The Adelaide Adrenaline have made the tough decision to replace Stu Henly with Kaden Elder as head coach.

The decision was announced last week by the team, but in truth it has been in effect for three weeks.

Elder has been charged with turning around the immediate fortunes of the South Australian outfit. Turning competitive losses into competitive victories. It’s not often that we see mid-season coaching changes in the AIHL.

Changing Priorities

In previous seasons this results based decision might not have been made by the Adrenaline. But it’s a statement more about the position the Adrenaline are now in. Results have become a vital key performance indicator for the team. Getting better and better is no longer good enough.

This is a positive for the South Australians. Because, for the best part of a decade, they have been rebuilding the team.

A Brief History of the Rebuild

Between 2009 and 2012 the team was one of the best in the AIHL, lifting the Goodall Cup in 2009. Between 2013-15 the team dropped down to a mid-table regular. Then the team struggled between 2016-19, finishing last four years in a row.

But the beginning of the recovery was afoot. The Adelaide Generals in the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League (AJIHL) cemented themselves as a powerful youth team, winning multiple championships between 2016 and 2023.

Adelaide’s youngsters performed well in the now defunct Pacific Hockey League (PHL) in 2022. They started building a competitive edge and a core group with cohesion and promise for the future.

The Adelaide Adrenaline’s permanent ownership changes finally came into effect in 2022, following the COVID-19 two-year AIHL hiatus. And while a rink agreement dispute stopped the Adrenaline from taking the ice in 2022, the team would take their place in the 2023 AIHL schedule.

The New Adrenaline

Many of the promising youngsters from the Generals and PHL were signed by the Adrenaline, along with some leadership experience. Stu Henly was appointed head coach and he set about laying the foundations for the Adrenaline revival.

The team was not the strongest in 2023, but a lot of tough lessons were learnt, and the experience propelled the team to new heights in 2024. For the first time in years the Adrenaline became genuinely competitive against any team in the league.

A first game win against league heavyweights the Sydney Bears, promised so much at the beginning of the season. However, despite becoming one of the hardest teams to break down in the league and performing well in most games, the positive results were not following. The Adrenaline lost five games by a single goal margin from their first 11 games. This brings us back to the current situation. The Adrenaline know they are competitive and can be winning games, but it was just not happening, so what do you do. You make a change at the top and see if that can make a positive impact and turning results around.

The Kaden Elder Effect

Henly did a fantastic job developing the team into the defensive rock it has become. Now Kaden Elder will take this foundation and build on it. So far, from the six games he has been in charge, the team has won three games and picked up ten points. It’s a big impact in a small space of time and exactly the reaction the Adrenaline management would have wanted.

The Adrenaline are now in play-offs contention in the Rurak Conference and full of confidence a they prepare to travel to NSW to take on the Ice Dogs and Rhinos this weekend.

Kaden Elder looks like a tour de force since taking on the additional responsibilities at the Adrenaline. His leadership on and off the ice is evident to see and his on-ice performances have been second to none. Elder has posted points in all six games he has overseen at a rate of just over 2 points a game.

So will the Kaden Elder Effect continue to secure positive results for the Adrenaline this season? Or is it just another small step of improvement in the team’s quest to return to championship contenders? Only time will tell now, but it is guaranteed to be a fun ride finding out.

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