Gordon Goodenough: yes, we are the unofficial podcast of the Sydney Bears Australian Ice Hockey League team. We are back to semi normal schedule. We are recording on a Tuesday night. It's been a hectic day all round. Matt, first up, how are things with you? Matt: Very good my friend, thank you. It's good to be back with you gents. I'm glad to see Nathan looking a little more healthy than he was last week. Nathan: Yeah, no, it's been a really great start to the week. nice and yeah, relatively quiet, relaxing, not a lot happening in the hockey landscape locally. So, yeah, it's been fantastic, gents. Thanks. Gordon Goodenough: I assume you've had a nice a nice little rest to recover from your illness last week, which is always nice. so Nathan: Indeed, absolutely. Gordon Goodenough: let's let's get into the hockey before we get ourselves in in trouble. Nathan, did you want to take us through the out of town scoreboard? Nathan: It would be my pleasure. we had six-game slate on the weekend. Obviously, four of those games not involving us, which I'll take us through. kicking off the Mustangs were 8-3 winners over the Lightning at O'Brien. Scott Timmins and Brodie Crane led the way with with huge outings, seven and six points respectively for those guys. Crane had four goals, Timmons five apples. Giesbrecht stopped 26 of 29. for Brisbane there was no Tanner Hops in this game. Sasha Rapchuk, Hebear, and Schenka all had two points. Newcastle had an 8-3 road win over Perth. Francis Drolay and Svataschkov each had two goals and two assists. Klugerman and Darge both had three-point nights for the North Stars. with Trinker collecting the W in net over to the Sunday games. The Brave they came home late against the Dogs 5-3 at the AIS. Bates had a couple of goals, Jake Ratcliffe chipped in with three assists. and Alex Tetro stopped 26 of 29 for the W there. There were 18 goals scored at O'Brien with the Melbourne Ice Edging, the Lightning 10-8. This was a really entertaining game. I actually watched this one from start to finish. there was some skin in this game for us. the result here does mathematically eliminate Brisbane from finals contention. special teams, both teams were really hot on the power play in this game. The Lightnings scored on four of their five opportunities and the Melbourne Ice scored on both of their power play chances. and as you can imagine given the given the score line, there were some big individual stats to come out of this game. David Booth scored a hat-trick and collected five points on the night. Matt Caruana with four assists, Erdogan, Ayonso, and Despree picking up three points, as did Colton Schindle. And a save, 750 save percentage for Tatsu Ashida was enough to get the win in that game, quite incredibly. for Brisbane, Hebear had a had a hat-trick in that game, on top of four assists as well. which is pretty impressive. Tanner Hopp's returned to the lineup for the Sunday game. he had five points. Gendonov and Schenker both scored a goal each and contributed four and three points respectively. And I must say Brisbane worked their tails off in that game. It wasn't quite enough, but they really put in a strong performance. And they played some some really pretty offensive hockey at times as well that had the ice on on the back foot. also a shout out to ex-bear Ellis Carini. Ellis actually returned in Melbourne Ice's game against us a couple of weeks ago. I just forgot to mention it. Gordon Goodenough: Mm-hmm. Nathan: He's missed a lot of hockey through injury and and he's really looking fit and fast out there. So just a really quick shout out. He's a wonderful guy. He was always great to work with during his time at the Bears and great to see him back and playing a really good brand of hockey out there just to just to conclude. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah, brilliant. Matt, any any thoughts on the on the week's games? Matt: Now I watched the first two periods of the Brave and Dogs on Sunday. The Dogs were a reasonable value for their lead and then our game against the Rhinos kicked off so I switched over but did see that the Brave got up and over the line with three late ones in that game. I'd also earmarked as she did 750 save percentage for a win so eight goals on 24 shots. Not very often you see goalie recorder dub after stats like that. Gordon Goodenough: Yes, so that brings us to the Battle of Sydney on the Saturday, which was our home game, the final Battle of Sydney of the season. Wilson Cup on the line. and we we didn't get off to a great start. We we got a power play and then Natan Vertesh, he converted shorthanded, Daniel Chen got the the takeaway. It was a bit of a misplay of the puck at the blue line and Daniel Chen brought it in with speed, passed it to Vertesh and we were down a goal early and then Daniel Chen scored on the power play later on in the period. we'll go through to the seconds. Robert Lakovitz, he scored on the power play about halfway through the period. Vertesh scored to make it four nil and it looked like we were about to get an absolute drubbing. head coach riser calls a a a timeout and we end up two goals and sixty six seconds to be able to to head head out of the period four to two. Gustav Ramla Jensen scores in at the the s five minutes into the third and it kept it close and we didn't really get many opportunities after that on on special teams and despite some perhaps Clear coals and then Daniel Chen sealed the deal with an empty netter with twenty one seconds left. Matt, your thoughts on on this one? Matt: Yeah, good summary, Gordie. I thought the power play that we conceded the shorty on, and by the way, that was our sixth shorty of the season Gordon Goodenough: Hm. Matt: on Saturday. There's more to come on the Sunday game. So we've conceded shorties against the Dogs twice, the Mustangs twice, and the Brave. Three in July, one in June, one in May. Obviously we'll talk about the shorty we conceded against the Rhinos, but we're struggling to get the power play set up, not looking overly confident. And then, as you say, I think it was Kev mishandled the puck of the blue line and they just burned us with speed. So one-nil down there. We talked a little bit last week, Nathan, about those sort of odd goals that we saw us concede against the ice where... we were winning face-offs but losing possession in high danger areas. That was a little bit less the case, but I noticed that we seemed to be missing that. After winning the face-off, we don't box people out. We're already looking to get up high, thinking about next steps. So essentially, after you win draw and lose possession, it's a face-off loss. That was a theme that sort of stood out to me as well in the first Gordie. But yeah, I think Nick had a very, very good chance on the doorstep late in the first. But yeah, not the greatest of first periods. We conceded a shorty and then that very efficient dog's power play with Cabore done really sort of pulling the strings. at the blue line cranked into gear to send the dogs into now in the second look I probably and the one out of the three of us has got the license to be frank and honest. I thought the officiating was abysmal in the second and third. Tyrell got pinged for a tripping call by the referee at the other end of the ice when the referee, Gordon Goodenough: Mm-hmm. Matt: at his end of the ice, was practically on top of the play. I thought that was just an awful call and they scored on the power play there. We then picked up, I think Finn picked up a penalty at 10-22. Again, the dog's power play capitalised. Cabore done. Again, pulling the strings, there was a bit of a slap pass and I think Betez scored in... at the back stick. So we're then sort of down 4-0. I felt there was another awful missed penalty for holding core just before that fourth goal. Yeah, disappointing. I was actually very, very frustrated in my position on the ice at the, you know... officials right on top of the player, two or three instances where a couple of our guys were being manhandled, cross-checks at one point, Tommy Moncrief had... Dex on the floor and right in front of the referee kept cross checking him and cross it while Dex was on his back. yeah, look, far, bit for me as a non-qualified ice hockey referee to be too critical, but I honestly didn't know what they were looking at in that game. And then as we said, a little bit of a comeback at the end of the second and the third. Good to see Gustav back on the score sheet again. The game was exciting for the, you know, for the large part of the third. I felt were going to get ourselves back in it but 5 to 3 so yeah one that slipped away from us gents. Nathan: I think I think you've done a great job of summarising that is probably Gordon Goodenough: Yeah. Nathan: how I would summarise it. one one positive takeout that comes to mind straight away was the finish by Nick for the first goal. Absolutely Matt: Unbelievable. Nathan: incredible. Certainly watching the game live at the time, I had no idea that he actually pulled off that play. but the replay picked it up so well and that was that was very impressive to watch actually. Matt: And we saw something new from Nick, a bit of a clapper for his second goal. We've seen Nick's wrist shot, we've seen his athleticism, we've seen him scoring those pretty goals off one-timers on the power play on one knee, but I think that's the first time we've seen Nick let the slapper loose, what a thing of beauty that was as well. Beat Burroughs clean, I think, in between the glove and the pad on his left-hand side. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah, it was he he didn't take much time to wind up either. It was just a very quick, very tight kind of wind up and I think that's what s surprised surprised Burroughs and Nett. I I will just echo your point though about the officiating you know how cols are gonna go generally when we are leading games in the third period where you know that we've got to be really careful about what we do and and how we play because game management, is just gonna be give a call to the trailing team, keep the game close. It felt like through the third there was this ramping up of stuff that didn't get called that culminates in Tommy Moncrief deciding that he can give Dexton Mosell the business right in front of the referee and knowing that he's not gonna get penalised for it. And then you get Lucas Herman, you know, getting tripped up as well, not getting a call to clear trip. it felt like you know the the book had changed. so I I don't know what to expect now with with with the officiating, but generally, yeah, like during the season that's just what I've seen. If we've led in games and we've committed a hint of an infraction, it's automatically called against us. and we're on the PK and it didn't happen on Saturday when we were trailing. So that was interesting. Nathan: And I'm sure all that players want out there is clear, consistent definitions on what respective calls look like. in saying that, let's also be clear here, I think, and and be and be real. Officiating is one topic, but I also wouldn't put any take on officiating down to the eventual outcome of the game. I I'm hard pressed to think of extended periods of the game where we really built momentum and had our game going. I I never really felt like we created sustained pressure. Burroughs was great in net, as he has been far more often than not for the dogs this season. But I also feel like we perhaps made his life quite easy. we didn't see A lot of traffic in front of him. We didn't really see a lot of pressure. and that that that's also a topic that we can talk about, you know, heading into the Sunday game. for me reviewing the game, there were never extended periods of the game where you thought, you know, guys, we're really building some nice momentum, you know, we're we're capturing the run of play, we've got our game going. and and that I think that was frustrating. And By by the third period you could see a lot of passages of play where I think, you know, the dogs probably fed off that a little bit. And I think there's probably some guys out there for us that were probably starting to get you know, pretty frustrated at, you know, perhaps the lack of execution at different points. Certainly maybe some of the themes around officiating that you guys have touched on. and and ultimately obviously the result wasn't wasn't there in in the vein that we would have hoped for. Matt: Mm. Gordon Goodenough: I I I thought as well, Kabore Dan looked really, really good and I I think he controlled the game. he seemed to be on the ice a lot. I I I would be surprised if he was on the ice for less than thirty minutes in that game. He was seemed to be everywhere, he's got size, he's got his head up all the time, he was really patient on the PK, knowing, you know, how to drain time off the clock. he he was Just a an an all round, you know, excellent puck moving defenseman I think every team would love to have a bunch of Kabore duns in in in their lineup. He was he was really good to watch. Matt: Vitej was very good as well. His pace, speed was very noticeable and he's got those hockey smarts and good hands. So I think it's no surprise that both their power play and their penalty kill, both players featured on both sides of the puck on special teams. No surprise to me that they were clicking. I was just going to say good to see Ryan and Tommy Lander back Shots ended up 48 to 40 in the Ice Dogs favor But Nathan you picked picked up on a point that I noticed across the two games I think our shot totals on Sunday was 65 in our favor, but you'll get the the advanced analytics, but to me it looked as though across both of those games the the the high propensity of low danger shots we were taking, which can then get a, you know, attendee settled into the game. You know, we've talked about Oberoi before and, you know, he's been a bit of a bear killer with some of his superhuman performances, but I felt Burroughs eased himself into that game a little bit on Saturday. Obviously we didn't score until... sort of four minutes left in the second, but he faced a bunch of what I felt were reasonably low danger shots in the lead up to that opener from us 4.11 from the end of the second. Nathan: I think probably a mix of of low percentage shots at angle and and a lot of perimeter shots as well without without traffic or guys going in there for for second opportunities when they were when they were on offer. And I think and I think there were some some rebound opportunities, but there just wasn't you know, traffic or or or timed traffic to the net. You know, the guys that you just mentioned before are done definitely, you know, his distribution and the ability to get his team up ice is very good. Vertesh, we we spoke about him quickly in last week's pod. You know, he he creates a lot of opportunity and space with his feet. He's a very good skater. I'd also say Daniel Chen was also creating a lot of opportunities off the rush with his skating ability as well, you know, finding space, taking guys wide to open up opportunities elsewhere. for line mates. I thought I thought those guys probably most notably had had really strong games. Matt: Hayden ended up with a very interesting stat line. Gordie, I'll let you run through goals and assists in a second. Hayden had 47 saves, sorry, 47 shots against, four goals against. So 43 saves and 25 minutes in penalties. Let's finish on a high note. There were two World Cup-esque incidents in the game. We just touched on one of them. I didn't actually see Hayden's indiscretion, but I heard the flop and the scream. It was very South American football-esque. I'm not sure who the dog's player was. Who cares? The second one, Lucas Herman, first header in a game of hockey I've ever seen in my life. attempted to clear the puck aerially from their defensive zone. Lucas went up, nice header, middle of the forehead, howl with his neck. Decent Lucas, you've got a career on the soccer pitch if you ever want one mate as a centre forward. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah, it was he looked like a seal at the Toronga show. it was it was very impressive. Matt: I thought Nathan: I know I do need to see this. Matt: more Harry Kane than the seal at Taronga Zoo. are listening? Gordon Goodenough: Pi Peter Crouch, more Peter Crouch. Nathan: No more compliments, please guys. Herms thinks he's great at everything anyway. We don't need this we we don't we don't need to pump the guys' tires, please. Yeah, well done. Gordon Goodenough: let's move on to Sunday's game. And at Arena, big one for us again. big one for both teams with playoff imp implications. Matt, take us take us through what did you see in this one? Matt: Well, my nerves were in tatters at the end of this one. I couldn't get AI HLTV working, so I actually missed Sotaro's opener, but it was very early doors. Gordie, maybe you can talk us through that one. But Tegan got us level, his first, I believe, of the second. I think the commentators called it as his second career goal. So some great work from Zander and Noah, 1353. And then Chainbow scored his third of the season to get us ahead 2-1. Danic Bouchard with another shorty, our seventh against of the season, rounded the first out at 2-1. Shots at the end of the first were 15-12 in our favour. My notes say that Tegans top corner snipe beautiful Rista through traffic. Lovely to see Brian's goal, good reward from driving the net. I felt we were slightly better on face-offs on in the first on Sunday than we had been on on Saturday. And we did have a four on at the end of the first period. We just lost control of the puck. That was quite late on I think. But yeah, first period ended 16. shots to eight in our favour Gordie. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah, that goal by Tagan Ripon as well. He scored one very similar to that. His very first goal was in Sydney Derby in twenty twenty four. back in April twenty twenty four. so great to see him on the score sheet. I thought Tagan played well last week in Melbourne when I when I saw him. I saw him out at one stage, you know, David Booth was on the ice for Melbourne and so I was you know, you kind of check who's on the ice at at the same time for the Bears and and he was out there and I thought he he played well. so it was really good to see him get get a goal his his first of the season. that was a great shot from the from the high slot. Nathan: Great shot. Really really well manufactured goal as well. R really enjoyed Xander's play. You know, gave it off, created space as well. continued his run to open up space. And then Tags obviously executed really well with a nice finish. And I must say, a huge shout out to Tags. I was pretty pumped up, you know, watching this goal go in. Taggs, you know, he's he's a young guy, but he's been around our club for a long time. And I would I I would actually throw out sort of that label of clubman. Tegan Ripon is a clubman. He would do anything for this club. The way that he conducts himself and carries himself for a young guy you know, around our organization, you know, he he's absolutely first class. he'd do anything for the boys, you know, highly respected and valuable member of of our group. always wears a smile on his face, you know, regardless of how much ice he's seeing or not seeing. Even when he's out of the lineup, he's an absolute pleasure to have around. you know, he'll talk to sponsors, he'll talk to fans. he just does all of the one percenters around our club. And to see him take that opportunity, you know, put up a pretty goal. And, you know, the celebration, I think, was a great reflection of what this meant to him. That was such a nice moment. So huge shout out. and I'll actually give a plug to his sponsor. He's sponsored by Momenta, and also a shout out to his folks and Simon in particular, who's one of our one of our greatest ambassadors off the ice and certainly well situated in the social engine room at the governor post game. So yeah, I'm happy for all of you guys. Great, great job, great to see. Matt: Yeah, I was delighted for him as well. Nathan and I can only echo that. The interactions I've personally had with him have been first class. He's super guy, always got a smile on his face, super positive, makes time for everyone. So Onya taken 10 out of 10 from number 10. Nathan: I like that. Matt: One every week for you, mate. Nathan: W wa was that prepared? Matt: No, it just came to me. Nathan: Wow. Matt: Rather like, I'm just going to make a throw in an observation here, the shorty in the first, it was a three on one against inception of the blue line, felt a little bit like the crane train goal Gordon Goodenough: Hm. Matt: that the Mustang scored. Now, clearly, I think teams have been watching our power play. We like to slide that. East West blue line pass from our defenceman across to Lucas who sits in the face-off circle and he unleashes that clapper. But I think I noticed the the rhinos were in a 1-2-1 and that high forward and the left side of their diamond slid across every time the puck went to our defenceman. So they were anticipating that pass. I think they cut one out prior to that. with a bit of an active stick, but that's twice we've seen teams read that play and punish us in the last two weeks and we've conceded shorties. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah, good good observation. And in the second we the we continued to give up goals on the power play to Tyler Kubara. Bert Malloy scored his fourth of the season later in the period. And then Brian Soltero scored his second of the game and fourth unanswered goal for the Rhinos to make it five to two in the first minute of the third. And I gotta tell ya I I thought we were cooked. we we hadn't haven't come down f come back from a three goal deficit all season. we didn't do it in twenty twenty four either. It's been a while. but mate, that that finish to the third period was pr pretty exciting. Matt: Yeah, yeah. Just some minor observations and notes on my massive fan of Nick, but he obviously got pinged at the offensive blue line for Tripp Wright in front of the official. No complaints about the officiating on Sunday. As you say, Tyler Cabara scored the power play goal. He was all alone in the slot in front, which means very, very little opportunity for Kimmer to do much about that. Also the Burt Molloy goal was a breakaway just after our power play expired. So even though it wasn't a shorty, it felt like, you know, a breakaway on a shorty. So yeah, I was putting the kettle on and taking some deep breaths at the end of the second period with us down 2-4 and then almost immediately down 2-5 in the third. However, bucking a trend that we've seen. was us, Insta, replying with a goal 10 seconds after the fifth Rhinos goal. So, Brian scored again with his fourth of the year assist from Nick and Kenny. And then number 54 just literally put the team on his back, didn't he, in the third? Enormous performance, but also should give a tip of the cap to Kimra as well. I think Lucas put the team on his back and in the third and Kimra had had the team on his back pretty much up until that point and for periods afterwards as well. So two standout performances but what a bunch of characters shown by the guys and led all the way by Lucas. Nathan: Ab absolutely. You know, watching this and going five two down straight away I thought we are about to learn a lot. We've been learning a lot about certain guys the last, you know, four to six weeks in particular. But at that point, it at least I had the feeling that something similar to what unfolded could happen, or it could get really ugly. You know, you could you could justify why a group would just, you know, drop their heads at that point, particularly coming off the result on Saturday. But to see the response and to see not just individuals, but the group collectively really dial up their game and and battle, that that was probably in a long list of positives to come out of that third period. The battle, the compete, the the the relentless nature of the way guys were seeing the puck. No one wanted to lose a battle. guys were supporting each other. Our our our changes were quicker in the third than than what they were at any other point in the game. You could tell the guys were were up for this and they weren't gonna let it turn ugly and they wanted to get something out of the game. I I think that's a huge takeout and I think when Brian scored that goal for five three and the nature of the goal, you know, net drive, very similar goal to his goal in the first period, Matt: Yep. Nathan: that really made me happy because absolutely love Brian, ten out of ten guy, he cares so much. You know, very accomplished NCAA you know, record with UMass and and Arizona State, you know, played some games in the East Coast, has battled some injuries abroad and and obviously here throughout the course of the the season, which has been really, really tough to watch for him. But he he has built a very solid career in North America, scoring goals in and around the net, you know, puck on stickability, hand-eye, and doing things that a lot of players don't like doing, particularly a lot of forwards in this league. A lot of guys they don't they don't go to the net for whatever reason. You you don't see it as much as what you'd you'd probably assume that you would. But to see him pick up two goals, two massive goals, particularly the one in the third, and score in that nature, and again, you could see the response, not just from Brian, but the guys around him. These are little things that are great indicators that these guys, they're still together. They still want it. They're still battling. They're still competing. Absolutely massive takeout for me. Anyone watching this game should have highlighted this to say this is what you want to see out of your team. Matt: Going to share my age a little bit here, Gordie, but you'll know this one. They were two very Gary Roberts-like goals, weren't they? Gritty, determined, driving the net in those mucky areas, scoring from one and a half feet out. I'm there for every second of that, Brian. Good on you, Just to get a Nathan: Is that a leaps reference? Matt: little bit more, mate, we'll educate you in the final. Nathan: Did did we not agree right at the start that we weren't going to do this nonsense? No one cares. Matt: We'll educate you in the final. Nathan: No no one with intelligence cares. Matt: Moving on, we Nathan: Moving on, great. Thanks. Matt: called Kimara with two minutes and 10 seconds left Nathan. to your point, our desire to look after the puck, keep it in the Ozone, protect it, Gordon Goodenough: Yeah. Matt: win the puck back, get first to lose pucks and then keep possession in key and critical areas was very much on display there. I think you summarized that perfectly as an enormous amount of character. Kim appalled at 2-10. Lucas's Hattie scored 53 seconds left to equalize at 6-0. All three of Lucas's goals were pretty, I enjoyed them. yeah, lots of character. That's what we're here for, Nathan: When you see Herms with number one a smile and number two the level of animation and the body language, that that's a very good version of Lucas Herman, and it's one that can be flat out dominant in this league. and it was just nice to see, you know, I obviously I was, you know, talking about Brian just before. Seitze was flying in this game. Matt: was. Nathan: He looked like sort of the the pre injury Nick. which is just phenomenal to watch. Everyone was going. That top line was absolutely flying. Gordon Goodenough: Mm. Nathan: you know, even Tyrell, Tyrell took two really nasty shot blocks. He he has I've said this before, he's battled a lot for us physically. another game where he just turned up and put everything on the line for the group. Kenny Hayashi was again huge. We've spoken about you know, Kenny smarts out there the way he sees the ice, you know, this Swiss utility knife ability that he has. But he really Matt: Thanks. Nathan: again he helped us get up ice. You know, he when he's skating is prominent, everyone else around him becomes becomes, you know, a factor in the game. And I think he was actually rewarded for that effort, maybe one or one one or two assists gentlemen. As the game developed, so did the collective contributions and the momentum that we were building within the game. And by the time, you know, the whip started cracking in the third, the ice was heavily tilted in in our favour. And the g and and the guys earned that with with hard work. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah, a and I thought it was it was a really good performance. You mentioned the top line. You know, I think if you look around the league and import production from other teams and import production from us, we're not we're not in in the top of that category. We're kind of a you know, do things by committee. but we needed someone to to step up and and that top line was was huge. You had Brian Chambers, that's a a a season high for him of four points. And Nick Seitz with four points, Lucas Herman four points. really good performance by by them and it it was absolutely essential to keep our finals hopes alive. Nathan: I'll just cite Kimmer quickly. I thought Kimmer had a really strong game. And he certainly made made some big saves when when it mattered most. again, not too dissimilar to the last time he played in in Arena, which again we've cited that game before, but shout out to Kimmer. I thought he he gave gave us every every chance out there. Matt: He was bailing us out of breakaways and odd man rushes quite frequently. Yeah, Gordon Goodenough: Mm. Matt: it felt a little bit run and gun. That big ice surface up there and all of their foot speed, you know, really does favour them. But yeah, Kimma likes playing in that building, obviously, because he's been stellar both of the last two games in Erina for us. Nathan: one other thing that I actually had noted down here was again, very similar to the last time we played in Erina, there was a real willingness to get in front of some of their big shooters. you know, Dex, you know, Z Xander was out to to Bouchard on a couple of occasions. Everyone was willing to do you know, those those one percenters that you probably don't really want to be doing. I don't think anyone with with any level of smarts wants to get in front of a Bouchard shot. you could just see the guys, they wanted it. They wanted to put on the line what's required to win. I cannot explain the the level of sustained adversity that this team has encountered this year. We've just had some rotten luck. At no point has there been excuses, you know, unfair animation and frustration, you know, bubbling over. Everyone's stayed on track. For sure. There's been more times than what we'd like where it hasn't, you know, that maybe hasn't been demonstrated in in some games and certainly hasn't been reflected in some of the results in games. But what I really enjoyed was just knowing what this group has gone through, the status of a lot of our guys, how much these guys do want to win, they do want to perform. You know, they're as frustrated as any one of us. They they they think and feel exactly the same things. The difference is they're the ones that are out there you know, putting it on the line and and responsible for execution and all of these things. This game, I just even personally, I got a great deal of satisfaction out of. sure, we had to take an OT, but it it did show that that these guys are still hungry, they care, they want to put a show on. And certainly for the traveling fans that made their way to Erinor, which was actually really impressive to see such a a strong group up there. great to see the boys deliver for those guys and and girls in in the arena as well. So these guys are trying. They they're trying, they've been trying all the way. It's it's been a tough season up until now, but yeah, they care, they want to battle, and I think we saw that finally pay dividend here in this game. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah, so it does go to a shootout and Kimmer, you mentioned Kimmer, Nathan, he was huge I I I thought on that first attempt by Danek Bouchard. just followed, tracked him, didn't get sucked in and made a he was big. there was nothing for Bouchard to to shoot out. He was trying to go to the back end, quick little backhand top shelf and Kimmer was just covering the the entire net it seemed. really good start in the shootout. Matt: Yeah, and good to, you know, I was giving you live updates, I Gordie, of who was up and what was happening. Yeah, Nick and Lucas, no doubt, as Bastille scored, and I think Sotoro missed. Did he lose his handle on the puck or his shot went slightly wide? obviously, again, Kimmel was there covering the angle, so 2-1, our third shooter not required. as Eric would say, no action required by the third shooter. So yeah, two one win in the shootout to get us the two points. Gordon Goodenough: How good was Lucas's little it was like a mini Forsberg move. just the one hand on the stick, putting it underneath the pad of of Oberoy. That was that was pretty cheeky. Matt: That was the action of a man who'd scored a hat-trick. Nathan: Yep. That that that that was that was the big D energy on that play. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah. Nathan: And you could see it. He had his chest out. He had this swagger and arrogance about him. Like, I'm just gonna get this thing done. And just the fashion, the way that he took it in, so casual, so confident, and then the let's not underestimate the the subtle celly as well. He had the stick spin. Put it put it back in the in in the kit bag. And I yeah, I at this point I was just buzzing. These guys were really starting to to turn it on. There was a there was a bit of flair out there, if I use a footballing term. There was some real flair out there by the end of it. Matt: Ryza, Nico, part of Lucas's warm up next week must be throw a few pucks for him to head back to you. Nathan: Yeah, I like it. Gordon Goodenough: So we we we end up we end up getting the win and mate it was that was a much needed much needed couple of points, but just to reward them for their hard graft as well. and a good good one for the fans as well to go home feeling happy about. if you traveled up to Arena to see that, I think you'd you'd be pretty happy, pretty pleased with the with the entertainment and performance. Matt: Yeah, absolutely. Picking up on your point earlier, Nathan of the boys working super hard and throwing themselves in the way of the bush bomb. We limited Bouchard to one goal and one assist and Bay to one assist in that game. So two of the three or four big guns that we look out for on the Rhino scoresheet week after week were very much held in check. O'Brien finished with 65 shots against. 59 saves from 908. This man is just a machine. I didn't look at how many shots he faced on the Saturday, but I suspect he had another busy weekend. Nathan: He's absolutely phenomenal. There were times in that game where I actually thought he may have been a chance to come out of the game. He looked, I don't know whether he was maybe carrying a some kind of lower body niggle or, you know, maybe cramping. I'm not I'm not sure what it was, but at times there after, I just noticed his movement on the broadcast and I thought, wow, he's he's spent. At a minimum, he's absolutely spent. Matt: Yeah, my bad, no game on the Saturday, but I would imagine he's regularly facing 100 shots a weekend, isn't he, on a back-to-back, if not more. Nathan: Yeah, I think there's a big physiobill there lurking somewhere. Gordon Goodenough: So he he has had just just for the record, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. He's had one game in in the last twelve games where he's faced less than forty shots. he he has he has a pretty intense workload. yeah, so so shout out to him. A and somehow, yeah, he he just manages to, you know, keep his team in games and mate, he's been as dominant as a goaltender can be in in this league. he's he's been sensational. I know he doesn't get the wins all the time, but mate, he he definitely earns his keep. Nathan: And by all Gordon Goodenough: So Nathan: accounts a great guy. I haven't met him personally, but I've heard really good things about him as a person. Gordon Goodenough: So let's move on to next weekend. This coming weekend we have the Perth Thunder that we'll be taking on. thoughts on this one, gentlemen? Nathan: Thunder always tough. I thought we did I recall it was relatively early in the season we went to Perth with a heavily depleted lineup. I feel like we almost traveled with half half a squad. And and did okay until we probably ran out of legs in in that game. but certainly certainly battled. I think the Thunder, like any season, at this point of the season, very well rounded team. They're they're they're deep. Both at forward and on the back end. they would have to be one of the most experienced and settled, consistent lineups in the league. You know, you look up and up and down their roster, and it's just copy paste season on season. They've got firepower, they've got a lot of role players as well. You know, they're probably rolling the same lines almost week in, week out. Everyone has their their spot and their fit, their role. configurations are probably very consistent. I think it's just a group that complements you know, e each other very well. you know, they've got they've got some strong stay at home D, they've got some guys who can really contribute on the offensive side. They they're a really dangerous team. anyone that knows their way around this league would certainly have the Thunder as a very, very serious contender this year, the way they're shaping up. Matt: They started July off really hot but they've lost their last two games. Sunday the 12th of July they lost in Perth to the Melbourne Ice, six goals to two. And then they've had a two-week break where they haven't played a game and also lost at home on the 25th of July to the North Stars, 8-3. Yeah, they're running a little bit cold at the moment. That could be a danger sign. But for a team that are sitting third on the ladder with 44 points from 22 games, they're very likely to pose some serious problems for us. Gordon Goodenough: Yep, they've they've got Felix Plouf is he's having an outstanding season v assist wise. He's he's got nine goals, forty three assists, Peter Horchik, he's got twenty two goals, twenty nine assists for fifty one points. You Hikosaka, he's he's got forty points, twenty two goals, eighteen assists. They've they've got some very high powered weapons and then yeah, as as Nathan as as you mentioned guys in in the lineup that know their role, that do it well, and that make them extremely hard to to play against and to match up against. Matt: decent goal-tending tandem as well. Charles Smart leads the league in save percentage with the 9-1-7 over 10 games. And we all know Alexei Toivanen's pedigree from his years at the Canberra Brave, platoon him with Tets. So, yeah, they're in safe hands on the back end as well. Nathan: I'm just gonna say they're they're very highly respected, highly regarded by our guys. you know, every year. there's a lot of appreciation for you know the the strength of organization that they are. They've got a you know great group of people running that that club. They're a very high quality organization. and when when I think of the Thunder, I just think of consistency. Although they although they haven't really got over the hump, they're always there or thereabouts. A lot of continuity, a lot of experience, and they they generally recruit very well as well. Gordon Goodenough: Yep. Since since twenty eighteen there have been three teams that have made finals every year of eligibility. They are the Canberra Brave, the Sydney Bears, and the Perth Thunder. So y they are Nathan: Digger. Gordon Goodenough: the a a a model organization and of consistency. So yeah, that'll be a tough one. Then on the Sunday we head to Melbourne to take on the Melbourne Ice and the Melbourne Ice they play the Ice Dogs on the Saturday. so both teams will be on the back half of a back to back. we'll have the additional wrinkle of travel. But this one is is a huge game in in the context of finals. Matt: Yes, let's hope for happier hunting grounds than last weekend or weekend before last. Having said that, I think we skated with 15 warm bodies on the Saturday against the Melbourne Ice, so with a bit of luck and fair prevailing wind we should have more men on the bench and available to us for our endeavours. O'Brien on Sunday. But yeah, we talked about the Ice a couple of weeks ago. Depth, bit of a nightmare matchup particularly at home. They play that kind of draining style, which is very physical, super smart with their power play, sort of setting picks so they're, you know, keeping defenders on the outside and not... allowing defencemen to box them out on the power play. And, you know, obviously you've got enormous pedigree with ex-NHL players and some very, very handy imports. So I think it'll be all hands to the pump in Melbourne on the Sunday. Nathan: Yeah, I've said this before, but I feel like overall we've we've actually played quite well against the ice this year, particularly five on five. We we haven't seen the results. and really it's just been you know short intervals in games that have cost us. but stating the obvious, you know, we need we we need to turn the tables this weekend on on that equation. certainly a very talented group. Particularly at forward, they have a very, very deep forward group. high potency. and their big guys have consistently they've been consistently big over the last probably four to five weeks. So should be a great game. there's always a really good energy in in games against the ice and hopefully we can return serve from, you know, a couple of a couple of tough Tough results against them so far this season. Gordon Goodenough: Yes, be before we we sign off as well, just a a shout out to Lucas Herman who in he played twenty six games in twenty twenty four and scored twenty two goals. He has played twenty five games in this this season and has topped that with twenty three goals. So a new AIHL career high for him. He's also still running a twenty two game active point streak. So he's been a very consistent for us as well. and yeah, Nick Seitz is has obviously he's he's been producing points since his return. but yeah we'll definitely need all hands on deck for this weekend to be able to rack up some points. Any final thoughts guys before we head off? Matt: I think it's a super interesting weekend with direct impact in the games. So obviously the Ice play the Ice Dogs on Saturday whilst we entertain Perth. I'm kind of trying to work through in my head what the optimum result in that game is. Clearly it's an overtime something for someone but I can't work out what that something is for whom Nathan: Mm. Matt: But yeah looking at the the ladder North Stars and Mustangs now 150 they look They're already mathematically assured of finals place. Is that right? Gordon Goodenough: Not not yet not yet, because the the max we can make is fifty one. Yep. Matt: Okay, yeah. But Nathan: Let's do that. Matt: looking very, yeah, let's do that. But looking very strong nevertheless. Thunder in third on 44 points from 22 games. The Brave continue their march up the league with 41 points from 22. Ice Dogs sit in fifth with 39 points from 23 games. The Ice in the final, final spot. with 38 points from 24. We're in seventh outside looking in, 36 points from 25 games. So yeah, what does it look and feel like for you guys? Any thoughts? Gordon Goodenough: a as far as a point total that we need. I don't I don't know if it's gonna necessarily be a point total, but it's who we get those points against. maybe forty four points. but i i i if we end up beating Melbourne and then Melbourne Melbourne's got three games left against Canberra, like we may it may be less than forty four. I reckon somewhere around that forty four, forty five point mark though, is is kind of what I see as the a target that we could realistically make. Nathan: Okay. I I've I've been sitting here thinking that we have to get close to, if not on, maybe something as high as forty nine. But a as you say, what what is interesting and we covered this last week, the the fact that there's a lot of head to head games and games that, two contending teams. you know, Ice Ice V, you know, brave alone, you know, over three games. It does make it, you know, somewhat unique. But when I when I kicked off this conversation, Gordy, having you in the room as the numbers guy, I thought you were going to bring something with real conviction and and mathematical excellence. look, you haven't delivered. I'm disappointed. The listeners will will share that disappointment with me, I'm sure. so maybe maybe next week, mate, if you can come a little bit better prepared, that'd be great. Gordon Goodenough: Look, if if I'm disappointing people I'm meeting expectations. So that's Nathan: Yeah, someone Matt: slip. Nathan: once said if you if you're disappointing or upsetting people, you're doing a good job. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah. Nathan: So let's do that. What is it? Fifty the equation for everyone listening, the equation is maximum points fifty one and we're just gonna upset and disappoint people the rest of the way and our job will be done here. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna say forty four points with conviction is is what is what we're gonna need to to make finals. I think Nathan: So th three wins. Three regulation wins. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah, in in our next five. Yeah. Nathan: In our next five. Okay. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah. So but we need one of those wins to come against the Melbourne Ice this weekend. So if Nathan: Yes. Yep. Yeah, exactly. Gordon Goodenough: because I feel like we are not gonna catch the dogs. They've got too many games in hand. They they've got a weak schedule, comparatively. So I I don't think we're catching the dogs. our sights need to be set on the Melbourne Ice. in my opinion. Nathan: Yeah. No, I I I see and agree with that logic. Between scheduling games in hand, they would really have to fall apart between now and the end to to miss out. Gordon Goodenough: But jeez, wouldn't that be fun? Nathan: I I can't comment on that. Matt: I think I've Nathan: Stop looking at me like that. Matt: been controversial enough to say going to stay quiet as well. Gordon Goodenough: this weekend is is a big opportunity for us. definitely that that game on Sunday in Melbourne that's a big one. Nathan: A six a six pointer? Gordon Goodenough: Nice. Nathan: It's a term that we haven't used here before, but I'll just roll it Gordon Goodenough: We've Nathan: out tonight. Gordon Goodenough: look, I've I've never Matt: Please, please, please. Gordon Goodenough: I've never heard it. Yeah, yeah. It's amazing. Nathan: No, neither have I. I made it up then. yeah, took a leaf out of Matt's book. Matt: I should just finish off by thanking everyone. I was flying solo after the game. I was missing my wingman. Nathan was at home recovering from poorly and Gordon was commentating from home. So I was flying solo in the governor after the game. So thank you to all the lovely ladies who said hello and invited me over for drinks. That was super special and I appreciated. you all introducing yourselves and the very kind words that you said about the podcast and particularly when I said, look, we're just three grumpy old men trying to have a little bit of fun and not sound silly. So appreciate you all, ladies, see you and gentlemen, and see you on Saturday. All being well. Gordon Goodenough: Yeah, very good. Excellent. Well Matt: Yep. Yep. Gordon Goodenough: thank you for listening once again, this week. In the meantime, thanks for following us on socials. and go bears. Matt: Go Bears. Nathan: Go bears. Come on, boys.