With the Hungry Jacks 2024 AIHL Finals just around the corner, Hockey Hype Australia is taking a look at how each of the teams competing got there, and what the keys to their success are. Continuing with the third placed team in the Hellyer Conference – the Perth Thunder.

2024 Record

Overall record (15 W – 5 OTW – 1 OTL – 9 L) (0.622* PCT -before point deduction)

• Record against finals-bound teams (7 W – 3 OTW – 0 OTL – 7 L)

Story of the season: Is this the year the can they finally take the next step and lift the Cup?

Key stats

In this section, we look at some of the key stats for the Thunder across the season – against all teams, and against the other five finalists.

Figure 1: Perth Thunder Percentage – overall, and against Finals-bound teams.

This shows us that while the Thunder have a worse record against finalists – it isn’t by much, and is the second-smallest change across all six teams.

Figure 2: Perth Thunder goal scoring – versus league average, overall and against finalists.

We can see here that the Thunder defensive output actually steps up against the better teams, conceding less goals per game – but their scoring reduces. Below we can see the consistency on the powerplay, but an already struggling PK does get a bit weaker.

Figure 3: Perth Thunder special teams performance.

Strengths

Goaltending/defence – Perth have been strong in their own end, conceding the least goals of any team in the league – 98 for the season, or just under 3.3 per game. The Thunder are also the only team that concede less than two goals per game in 5v5 play over the season.

Scoring spread – The Thunder have the lowest share of points from their top 3 scorers (30.9%) and top 5 scorers (45.9%). This just shows their depth in scoring across the season.

Flexibility – with players coming in and out, Thunder have maintained their level regardless of who is on the team sheet each week. The ability to cover extended absences of various stars through the season has them in good stead.

Weaknesses

Penalty Kill –  The Thunder PK is better than only the Lightning (insert storm pun here) going at just 76.1%.

Discipline – Perth have the second most penalties-in-minutes per game, with their 15.5 per game, behind only the Ice’s 16.8 per game. This combined with their PK troubles is a real challenge for the Thunder.

When they win

When they win, the Thunder shooting more – 39.8 shots in wins, 33.5 shots in losses. Save percentage also tells a story – at 0.930 in wins, but dropping to 0.855 in losses, showing the importance of Bertein. One last stat that sticks out is just how key the Penalty Kill is to wins – it runs at 82.4% in wins, but falls to 63.6% in losses.

Player to watch

Leo Bertein. Has a claim to be the best tendy in the league this season, and his play is key to the Thunder’s chances on Finals weekend.

Under the radar: Kieran Webster is primed to stamp his impact across the Finals.

Weird stat

Perth concede more goals per game in Melbourne (4.75 per game) than at any other venue this season. Something they will have to overcome to lift the Cup.

Top 10 scorers

Goalies

Projected lineup

In this lineup, only Tenosalmi is taken as unavailable through injury.