The Adelaide Generals and Sun Devils both won their games on day three of the AJIHL Showcase Series. Adelaide Generals crushed the Sydney Sabres 9-2 in the early game, while the Sun Devils conquered the Melbourne Glaciers 5-1 late in the day.

Adelaide Generals 9 defeat Sydney Sabres 2

Daniel Chen has been outstanding this tournament for the Generals, and he gave the defending champions the early lead courtesy of a smart pass by fellow Adelaide Adrenaline product Julian Friederich. Just three minutes in, the score was 1-0.

The Sabres did a good job limiting chances and goaltender Connor Dowell, part of the Sydney Ice Dogs system, kept the scores close with some big saves.

However, in the second period, the floodgates opened. Daniel Chen again found the back of the net, this time using his speed to burst through the neutral zone and create a breakaway, going forehand-backhand on Dowell for the goal.

Charlie York, part of the CBR Brave system, made it 3-0 a few minutes later with a wicked wrister from above the left circle that went over Dowell’s blocker. A minute later, Cameron Hughes, who also plays for the Central Coast Rhinos, took the space available to skate in from the half-wall to the net front and squeeze the puck over the line for the 4-0 marker.

The Sabres got a bit of respite with a powerplay opportunity midway through the period. Newcastle Northstars player Ryan Duchemin shot from the point, and although Generals goaltender Justin Baxter made the initial save, Sydney Ice Dogs defenseman Marcus Hosen cleaned up the rebound for the goal.

Hughes gave Generals and Rhinos fans more reason for excitement before the end of the period with two more goals to complete the hat-trick. First, Chen’s pass found Hughes all alone in front of Dowell, and he had time to quickly deke around the sprawling goaltender.

Next, on a Sabres powerplay, Hughes stole the puck in neutral ice and skated in alone on Dowell. He temporarily lost control of the puck, but still had time to recover and fire top shelf on Dowell who was down early in the butterfly.

Bodhi Matthew, another CBR Brave prospect, made it 7-1 on the powerplay before the second period ended, shooting through traffic from the point.

Sydney Ice Dogs forward Max Miller scored early in the third period on a breakaway for the Sabres to make it 7-2, but the damage had been done. James Williams restored the six-goal lead for the Generals with a wrister from the circle that beat Dowell up high after he had again gone into the butterfly early.

Finally, another Adelaide Adrenaline standout, Tyler Boyle, put the exclamation point on the victory with a shot from the point that went through a maze of players and into the net to make it 9-2.

Sun Devils 5 defeat Melbourne Glaciers 1

The Sun Devils have been a fun team to watch this tournament, and the amalgamation of players from Western Australia and Queensland quickly found the lead. After a huge hit by the Glaciers, Brayden Maybee picked up the loose puck and was able to put the puck between the Glaciers goaltender’s wickets for the 1-0 lead.

A late powerplay in the first period allowed the Sun Devils to double its lead. Patrick Sucher’s pass found Bryce Hodges in the right circle and he snapped a one-timer home.

The pattern of scoring an early even strength goal and a late powerplay goal continued for the Sun Devils in the second period, and once again it was Brayden Maybee scoring the first and Bryce Hodges with the second.

Brayden Maybee’s initial attempt to pass to his teammate was thwarted, so the productive forward picked up the loose puck and put it in the net himself.

Next, another Patrick Sucher pass found Bryce Hodges in the high-slot and although he didn’t get all of the shot, he got enough for it to skitter past Ronan Hoy and into the Glaciers net.

Melbourne finally got on the board on the powerplay early in the third period and it had a Melbourne Derby feel to the goal. Melbourne Mustangs player Evan Khroustalev shot from distance, and it found a way through Melbourne Ice goalie Thomas Forrest to cut the lead to 4-1.

Lachlan Fixter finished up the scoring with some fine work on the forecheck to create a turnover before skating in front and jamming the puck home for the 5-1 victory.

Upcoming Games

Today’s AJIHL semi-final games features the top seeded Adelaide Generals vs last placed Melbourne Glaciers at 2:00 pm AEDT, followed by the second placed Sun Devils vs third-placed Sydney Sabres at 4:30 pm AEDT. Thought Fox Media is streaming all of the games via YouTube, click here for the playlist of all the games.

Special thanks to Jess Fuller for her great photos. Make sure you’re following her Facebook page for all of her excellent photography.

Stay tuned to the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League socials for updates throughout the tournament, and make sure you’re following us for additional coverage.