The 2007 AIHL season was the eighth season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It ran from 14 April 2007 until 26 August 2007, with the Goodall Cup finals following on 1 and 2 September 2007. The Adelaide Avalanche won the V.I.P. Cup after finishing the regular season first in the league standings. The Bears won the Goodall Cup for the second time by defeating the Newcastle North Stars in the final.

Regular season The regular season began on 14 April 2007 and ran through to 26 August 2007 before the top four teams advanced to compete in the Goodall Cup playoff series.

Standings

Team Adelaide Avalanche 28 17 1 3 7 124 99 +25 56 Melbourne Ice 28 14 4 3 7 111 84 +27 53 Newcastle North Stars 28 13 5 4 6 117 96 +21 53 The Bears 28 14 4 2 7 113 87 +26 49 Brisbane Blue Tongues 28 15 0 4 8 126 111 +15 46 Western Sydney Ice Dogs 28 10 7 1 9 113 99 +14 42 Canberra Knights 28 6 0 2 20 87 132 -45 20 Central Coast Rhinos 28 2 0 2 24 80 163 -83 8 Qualified for the Goodall Cup playoffsV.I.P. Cup winners Notes:

Source

Statistics Scoring leaders List shows the ten top skaters sorted by points, then goals. Current as of 2 September 2007 Player Team Newcastle North Stars 23 31 38 69 26 F Brisbane Blue Tongues 20 39 23 62 56 F The Bears 25 20 42 62 49 F Adelaide Avalanche 20 24 19 43 109 F Adelaide Avalanche 23 22 20 42 24 F The Bears 24 15 26 41 34 F Central Coast Rhinos 22 11 27 38 28 C Adelaide Avalanche 21 17 20 37 40 LW Newcastle North Stars 26 7 28 35 67 D Melbourne Ice 23 16 18 34 4 F

Leading goaltenders Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage with a minimum 40% of the team's ice time. Current as of 2 September 2007 Player Team Newcastle North Stars 992 674 69 3.48 0.898 3 Western Sydney Ice Dogs 681 431 46 3.38 0.893 0 The Bears 1103 584 69 3.13 0.882 2 Adelaide Avalanche 994 594 70 3.52 0.882 1 Melbourne Ice 1039 536 66 3.18 0.877 1

Notes The Newcastle North Stars vs Canberra Knights game scheduled for 10 June was postponed by six weeks, due to power cuts caused by wild storms. The Adelaide Avalanche set an impressive record on 1 July against West Sydney, scoring four goals (all even-strength) in just thirty-four seconds; the comparable record in the NHL is eighty seconds, and is over sixty years old. The inaugural MVP award was presented to Tommy Powell of the Melbourne Ice. While Powell ranked only tenth amongst scorers (23 games, 16 goals, 18 assists), he dominated Melbourne's attack during the first half of the season, when they were at their most successful.

Goodall Cup playoffs

The 2007 playoffs was scheduled for 1 September with the Goodall Cup final held on 2 September 2007. Following the end of the regular season the top four teams advanced to the playoff series which was held at the Penrith Ice Palace in Penrith, New South Wales. The series was a single game elimination with the two winning semi-finalists advancing to the Goodall Cup final. The Goodall Cup was won by The Bears (2nd title) who defeated the Newcastle North Stars 3–2 in overtime after the two teams finished regulation time locked at 2–2. Bear's goaltender, Pekka Kankaanranta, was named the finals most valuable player (MVP).

All times are UTC+10:00

Semi-finals

Final

References

External links Official website of the AIHL NHL.com's report of Opening Weekend by Rick Williams NHL.com's report on the Bears Goodall Cup win by Peter Lambert