Adelaide Adrenaline mid-season report card – Current rating: NI (Needs Improvement)

It has been both an encouraging and disappointing start to Season 2024 for the Adelaide Adrenaline faithful. The team has improved dramatically compared to 2023, there are bright prospects all over the ice and the team is super competitive now in the AIHL.

However, the points haul from the first half of the season will be disappointing for South Australians. They will have hoped for more given the level of play the team is producing on the ice week in week out.

Improved competitiveness

One of the big reasons for their improved competitiveness so far this season has been the defensive strength the team has built in 2024. Already boasting one of the best local goaltender lineups in the league, the addition of Rylan Toth, Sean Greer, Shaun Dosanjh, Daniel Koudelka, Ty Wright and Matt Price have added steel along with the returning Andrew Chen, Zach Boyle and Jordan Freeman.

The additional steel has meant the Adrenaline are one of the stingiest defences in the league. They boast the third best goals against figures at the halfway point.

The Adrenaline have forced overtime three times so far this season and have been involved in 1 goal margin games 55% of the time thus far.

Room for improvement

However, the flip side of this showcases why the Adrenaline find themselves at the wrong end of the standings at the halfway mark. 24 goals from 11 games, or 2.2 goals a game, is simply not enough to see Adelaide winning many games. When you compare this to the league average of just over four goals per game, you can see the gulf that must be bridged.

Josh Adkins and Kaden Elder have shown themselves to be very capable when serviced. Daniel O’Handley has really stepped up this season so far, but he, Nathaniel Benson, Joey MacDougall, Daniel Chen and Julian Friederich need to provide better secondary scoring to make the difference the Adrenaline are after.  

Current standings

The Adrenaline currently sit a disappointing last in both the Rurak Conference and overall AIHL league standings. This is not where the team wants to be or reflective of their competitiveness in the first half of the season.

Adelaide has registered a single win, three overtime losses, and seven regulation losses rounding out their first 11 games.

The South Australians have a negative goal difference at this point, but it is in fact better than the Brisbane Lightning who sit second in the Rurak conference. That gives you an idea of how good defensively they are going and how their lack of offensive prowess to date is holding them back from realising their potential this season.

Key Performers so far

Rylan Toth

Toth arrived in Adelaide to bolster an already strong tender lineup for the Adrenaline. Rylan had big wraps before arriving and has reinforced this pre-season assessment of his abilities time and time again in an Adrenaline sweater.

In seven games, Toth has recorded a shutout and only let in 24 goals from 230 shots. His save percentage had been hovering above .900 but has just dipped below last game, now .896. This is the fifth best save percentage in the league currently. His goals against average is standing at 3.37, which is very respectable, but I am sure he would be looking to get this below 3 before the end of the season.

Toth is a big reason for the Adrenaline being such a defensive rock as it is. Hopefully he can continue to perform well and impress in the second half of the season.

Daniel Koudelka

The highly rated teenager, Daniel has been a surprise hit this season. Everyone thought it might take a season or two before we would see Koudelka really take the league by storm, but Daniel has had other ideas.

Koudelka has at times this season shown wisdom beyond his age and the offensive-defenceman has a wicked shot on him. His maiden AIHL goal at home vs the Mustangs was one memory he will never forget. What a cracking goal.

Exciting times ahead for Daniel and for the Adrenaline.

Josh Adkins

Moving to Adelaide from Newcastle was always going to be a challenge for the Canadian. Josh had a successful stint with the Northstars last season and it was interesting to see if he could replicate that in Adelaide.

It became quickly apparent that his role with the Adrenaline would be different to the one he had with the Northstars. Rather than being a provider, he would have to be the one of the main goal scorers for his new team.

Adkins has proven himself adaptable with his new role. He leads the scoring charts for the Adrenaline with 17 points from 11 games. He has a more even split between goals and assists compared to his time in Newcastle. His chemistry with Elder is important for the Adrenaline and if they can get Adkins even more service then there is no reason why he can’t finish the season with a swag of points.

Best win so far

There is not a lot of options for this, however, the one win the team has got over the line thus far was a big scalp, the Sydney Bears.

In an exciting see-sawing opening game of the season, the Adrenaline triumphed at home in front of a sell out crowd. Adelaide dominated for large swathes of the three periods, but the Bears special teams were uber-effective and kept them in the contest.

The Adrenaline outshot their more fancied opponents and a barn-storming finish with a grand-stand finale saw Jordan Freeman score the game winning goal with around one minute to go in the game. The roof was nearly blown off the IceArenA.

The win meant a lot to the Adelaide ice hockey community. It was their first opening game win since 2017 and secured the Adrenaline their first consecutive home victory since May 2016, a 2,890 day wait.

The season could not kick-start any better for Adelaide. Hopefully this feeling can be captured and felt again this season.

Expectations for remainder of the season

If the Adrenaline can produce more goals, both within the big hitting import contingent as well as the locals, then they are likely to see a few more of these one-goal losses flip into narrow wins. They have the defensive foundations in place, time to get the offence clicking.

If they are successful at this, then they will be aiming to lift themselves off the foot of the Rurak conference and AIHL standings respectively and can look to building towards an eventual Finals push next season.

If they are unable to, more hard lessons will be learnt this season. But I for one like to look on the bright side of things and I have faith in this core group delivering in the future and producing a better full season report card.

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