The Hockey Hype Australia team got together to vote on who they predict will win each Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) award on offer this season. Did they get it right? Have your say in the comments.

Coach of the Year

Adelaide – Jeremy Friederich
Brisbane – Terry Kiliwnik
Canberra – Stuart Philps
Central Coast – Ron Kuprowsky
Melbourne Ice – Kerry Goulet
Melbourne Mustangs – Scott Timmins
Newcastle – Kevin Noble
Perth – Ben Breault (2023 winner)
Sydney Bears – Tyler Huberty
Sydney Ice Dogs – Jason Kvisle

Gordon Goodenough: The most straightforward and, indisputably, funniest choice is Tyler Huberty. Huberty led the team to the league’s summit before the Bears and Huberty decided to go in different directions. How mutual that decision was is certainly up for debate. Nevertheless, my choice is not Tyler Huberty based on my belief that a team outperforming expectations should trump a team’s overall record. The Bears, who finished second in the league in 2023, have arguably not outperformed expectations by as much as another conference rival.

My pick goes to Melbourne Ice Head Coach Kerry Goulet. The Ice had not made it to the Finals since winning the Goodall Cup in 2017. Four barren seasons followed, during which the Ice struggled to compete. In Goulet’s own words, he underestimated the league before he arrived for the 2023 season. The team finished fourth in the conference, seventh overall, with a points percentage of .385. This season, the team has improved to second in the conference, second overall, with a points percentage of .678.

Tristan Metcalfe: I always find this the hardest award to look at – because we really don’t see most of what goes on with coaching. There are a few contenders for me – is it Huberty leading the Bears to the top of the league (before the parting of ways)? Or is it Kuprowsky making the Rhinos more competitive? Similarly for Kvisle at the Ice Dogs? Or is it Philps dealing with player unavailability early in the season and coming home with a wet sail?

Tyler Huberty might be the front-runner here, and it would definitely be the pick most fitting a chaotic season. I’ll go very off-book and pick Jason Kvisle though, for his work to make the Dogs more competitive, despite a horror injury run early in the season.  

Sean O’Connor: My prediction is Tyler Huberty for this award. I understand GG’s points that they may not be outperforming pre-season expectations, but I am picking him because:

• He arrived in Australia with no prior experience of the AI and had the team performing to a high level straight away.
• He had the team winning games while playing poorly. This is the kind of trait that stands championship teams out from the crowd. Getting teams to win games when they are second best is the whole reason the Bears finished top of the league and conference.
• He promoted youngsters within the team to higher lines that led to the breakout seasons for Brody Lindel and Noah Moncrieff. 

However, my personal view is to recognise Jason, Kerry, Ron and Kaden/Jeremy/Stu for how all contributed to improving the competitiveness of the Ice Dogs, Ice, Rhinos and Adrenaline respectively. If this progression can be maintained, we will have more great seasons in the future with unpredictable Finals qualifications. 

Eric Brook: Fun fact: There are 3 player/coaches nominated for Coach Of The Year with previous winner Ben Breault, Scott Timmins & Jeremy Friederich nominated for the award. Both Breault & Timmins took significant time away from the ice to run the bench on game days. I would have liked to see Kaden Elder nominated by the Adrenaline for their Coach Of The Year. 

I think that Tyler Huberty will receive the award as voted by other teams. Assuming that the nomination was made after his departure from the team, the Bears could have chosen Huberty’s replacement Vlad Rubes or even an assistant coach like Gabe Robledo.

As a goalie himself, Huberty had to manage the James Downie/Anthony Kimlin goalie tandem with the addition of import goalie Dane Brumm to add to the mix. In at least partly due to the influence of Huberty, Upside Downie has had a career year in the AIHL. While Kimmer has an impressive goalie CV, managing an injured goalie of Kimlin’s calibre late in his career would not be easy.

North of the goalies, there was a lot of change that Huberty arguably managed well (Narrator: Until it all fell apart…). With a plethora of imports and previously underutilised locals as noted by Sean,  Huberty has assembled what in my opinion is the best Bears team of my 10 years of watching Bears hockey.

Courtney Kynaston: It is impossible to overlook Tyler Huberty following a stellar run in the season. The form that the Bears have had all year has been strong and solid and a challenge to each opposition. But I have to throw special mention to Terry Kiliwnik and the work done with Brisbane Lightning. In 2023 we saw a very physical team and in 2024 we saw a very composed and structured team who have played incredibly well this year.

Rookie of the Year

Adelaide – Daniel Koudelka
Brisbane – Luka Ouimette
Canberra – Bodhi Matthew
Central Coast – Arki Hearn-Crombie
Melbourne Ice – Jed Lake
Melbourne Mustangs – Adam Harper
Newcastle – Drew Robson
Perth – Patrick Sucher
Sydney Bears – Tyrone Oxlade
Sydney Ice Dogs – Jerry Zhou

GG: This was a tough choice. In the end I went with Daniel Koudelka with the Adelaide Adrenaline, although there is a good case for each player on the list. Koudelka scored his maiden AIHL goal with a rocket from just inside the blue line, and has faced tough defensive matchups in an unsheltered role. His skating helps him defend against bigger forwards, and his hockey IQ is already good but will continue to improve with experience.

TM: A tight field here, and this one is always hard to draw an opinion on, with players starting out on their AIHL journey often with limited ice time. Ultimately it came down to Koudelka or Robson for mine – with the two young D-men becoming important parts of the Adrenaline and Northstars, on both sides of the puck. Ultimately I’m going with Koudelka based on him having a little less assistance with Adelaide, it being his first season in the league, and as a tiebreaker – him being younger. 

SOC: I predict Daniel Koudelka will claim this award. Koudelka really stood out early in the season for the Adrenaline. Coming into the Adelaide blue-line, Koudelka added to the steel of that highly successful defensive unit this season. He was made to mature really quickly and showed he has a good level of hockey IQ and skating ability while also maintaining a healthy level of potential for improvement into the future.

EB: I recently got to see a lot of Daniel Koudelka, Luka Ouimette, Jed Lake, Adam Harper & Tyrone Oxlade in the U18 Syd Tange Championships in Newcastle and they are certainly names to keep an eye on. But stepping up to AIHL level is an entirely different type of hockey altogether.

The rookie who has had the best and most input for his team at AIHL level is undoubtedly Daniel Koudelka. There’s nowhere to hide as a D man and he hasn’t shied away from his task. Playing in all situations, he has all sorts of imports and locals skating at him. He has seen a lot of ice time and has been consistently excellent all season.

CK: As a Northstars fan I have LOVED watching the growth and development of Drew Robson over the season. He has become such a strong part of the defence lines and adapts and learns each week.

From a league perspective, Daniel Koudelka has stood out both when he visited Newcastle and also when I watched Adelaide games on the stream. He is a great skater with a lot of hockey sense and I think we will see him continue to grow and become a staple in the AIHL for years to come. 

MVP

Adelaide – Kaden Elder
Brisbane – Mitchell Dyck
Canberra – Austin Cangelosi
Central Coast – Mackenzie Bolger
Melbourne Ice – Mackenzie Caruana
Melbourne Mustangs – Logan Flodell
Newcastle – Francis Drolet
Perth – Leo Bertein
Sydney Bears – Adam Kadlec
Sydney Ice Dogs – Alex MacDonald

GG: Which team would suffer the most without the player listed above? That’s the question that guided my decision here. My choice then goes to two people – Mitch Dyck and Leo Bertein. In the end, I went with Bertein. Since arriving in Australia, he played every minute for the Thunder until the penultimate weekend of the season when he left the game against the Sydney Bears. He has delivered elite service in the blue paint for the Western Australians, leads the league in wins (18), and is pivotal to the team’s bid to lift its first Goodall Cup this weekend.

TM: Always important to try and think of this as ‘most valuable’ rather than ‘best’ (which I will inevitably fail in some way). For me this then comes down to a choice between Mitch Dyck, Logan Flodell and Leo Bertein, with apologies to Alex MacDonald’s input at the Ice Dogs. Dyck controlled a lot of the play for the Lightning, and topped their scoring as a blueliner – testament to how critical he was for the banana-benders. Flodell may not be on everyone’s radar, but the Mustangs were poor defensively in 2024, giving up more shots per game than everyone except the Dogs and Rhinos – that they were in the mix until late is down to Flodell. Bertein had a stronger team in front of him in Perth, but has come up huge for the Thunder repeatedly and led them to be a real contender. Despite my general bias to take the view that a goalie is a team’s most valuable player, I’m going with Dyck. 

EB: Shoutout to the Rhinos and Ice’s nominations for their respective Mackenzies as the only locals to be nominated as their team’s MVP. Both teams could have picked imports and with good reason.

For me, I agree with the assessments of Gordon & Tristan. Without Leo Bertein, the Thunder would be out playing golf at the Royal Perth Golf Club come awards time instead of planning their Finals weekend. He did a mountain of work until the Bears came to town. Take any of the other nominees out of their teams and they will still carry on and play well. Take Bertein or any of the other import goalies that the Thunder have relied on over the years out of the lineup and they might need to make an emergency phone call to Charlie Smart in Newcastle.

CK: In a twist of opinion from my fellow HHA team, I want to say Kaden Elder and Francis Drolet sit at the top of this list for me. Kaden was a leader all throughout the season and then stepped into a coaching role for Adelaide and did a fantastic job. Having interviewed him through the season his passion for the team along with his hockey smarts show that he is such a crucial member of the AIHL and Adelaide. 

Drolet has been credited time and time again by the HHA team and even commentators for playing with the best hockey intuition the league has seen. He topped the scoring for the Northstars but also got a number of assists which highlights the way in which he plays, the support play and passing game to set up the Northstars is something special to see live. 

SOC: I do love seeing locals nominated for MVP of the season. Kudos for those choices by the Ice and Rhinos. Top class talent who delivered in spades for both teams. 

Kaldec was a scoring machine this season but I feel he is a cog in a larger beast that will roll on with or without him. 

Drolet has managed to shift into a new scoring gear this season, taking his game to a new level from his already high standards in Newcastle. 

And I feel Cangelosi has been a slow burn player for Canberra this season, but in the second half of the season he has really come alive and is in red hot form at the pointy end. 

However, my prediction is either going to be Leo Bertein, as he has been an ever present for Perth and been the wall that team has built around. Or, Kaden Elder, who has at times this season, been carrying the hopes and dreams of Adelaide on his back. The fact he has had to pivot and adjust to both playing and coaching this season, the way he advanced the team, along with Jeremy Friederich on the bench, to improve local secondary scoring towards the end of the season, while maintaining a great defence. And to get Adelaide into the situation of almost making Finals, it’s a massive impact on a team and city. For those reasons I predict Elder to win MVP this season.

Goalie of the Year

Adelaide – Rylan Toth
Brisbane – Curtis Meger
Canberra – Alex Tetreault
Central Coast – Anand Oberoi
Melbourne Ice – Tatsunoshin Ishida
Melbourne Mustangs – Logan Flodell
Newcastle – Mitsuaki Inoue
Perth – Leo Bertein
Sydney Bears – James Downie
Sydney Ice Dogs – Arvid Ljung

GG: For me, Tatsunoshin Ishida has done everything expected and more. The Japanese goaltending phenom leads the league in save percentage with a dazzling .920. He is second in Goals Against Average (GAA) with 2.81, trailing only Aleksi Toivonen’s 2.79. If Kerry Goulet does win Coach of the Year, which I picked earlier, Ishida will be a huge part of that win. The old adage, ‘show me a good coach, and I’ll show you a good goalie’ does hold a ring of truth.

TM: This is a really hot field this year. Overall, goalies had a save percentage of 0.894 in season 2024 – up from 0.868 in 2023. This was strong across locals and imports – with all ten nominees having a case. My pick is for Ishida. He has been a huge part of the Ice’s success – especially early in the season – with his positional play as good as we’ve seen in the AIHL, culminating in leading the league in save percentage. 

EB: There were an interesting couple of nominations in my opinion which may or may not be able to be backed up by HHA’s Department Of Player Statistics. No doubt in my mind that James Upside Downie has had a career year for the Bears. To be nominated instead of Anthony Kimlin by his team is a big deal. With a smaller sample of work, I was a little surprised not to see Charlie Smart nominated by the Northstars but Mitsuaki Inoue is a worthy nominee. As Tristan pointed out in the Coach Of The Year nomination, we don’t get to see a lot of what happens off the ice. But at the Northstars presentation night, I got a small glimpse into Mitzyworld and I liked what I saw.

South of the NSW/Victoria border, Tatsunoshin Ishida has to be the Goalie Of The Year. With ice flowing through his veins, he is a major reason that the Ice is where they are sitting at Finals weekend. It’s very hard to argue with his stats and having seen his work this year, he’s the biggest difference to his team, narrowly in front of Leo Bertein.

CK: Alex Tetreault tops this list for me, he has always been one of my favourite goalies in all the AIHL, he is a gifted netminder and has been solid alongside Toivonen at the Brave for many years. 

Rylan Toth has become a contender for this award for me, he was truly something special to see live, and he really anchored the back line of Adelaide this year helping give them a great shot at winning each game. I am incredibly impressed with what I saw from him, as I imagine Adelaide are too.

SOC: Can we select them all? Think of the storyline. No, damn, well then, let me think. 

For me It has been a season of two halves for the tenders. In the first half of the season Ishida was creating headlines and turning heads with his unbelievable displays. In the second half of the season I feel that momentum shifted to Oberoi. 

All while Downie was having the season of his life, Tets did so much as the lead in Canberra until Toivonen came back from injury and Bertein and Toth proved to be the top draw tenders that we predicted pre-season. 

Considering how the voting went last season with Masters, I am going to predict Oberoi for this gong, but really I will not be disappointed by any of the nominees winning. 

Defenseman of the Year

Adelaide – Shaun Dosanjh
Brisbane – Mitchell Dyck
Canberra – Cameron Marks
Central Coast – Aziz Baazzi
Melbourne Ice – Johnny Aonso
Melbourne Mustangs – Ty Wishart (2023 winner)
Newcastle – Alex Yuill
Perth – Rob Haselhurst
Sydney Bears – Ryan Annesley
Sydney Ice Dogs – Bray Crowder

GG: I agonised over this choice. There’s not much to split between Mitch Dyck and Ryan Annesley. In the end, I went with the Bears captain, who recorded his 100th AIHL game and 150th AIHL point earlier this season. If the Bears hope to earn their fourth AIHL Championship, Annesley will play a big part. The blueliner leads all his colleagues in points with 42 in 24 games played (9 goals, 33 assists). Ty Wishart is the next best points producer from the blueline with five less points (37) in two more games played (26). 

TM: I think I’d be pretty inconsistent if I didn’t pick Dyck for this one as well – and I will. Aside from him, Ryan Annesley and Aziz Baazzi have both had great seasons for their teams, with the leadership aspect of Annesley’s role standing out as well. Baazzi might be the pick of the most highlights from a D-man, with his skating providing plenty of clips for the HHA socials this year. 

EB: This is a hard one. Bray Crowder made a massive difference when he arrived for the Ice Dogs. Aziz Baazzi makes his Rhinos stronger on the blue line than they were last year. Alex Yuill earned his nomination over Ethan Hawes which is a feat in itself for Newcastle. Ryan Annesley is all Bear. Johnny Aonso and Mitch Dyck are much more noticeable if they weren’t in the lineup for the Ice and Lightning respectively which have been major factors in the performance of their teams. Dyck is undoubtedly the major star of the Lightning blue line and my pick.  If he wasn’t there, there would be a massive storm at the southern end of Boondall.   

CK: This one is hard to decide. Dyck really stepped into his own for his first season in the AIHL and was such an important part of the Lightning team. He’s tall and dominates that back line. 

Baazzi I think is up there for the Rhinos. He really bolstered the line up and brought an incredible offensive attack to his game each week, and scored the game winning goal for the Rhino’s helping them end the season on a win with an incredible goal.

SOC: Another hard line-up to pick one winner from. It says a lot about the quality on the blue-line each team had this season. 

Aziz Baazi has been a highlight reel d-man for the Rhinos, Annesley was voted into our TOTW six times, more than any other player in the league in any position. Dyck has been phenomenal for the Lightning and Crowder has been an unexpected gem for the Dogs. 

But for me, I can’t look past Cameron Marks for two reasons:

1. He transformed the Brave defensive when he finally arrived from France this season. His leadership and drive was second to none. The Brave played one way without him and a completely different way with him. He is a big part of the reason the Brave turned their fortunes around and finished the regular season so strong. 

2. He also played an entirely different game for the Brave this season than he did last season. In 2023, he was the defensive rock who did not get forward too much, he was commander and chief from the blue-line, ensuring there was always cover. This season the Brave were crying out for an offensive-defenceman to really drive the puck up from the back and into the attacking third. Despite it not being his natural game, Cam Marks delivered that in spades. And not only did he deliver himself, he encouraged others to do it too.

So, making a massive impact and transforming his games are the reasons I would pick Marks. As such, he will be my prediction. 

Skaters Network Local Player of the Year

GG: Both Mackenzie Bolger and Brody Lindal had relatively unremarkable seasons last year in the AIHL before continuing to develop their game in North America in the offseason. This season, both players have lit up the league. Bolger gets the nod for me here. The play driving forward has been a big part of the Rhino’s success, generating offense from the top line against other team’s best defensive pairings week in, week out.

TM: There have been a number of younger players having breakout years in the AIHL in 2024, with my pick for Local Player of the Year going to Brody Lindal. He leads the league in goals by a local, and has truly had a breakout season. His development into a real scoring threat has been a large part of the Bears success in 2024 after making the move from the Ice, and looms large ahead of his first AIHL Finals series. 

EB: I went through the Skaters Network Local Players Of The Week announcements for the season. For the record, these players were Charlie Smart, Jordan Kyros, Rob Haselhurst x 2, Ethan Hawes, Beau Taylor, Kieren Webster, Casey Kubara, Jamie Bourke, Dmitri Kuleshov, Noah Moncrieff, Wehebe Darge & Joey Hughes. Just with these players alone – and assuming I didn’t miss anybody – it is a difficult choice. Interestingly, the players mentioned by Gordon & Tristan did not earn a mention here. All that said, it is hard for me to go past Brody Lindal. He’s had a great partnership with Tomas Landa amongst others. I knew that he would be a good signing for the Bears when it was announced but he certainly exceeded my expectations compared to last season with the Ice. I know what I was doing when I was 18 (he has just turned 19) and it certainly wasn’t leading the way for locals in the AIHL!

CK: Literally going to copy and paste GG’s comment here as it says it perfectly – Bolger gets the nod for me here. The play driving forward has been a big part of the Rhinos success, generating offense from the top line against other team’s best defensive pairings week in, week out.

SOC: The award is back in 2024, after being absent last season. Not to worry though, AIHL Fans voted Jordy Kyros. I am ecstatic to see this award back this year. 

The locals have been having a cracking good season, a large number of them scoring in the 30-50 point range showcases that. Joey Highes has had a stellar return to Melbourne while Dmitri Kuleshov continues to develop into a fine young player in Sydney with another personal best season. I enjoyed the cameo of Kale Costa with the Dogs and the Thunder have one of the strongest line-ups of local defensive talent. 

My prediction for the award however, like some of the others at HHA, is a toss up between Mackenzie Bolger and Brody Lindal. Both have had break-out seasons, similar to Kyros and Caruana in recent campaigns. It’s interesting that both moved to new AIHL teams this season after modest 2023’s. Both went overseas to North America in the off-season and honed their craft. Then to return to Oz and explode on the scene. Brody breaking the 20 goal mark for the season is something special. However, because Bolger was one of the leaders in the forwards at the Rhinos, and was often relied on to win games, rather than being one of a handful of top performers at the Bears. I predict Bolger will take the award this season.

Finals Series MVP

GG: Austin Cangelosi
EB: Adam Kadlec
TM: Yu Hikosaka
CK: Francis Drolet
SOC: Leo Bertein (side note, I totally agree with Tristan on this one. Mr. Big Time has this)