The old adage says that form is temporary, but class is permanent. Now, because of the internet rotting our brains, our attention span is also temporary – so let’s look at form in the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). This is of particular interest as we head towards the Hungry Jacks AIHL Finals Series in Melbourne in a few weeks.

To do this, we look at each team’s last 10 games – which give us at least a decent sample of hockey to work with.

So what do the standings look like?

First port of call, over their last 10 games- what do the overall standings look like?

Table 1: Overall standings, each team’s last 10 games

The overall standings show that the Brave have been the best-performed team in recent times, with the Bears and Mustangs behind them, after a bit of a gap. The Bears dropping a few games recently has them sliding down (all the way to second!).

Key to the Brave’s climb has been their 5v5 play – they have a goal differential of +3.0 per game in 5v5 hockey. There has been across-the-board improvement, with them scoring an extra 1.7 goals per game, while conceding 0.9 goals less per game relative to the season as a whole (which includes these 10 games).

At the other end of the standings, the Rhinos and Adrenaline have continued to struggle – but that both of these teams have three wins apiece (including OT/SO) is testament to a more even season in 2024.

The big slider though, is the Melbourne Ice. A middling record exacerbated by a three point deduction from the AIHL, they have the third weakest record across the league – owing a lot to player unavailability, especially from the two import defencemen – Solow and Aonso.

For the Ice, their struggles on defence have meant giving up an extra 3.9 shots on goal (while taking 3 less themselves), and a lower save percentage for Ishida. The Japanese netminder has gone at 0.906 in the past 10 Ice games, while over the whole season he has 0.922.

Combined this has meant that the Ice concede 1.5 more goals per game over their past 10. The Ice do rely a lot on their top end, but Albrecht having a point on 79.1% of Ice goals tells a story.

What about conferences?

But, we all know that in the AIHL, the overall standings don’t matter – it’s the conferences that do.

Table 2: Hellyer Conference standings, each team’s last 10 games

Table 3: Rurak Conference standings, each team’s last 10 games

You can see here that the Rurak Conference is less interesting, with the same 3 teams in the top 3 as in the whole season standings (though Canberra and Newcastle have swapped spots). The Hellyer Conference though is much more fun. Two of the top three teams over the past 10 games won’t play in Finals now – with both the Mustangs and Ice Dogs leaving their runs too late.

Also for Hellyer, the impact of the penalties can be seen, with the three-point deduction for the Thunder taking them from second in conference to 4th. In the case of the Ice however, even without the penalty they would have the weakest record in the Hellyer.

Which players have been on a hot streak?

When it comes to scoring, the top 10 points-scorers over their team’s past ten games is given by Table 4. No surprises that Albrecht and Adam Kadlec of the Bears are out in front on this list, with the top 5 scorers coming from the Ice and Bears alone. Four players have 10 or more goals in their team’s last 10 games too – those two, Alex MacDonald of the Ice Dogs and Benjamin Berard from Perth.

There are two locals in the top 10 scorer list – with Mac Caruana and Jake Ratcliffe flying the flag for the local contingent.

Table 4: Top 10 point-scorers, past 10 games.

At the other end of the ice, we have the goaltender performance from their team’s past 10. Flodell and Meger have been huge for the Mustangs and Lightning, respectively – with the Mustangs’ leaky defence meaning Flodell has had to face almost 38 shots per game.

Special mention of Charlie Smart, who has the best record of any local tender – fresh off his shutout of the Rhinos.

Table 5: Top 10 goaltenders, by save percentage, past 10 games

Any quirks for your team?

Just for fun, here are a list of some of the most interesting quirks over the past 10 games for your team.

Adelaide Adrenaline – Probably the most consistent of the teams, but not necessarily in a good way. They managed only 24 goals in 10 games, with just Elder and Adkins going at over a point per game.

Brisbane Lightning – The only team scoring less than Adelaide, with 23 goals in 10 games. Mitch Dyck has been huge though – with points on 65% of those goals. Incredible influence on the scoreboard from a defenceman.

Canberra Brave – Second and third periods have been where the Brave get it done, with goal differences of +1.7 and +1.2 goals per period, respectively.

Central Coast Rhinos – Defence has improved for the Rhinos, who have allowed 0.9 goals per game less over the past 10 games than they have over the season as a whole.

Melbourne Ice – The Ice are no strangers to the penalty box, taking 5.9 PIMs more per game, while their opponents taking extra 1.3 PIMs over the past 10 games.

Melbourne Mustangs – Mustangs special teams have been huge lately, with both the PP (32.2%) and PK (94.0%) league-leading. These are dominant to the point that only 50% of Mustangs goals come from 5v5 hockey.

Newcastle Northstars – a quirk in their special teams – the PP has come off by 4.5 points, but the PK has improved by 4.8 points.

Perth Thunder – Perth haven’t been at their best, even if the decline hasn’t been stark. PP a big part of that – dropping by 5.2 points versus the whole season.

Sydney Bears – The Bears have the biggest decline in special teams across the league. Their PP has fallen by 7.1 points, and their PK by 9.3 points – both individually the biggest falls in the league.

Sydney Ice Dogs – They are a bit of the surprise packet here, with the 4^th best record in the league over this period, but also the Dogs PP is the most improved in the league up by 11.9 points.

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