserved and a And great to see Finn on the score sheet. He's been quietly effective as a forward the last couple of games. Like the blue collar style he brings, he certainly isn't scared to throw the body and good to see him on the score sheet again. Nathan: Yeah, definitely. He almost looked surprised that it went in. It was a bit of a strange sort of reaction to the goal. But, you know, I think we've seen... that Finn has quite a number of different tools. You know, can take the puck in tight. He can also get a good shot off from distance. You know, I think he sees the ice quite well. And he's certainly shown his versatility for us, you know, this year where we've probably put him in some positions that, you know, aren't necessarily his natural game, but, you know, he's certainly taken on any role with a great attitude. I think when you look at some of the data to come out of the third, the Melbourne Ice actually really came at us hard in this period. We actually had them down for 82 % high danger chances. They also had a couple of power plays like our PK was very good throughout the game, but we did let one in the Tyrone Bronte goal in the third. But some of those metrics that you look for, know, when you're playing with a lead, things like face-offs, you know, zone time, et cetera, our face-off percentage in the third period. And again, you know, credit to the ice in terms of what they were throwing at us. Kimma remained very, very strong, but we also continued to take our offensive game into the third period as well, and certainly tested a cheater quite a lot. know, our high danger numbers were up sort of close to 70 % as well. So we were still finding the right areas of the ice and certainly an even spread, know, Goose, Ruben, Dex had some looks in tight, know, chambers down low, sites are also busy, sites and herms had a lot of opportunities in the third. So in my opinion, it was more of a continuation in terms of style of play from the second period. But again, you know, we showed good efficiency. Power play really throughout the game again, at times looked threatening, but overall relatively anemic. That is something that we'll need to turn around. But certainly on the PK side of things, really helped us get the job done. Matt: Nick, wow. He never, not one single stride from when he picked the puck up to when he put the puck in the back of the net. Did I not doubt that was going to be a goal? He just looked so confident. It was beautiful to see. And Ruben as well, icing on the top of the cake. Great solo goal. He beat Ashida Shortside again to Gordon Goodenough: Hmm. Matt: your earlier points. That's most unlike him. But Ruben saw him sort leaning away from that post and just snapped it in there, which was great to see. But yeah, we just got the job done. Close it out. Great to see. I was delighted. Just, you know, great reward for the effort that the boys put in. Gordie, you'll probably have some colour to put around this, but I'm just going to say, one stat line, shots against 54 saves 52 for a 9.63. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah, yeah, spectacular from Kimlin. He had a really good outing against the Melbourne Ice on May the 9th and that was with a depleted Melbourne Ice lineup admittedly. But so we picked up, I think it was a 4-1 win on May the 9th and he was outstanding, denied Colton Shindel on a breakaway and won that game for us. And I think he's been really big at in games for us this season. I think, you know, some of those Central Coast Rhinos wins with him backstopping and then in the game today. I thought that was good because he struggled the last two games against the Ice. You think about the timed last game, we played them at Macquarie end of June, I think June 27. We went into the third period with a 4-1 lead. Three goal lead going into the third period of this one. But you know, that game on June 27th, we were just gassed from being on the penalty kill. And I think it was nice to see him, you know, earn that win for us. just when our season was on the line and we needed someone to step up and say this is the line and we don't, we're not giving up another loss. and Anthony Kimlin just puts on his hard hat and goes to work and puts in a huge performance. And that Nick Sites goal as well, Matt, that you mentioned was an important one for two players' streaks. First of all, Ryza, he continues his point streak. He's up to 14 games. That's a new career high for him in the AIHL. And Lucas Herman keeps his streak going. 23-game point streak. which is his new AI, Chalkoree Hi, had a 21 game point streak back in 2024. So congrats to those two as well. Matt: It's so good to see Ryza back. Life in the old dog, yeah. Nathan: You know, Matt: What? Nathan: it just looks right with him out there on the ice, doesn't it? You know, Matt: Yeah, Gordon Goodenough: He's. Nathan: it's just an element that's so hard to replicate. He's such a difficult guy to replace. You know, his leadership, the composure on the puck, the ability to bring other people into the game around him. we of course don't have the full... the full version of Ryan Annesley at the moment, but he's out there trying to play the best role he possibly can to help his team win. And even just talking to the players, they love having him back out there. It just turns the confidence dial up for a lot of guys. And you could see the way he distributed the puck, slowed the play down as well at the right times, which is really important. So yeah, when you've got that QB at the back, back and having the ability to play some minutes, it makes a huge difference just to the whole complexion of our D group and the way that it can be managed throughout the game. just to conclude you guys that we won the arm wrestle that was quite sustained in this game. And one thing that we've spoken about for a long time, and we've almost been a broken record on it, but this theme in our game, unfortunately, where You know, we've worked hard, we've created opportunities, we've put goals away, and then all of a sudden, we've almost served up immediate opportunities to the opposition and given them a chance to capitalize. And we've never really been able to, you know, put our foot on the throat. In this game, we found ways to do that just to make sure that momentum never shifted too far back towards the ice. And there was a moment, Matt, you spoke earlier about the Herms breakaway, the five hole attempt that Ashida squeezed but wasn't really sure where the puck was. Straight after that, Booth went down Main Street on Kimlin and he went full spread for the stop. And I think that was just a moment in the game that sticks out to me where it was almost this message of not today, it's Gordon Goodenough: Hmm. Nathan: not happening today. Regardless of what you throw at us, it's not happening today. And I think there was also a moment where the broadcast picked up the reaction from the bench. You could see the guys just look at that moment and go, just draw from it really. I even look at the configuration of all the scoring. There wasn't this whole back and forth on the Gordon Goodenough: Mm-mm. Nathan: scoreboard. It was just maintained pressure and production on the scoreboard, which is really, really, really good to see. and six different scorers as well. That's also a big takeout. Gordon Goodenough: Yep. Yep. 11 different players with points. No one got more than two points. Great contributions up and down the lineup. It was the ultimate kind of response as a team. If you think about the success that the Bears have had this season, it's often been just that kind of lunch pail effort everyone needs to chip in to get it done. Matt: And Dex got one in the family jewels, just first, Budmisha in the third. So thoughts and prayers with you Dex. Hope you've been okay this week, mate. Gordon Goodenough: Moving on, so any final thoughts guys before we move on to previewing what's coming up for this weekend? Nathan: Just the great performance at the right time. The guys had to turn up and they did. Gordon Goodenough: Yep. So this Sunday we have, it's another big game for us. We have got the Central Coast Rhinos who will be coming into town to Macquarie. the Rhinos, you would have to say that their season is probably done. They've got three games left. The best that they can do is tie us by winning out on 39 points for, us and the Ice Dogs for six and seventh. have to hope that neither the Ice Dogs nor us gets points. But they still pose a danger. They will have Sebastian Silvestre from the Quebec version of Love Island as part of the roster. Matt: Please comment Nathan, again. Nathan: It's best that I don't. Gordon Goodenough: Thoughts for this one guys? Matt: Again, we've got to win it, haven't we? I would think the guys are feeling good about themselves after such a good result in Melbourne. But as we've mentioned before, it's about backing up good performances. shift by shift, period by period, game by game now. I think it's a singular message. There's that thread that needs to continue through everything that we do now. we're on home ice. A few weeks ago when the Rhinos played at Macquarie, they really looked like a team struggling for form. They're completely different. team in my eyes when they play at Ayrton, but hopefully we can start fast and play a good end-to-end game and see at home for the three points. Nathan: Yeah, look, from what I understand, they put up some decent play against the Brave on the weekend. And I feel like we've spoken about the Rhinos. It's almost like we've played the Rhinos half a dozen times since we commenced the pod. we know what we're to get from the Rhinos. You're going to get high activity hockey. You know where their dangers will come from. I think discipline is really important. You want to keep those guys off the job, off the man advantage. You know, they can be very dangerous there. All of the usual suspects will barely leave the ice. Sylvester, Bouchard, know, Sengho Bay. Bastille, of course. They certainly have a lot of talent at the top of their lineup. But they do have a tendency to give up a lot of shots. We've played very well against the Rhinos, I think, overall this year. We've certainly put up big shot totals. So we just need to make sure that we can probably maintain that standard of play. We probably need a little bit more shooting efficiency. Yes, we've created a lot against the Rhinos, but at times we've also found it difficult to get past Oberoi as well. So it should be very entertaining game for those that will be at Macquarie. They definitely entertain. They put on a good show, the Rhinos. But again, critical. We'll use our famous quote, the six point game. Every game now holds that level of importance. So, yeah, it should be a fantastic one and hopefully the guys can continue putting some good 20 minute periods together here and we can come out on top. Matt: They've got no game on the Saturday so Oberoi will be well up for his 275 shots against. They're coming on Sunday. Nathan: Yeah. Yeah. And they've also got Mackenzie Bolger back as well, who's a real Gordon Goodenough: Mmm, yep. Nathan: talent and another weapon for them offensively. I believe he missed some time through a concussion, I believe, earlier in the season, which would have at the time been a big loss for the Rhinos. Good to see him back. But he's also someone that we'll need to keep tabs on as well. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah, last time he came to Macquarie, he pulled out the worm during that stoppage with the glass breakage. But he definitely can score goals as well. Got some good speed and sneaky silky hands in tight. And the Rhinos fans, they travelled really well last game at Macquarie and they created a really good atmosphere as well. So looking forward to that one on Sunday. Some big games, we might look ahead at the schedule just to see what the Melbourne Ice and the Ice Dogs have. The Melbourne Ice are going to a double header in Canberra at AIS to play the Brave. And the Sydney Ice Dogs will be hosting the Newcastle Northstars at Macquarie on Saturday before traveling up to Newcastle to play them in a home and home. at Hiss. So tough ones for teams that were chasing as well. Matt: Yeah, really big weekend for everybody. At the top of the table, the Mustangs play two games in Perth against the Thunder as well. Nathan: Yeah, I think the finals complexion, this weekend from a head-to-head perspective looks like potentially the biggest weekend in terms of finals implications from what I can see. So a lot, know, certainly a great weekend for the neutrals, that's for sure. Gordon Goodenough: Yep. Nathan: I think we touched on this last week or perhaps the week before, special teams. PK has been overall relatively solid for us. We've got to get the power play going. If we can really start to dial up that special teams efficiency and output, would be huge. I just feel like that's probably the one. sort of piece in the puzzle at the moment that we probably need to tune up a little bit. I don't think necessarily the power play was terrible against the ice. We certainly had some looks, but we need to move to the next level where we're actually seeing some production from the power play. So that's probably something that I'll look for on Sunday. Hopefully we do get some opportunities there. But I do know that the guys feel increasingly confident about their game. So hopefully we can just, again... continue what we've put out in the last few games and come away with some critical points. Matt: Yeah. Gordon Goodenough: And Nathan, I know it was your birthday week, but you were flat out with other stuff and things that were going on. And how good is it to have some clarity now on Macquarie? Nathan: Yeah, absolutely fantastic. Obviously, great news for both us, the fans, sponsors, everyone involved in the club that all fixtures at Macquarie will go ahead as scheduled. And obviously, just given the fact that we're certainly on track to sell out every game this season, there might be some tickets left for perhaps our last two fixtures, I believe. So for those out there that listening who have plans to get down to Macquarie for some of the last few games here, I'd probably suggest that you get out there and secure those tickets, you know, whilst there's still some available. But yeah, just great to get certainty around, you know, our ability to play at Macquarie for the rest of the season. given the level of importance and the critical nature of these games in the playoff battle, you know, let's get this building, Matt: Thank Nathan: you know, really fired up and back the boys in here for some huge games. You know, it's been a long time, I think, since the Bears have sort of been sort of in this bubble type situation in relation to the finals hunt. yeah, massive thanks to the fans for all of their support so far this year, but we've got to finish off the job now and make sure that we're there with a fighting chance at the back end of August in the finals. Matt: And just as a, this is not me blowing hot air in anyone's direction Nathan, but as a fan and a sponsor, enormous appreciation for the work that you and Bianca and the team around you have done in the last week hasn't gone unnoticed. Nathan: appreciate that. Now we've got a great team of people behind the scenes that certainly work to our 100 % capacity to make sure that game days are delivered and it's a great experience in the arena for fans and players are supported, etc. So, yeah, certainly appreciate that. We don't do it for thanks, but that's not to say that we won't accept thanks when it's on offer, so appreciate that. Matt: It was lovely to have a weekend at home with my family, but I'm really looking forward to being back at Macquarie this weekend. And I'm sure the atmosphere is going to be electric. Nathan: I have no doubt either. That's what we want. Electricity in the building every remaining game is at home. Matt: Mm. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah, yeah. And Nathan: which is fantastic. Gordon Goodenough: I think the fans have been really good too, I think a lot of fans have by far, by far and away have just been very understanding and very patient and, you know, waiting to hear official communications from the club and the league, etc. And I think it's been, it's a testament to to the culture that the club has and the fan base as well that support the team so well. Nathan: Yeah, I would agree with that. I must say that the support and I don't see everything that comes in from social media channels, et cetera, but that that I do, yeah, just a huge shout out to our growing supporter group. We've received a lot of messages of support and positivity throughout the season, but certainly also over the last sort of week, week and a bit. And that certainly goes a long way. to those that are receiving, whether it's people like Bianca myself, those working behind the scenes in social media or just our great group of volunteers that work so tirelessly to deliver game days and a really great experience. We're very proud of what we've built at Macquarie. I think our game day delivery and what fans actually receive in the stands is fantastic and one of the better experiences that you'll actually see in the league. or across the league rather. So yeah, just a massive thanks to all of the support. Our fan group has been absolutely amazing this year. They've come out in numbers, they've got behind the club in every way possible. And there's just been this real air of positivity around the club and in the stands, a lot of people smiling and playing their role in getting behind the club as a whole. yeah, that certainly hasn't gone unnoticed and a massive thank you to all of... All of you that are listening. Matt: I'm very much looking forward to seeing everyone again at the rink. are you gents in town or Gordie are you commentating remotely again this week? Gordon Goodenough: I am commentating remotely this week, we'll be up for the final two home games, I think, of the season. Nathan: And I think just one quick note as well for those that are listening and will be present, not just this weekend, but for the remainder of the season, at least as we understand, there are some works being conducted at the rink that will change some of the things attached to the game day, particularly the way that our food Capability is delivered in rink. My ask to fans is please, you know, understand that there will be some changes. Please work with the staff. You know, there's gonna be some teething challenges attached to just some of the changes that we've had to make during game days. But please know that we're still trying to do everything within our capability to make sure that the experience is still a positive one. And just please be patient. and understanding with our staff. Gordon Goodenough: Perfect. Nathan: Amazing. Gordon Goodenough: Great, well thanks guys. Thanks everyone for listening and hopefully we'll see you soon at the rink in the meantime. Go Bears! Matt: Go Bears! Nathan: Go Bears, let's go.