New Horizons set as Rurak conference heats up with the Brisbane Lightning securing a perfect weekend in Canberra against the Brave. A pair of 5-2 victories sends the visitors climbing the conference standings.

The Brave on the other hand will go back to the drawing board to secure their first home win. The result though is just one story from a lovely weekend of AIHL hockey in Canberra.

New eats, drinks and facilities

The Brave Cave is undergoing a long overdue makeover. Canberra and traveling fans alike will notice more and more changes as the season progresses. This is a marked difference for the 44-year-old arena, which saw very few updates since it opened in 1980.

Rink upgrades

The venue’s old turnstiles and gates have been removed. When you enter the rink you will notice new seating either side of the new player’s benches. This includes a new VIP seating area with plexiglass.

That’s right, you read that correctly, Phillip Ice Skating Centre has plexiglass for the first time in its history. Stuart Philps and his crew have completed just this small section for now, at 3am on game day.

However, they intend to complete 3/4 of the entire rink by July 2024. Word on the street is the ultimate goal is to complete the plexiglass of the entire rink by the end of the season.

In addition to the rink itself, lots of other small fixes are being made, including holes, dings and imperfections. The male and female change rooms are being re-painted and upgraded and the bathrooms are going through a makeover.

Game day experience upgrades

The canteen has seen Phat Boy Burgers come in and make needed extensive updates to the gas fittings and kitchen/cooking equipment. This enabled their new menu which featured cheeseburgers and poutine for the first time at hockey in Canberra to pop on game day.

Upstairs in the bar, Brave jerseys now adorn the back wall and Caribou Kingston is running the show. We’re yet to see this space fully converted but the ability to take a drink to your seat downstairs is a welcomed change to the game day experience.

More changes are planned both to the arena and the game day experience. Stu Philps in his new role as manager of Phillip Ice Skating Centre as well as head coach of the Brave, is a busy man.

AIHL bringing community together:

Over the first weekend at Phillip, there were plenty of familiar faces coming together for the first time in six months. Reunion vibes around the rink were palpable and you could feel the sense of a community reconnecting for another season.

New family

I was struck however, by the number of new faces in the crowd too. Three of those new faces happened to sit next to me. After introductory pleasantries, I found out this family had never been to a hockey game in Australia before.

They had just moved from Sydney to Canberra and were looking for a way to connect to their new community in the nation’s capital. What better way than a Brave hockey game.

The mother and daughter had never seen a hockey game before so were unsure of the rules and rhythm of the game. The father had migrated to Australia from Slovakia 20 years ago, so had grown up with hockey but had never been to the AIHL before.

As the game progressed, we all kept chatting and at the end I asked if they had enjoyed themselves and if they would be back. They said they had fun and would be back for another Saturday game during the season.

New friends

On Sunday, while at the bar, my friends and I sat next to a small group of guys who were also attending their first Brave and AIHL game. They came from a variety of working backgrounds and places around Australia.

The group were looking to try something different while they were all in Canberra. They had a shared connection of watching NHL so thought to give the AIHL a try. They were impressed by the level of the game, they had expected worse.

The group was even more impressed by the atmosphere of the fans and the drinks options at the bar that Leeroy had arranged with Caribou Kingston and Bright Brewery. They all said they had a blast at the game and wanted to know when more games were on.

When my friends and I bumped into them post-game at Belluci’s across the road they came up and said hi and said next time we should all get a table together. Highlighting the role hockey, the AIHL and the Brave plays in bringing community together, both old and new.

Luke Moore’s return to the Brave Cave and new horizons

Luke Moore made his long awaiting return to Phillip Ice Skating Centre over the weekend for the Brisbane Lightning. Moore, a former Brave player, last set foot on the small ice in 2016, some eight years ago.

Luke joined the Brave for the 2016 AIHL season following a successful AJIHL tournament in Canberra. He joined with two other Queenslanders, Mitch Henning and Matt Gilpin, and the three of them shared a house with some of the imports for that season.

Luke enjoyed the season, making 17 appearances. He made a group of new friends, however homesickness saw him leave after the single season.

“I loved my time in Canberra playing for the Brave, but it was tough being away from friends and family.”

Luke Moore reflecting on his time living in Canberra with the Brave

Luke headed back home to Brisbane to play local league hockey because Brisbane did not have an AIHL team at that point. When Moore learnt that Brisbane would be getting a new team, he was keen to tryout and see if could make the step back up to that level.

However, as with many things in life, a curveball came his way, and he was struck down with shoulder injury. On the mend and back playing inline hockey, Luke was progressing through rehab and was on the cusp of realising a potential return to the AIHL when he raptured his ACL.

Two years and two surgeries later, Luke Moore was medically cleared to return to competitive hockey. With some trepidation in pre-season, the support and strength of his Lightning teammates and coaches, has Luke full of confidence once more and enjoying his return to the league for his hometown team.

It’s time for Moore to look forward to the horizon with his Lightning family all around him in support.

“I’m excited and grateful to be a part of it all”

Luke Moore sharing his thoughts on the 2024 AIHL season with the Brisbane Lightning

Lightning prevail to sweep the weekend

Brisbane and Canberra headed into the two-game series at the Brave Cave on equal points after similar starts to Season 2024. It did look like a good litmus test of where both teams were at in comparison to one another.

On Saturday

Things began steadily with both teams testing each other out in a cagy affair. It was a fairly event game for the first period. Both teams then began to fall into penalty trouble in period two, destroying the cohesion and rhythm to the game.

As the game wore on, the Lightning began to make their special team opportunities count on the scoreboard. They harnessed this advantage and never let up for the remainder of the game. Clinical breakouts were the go-to weapon of choice for the Lightning.

The Brave to their credit built up sustained attack late in the third period. But they continued to struggle to penetrate and find the breakthrough they so desperately wanted. Brisbane ended the game 5-2 victors. Their first ever win over the Brave in a competitive game.

On Sunday

The two teams were once again evenly matched for most of the game. Both teams enjoyed leads at different times, but both also struggled to convert opportunities. That was until the third period anyway.

In the third, the Lightning’s attack clicked into gear and that sharpness from Saturday returned. Much to the despair of the Brave, who continued to be frustrated till the final siren. And like Saturday, Sunday produced an identical final scoreline of 5 goals to 2 in favour of the visitors.

Anthony Santilli, Patrik Popovics and Sam Hodic were impressive for the Lightning over the weekend. Sam was so unlucky to have a wonderful goal called back and ruled out after a ref discussion.

For the Brave the biggest highlight came with Buskas scoring his second goal of the season. However, Justin Maylan’s debut was impressive, what an opening goal he scored. Kai Miettinen put in a real captains knock, he was everywhere on the ice leading the team and Jackson Gallagher’s tenaciousness was also a joy to behold.

“It was great to see the guys rewarded with the 2 wins this weekend. They put in a lot of hard work during the week to improve some areas of our game that we needed to clean up. It was a total team effort with some great goaltending especially in the third period of game 2. The Brave are a great team and the Brave Cave has a lively crowd which I’m sure gives them a boost but the guys were able dig deep and find a way to win the period and the game.”

Lightning head Coach, Terry Kiliwnik after the game on Sunday

“It was a frustrating weekend. Felt like we were competitive and were right there in both games. Unfortunately we couldn’t capitalise on chances late in the games and they did. Proud of the efforts and the never give up attitude from the guys. We’ll regroup and focus on getting our first win at home this weekend in a tough game against Newcastle.”

Canberra brave captain Kai Miettinen, reflecting on the weekend of games.

For more stories, news and analysis from the AIHL, please check out Hockey Hype Australia’s AIHL News section.
If you want to check out a Canberra Brave game at Phillip Ice Skating Centre, tickers are available here.