The Adelaide Generals defeated the Sydney Sabres 5-1 in the 2023 AJIHL Showcase Series Gold Medal game to record back-to-back championships. Earlier in the day, the Sun Devils secured bronze with an 8-4 victory over the Melbourne Glaciers.

Sun Devils 8 defeat Melbourne Glaciers 4

Plenty of goals were scored in the day’s early matchup, with the Sun Devils and Glaciers lighting the lamp a dozen times between them. The Sun Devils struck first on a 4-on-3 powerplay after three penalties were called in the first minute of play.

With time winding down on the powerplay, Quentin Greenwood skated in on Patrick Ivens and fired a wrister that beat Ivens glove-side for the 1-0 marker.

Brayden Maybee doubled the lead with a slick play at the blueline to keep the puck in the zone. After chipping the puck along the boards, Maybee regathered and fired a quick shot from the left faceoff dot that went top-shelf short-side.

Another Brisbane Lightning prospect, Arum Rapchuk, made it 3-0 for the Sun Devils on another powerplay. Rapchuk collected the puck in his own zone, sped through the neutral zone before the left-hander fired from the right faceoff circle short-side that found the back of the net and, satisfyingly, the water bottle.

With three minutes left in the first period, Maybee nabbed his second after some smooth skating took him from the half-wall to the net-front. His shot from point blank range made it 4-0, and it seemed the rout was on.

When the Sun Devils went to the powerplay again late in the period, things looked bleak for the Glaciers. However, Melbourne refused to give up, and some excellent pressure led to a shorthanded goal.

After the Glaciers cycled the puck in the offensive zone, Alex May (Melbourne Mustangs) gained possession along the half-wall and centred to a wide open Timothy Nikitin (Melbourne Ice), who converted from the high-slot past Dillon Dewar (Perth Thunder).

Jack Mollee restored the four-goal advantage for the Sun Devils in the second period just as a Sun Devils powerplay expired. Mollee was given room to skate from behind the net and tuck it around Ivens, making it 5-1.

The Glaciers continued to push, and collected its second goal on special teams before the second period ended, this time on the powerplay. Some good patience by Matthew Nikitin (Melbourne Mustangs) allowed Sai Lake to get into position in the slot, and his one-time shot snuck through Dewar’s wickets.

Melbourne Ice goaltending prospect Thomas Forrest took over from Dewar in the Sun Devils net to start the third period. Forrest was the busier of the two goalies to start the period as the Glaciers applied pressure without reward.

It took a fine goal from Arum Rapchuk for the period’s first goal.

Rapchuk spun and fired a backhand from the hashmarks that Ivens saved, but the rebound came straight back out to Rapchuk whose momentum had spun him to his forehand. Rapchuk fired a dart into the far corner for the 6-2 advantage.

Just when it seemed as if the game would end with a 6-2 scoreline, a frantic final three minutes delivered four goals.

First, Brayden Maybee completed his hat-trick with 2:43 left to make it 7-2 with some individual brilliance. The standout forward skinned the Glaciers defender to create a clear path to the net, and fired blocker-side for the tally.

A Glaciers timeout allowed the team time to regroup, and Matthew Nikitin made it 7-3 just 23 seconds later. Nikitin intercepted a clearing pass inside the left circle and slid the puck past Forrest for the goal.

When Sun Devils players Charlie Ross and Hunter Boland went to the penalty box with 1:22 remaining, the Glaciers had a golden opportunity to cut into the lead.

Sai Lake gave the Glaciers hope as he swept a rebound past Forrest, making it 7-4, and the Glaciers still on the powerplay.

With time winding down, the Sun Devils converted off a mistake by the Glaciers netminder. Ivens went behind the net to collect the puck and passed to a Glaciers player. However, Quentin Greenwood intercepted the puck and put it in the wide open net to seal the 8-4 victory and the bronze medal.

Adelaide Generals 5 defeat Sydney Sabres 1

The Sabres caused an upset in the semi-finals, defeating the Sun Devils 5-2 after trailing 2-0 earlier in the game. The result reversed the 7-2 Sun Devils victory in the tournament’s opening night.

Goaltender Matthew Montgomery (Newcastle Northstars) was a huge part of the semi-final comeback, and he was sharp again early for the Sabres. A Generals powerplay allowed Adelaide to dominate the shot-count early, without reward.

The Generals have game-winning goaltender of its own in Jeremy Friederich (Adelaide Adrenaline), and he needed to be sharp to deny Sydney Ice Dogs prospect Oscar Noone, and Sydney Bears prospect Noah Moncrieff on the doorstep midway through the first period.

Next it was Montgomery’s turn to deny the dynamic Daniel Chen (Adelaide Adrenaline) on a mini-break.

Just as it seemed the goaltending duel would result in a scoreless period, the Generals scored with just 20 seconds left in the period on the powerplay.

A smart shot from Tyler Boyle (Adelaide Adrenaline) from the blueline went through a maze of players and took a deflection off of Charlie York (CBR Brave) and past Montgomery to break the deadlock.

Halfway through the second period, the Sabres restored parity through Jerry Zhou. The forward took some punishment and stayed in the crease to shovel a rebound under Friederich for the 1-1 goal.

Just two minutes later, Tyler Boyle scored on a breakaway to give the Generals the lead. And the defending champions didn’t let up.

Bodhi Matthew (CBR Brave) scored an insurance marker – a howitzer from the blueline – for the 3-1 advantage.

A couple of minutes later, the Generals went on the powerplay, and it took just three seconds to convert.

A scrambled faceoff win by Daniel Chen led to the puck squeaking out to Timothy Benson who fired immediately past Montgomery to make it a 4-1 game heading into the third period.

Midway through the final frame, the Generals scored a fifth goal with an effort that summed up its tournament. Some sustained offensive zone time combined with some good puck movement led to Charlie York receiving the puck in the left circle.

York made no mistake in ripping a shot through Montgomery despite being pressured and checked by Sabres forward Max Miller (Sydney Ice Dogs) while completing his shot.

As time expired, both team’s benches cleared to embrace their netminders, and the Adelaide Generals, for the second year in a row, are AJIHL champions.

Tournament Awards

Team MVP’s

Adelaide Generals – Daniel Chen

Melbourne Glaciers – Timothy Nikitin

Sun Devils – Brayden Maybee

Sydney Sabres – Max Miller

Top Points Scorer – Cameron Hughes (Adelaide Generals)

Fairplay Award – Sydney Sabres

Best Goalie – Jeremy Friederich (Adelaide Generals)

Best Defense – Haozhe (Jeff) Hu (Adelaide Generals)

Best Rookie – Daniel Koudelka (Adelaide Generals)

Tournament MVP – Daniel Chen (Adelaide Generals)

And that’s a wrap. Stay tuned as we look at a standout player from each team, and also look at how each AIHL team’s prospects fared throughout the tournament. Those articles and more coming soon to our website.

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