2023 in review

• 2023 record – 1^st in Hellyer Conference, 2^nd overall, Semi-Final loss (21W – 0OTW – 0OTL – 5L)

The Bears had a great regular season in 2023, with only a three-point penalty for an administrative error regarding imports costing them a share of top spot, which they would have won on the tiebreaker. Again backstopped by Anthony Kimlin, the depth in the Bears lineup – which was tested at times – meant they kept rolling over teams, until they ran into a Liam Hughes shaped wall in the semi final.

Figure 1: Sydney Bears key stats in 2023 AIHL Season

With such a strong defensive set-up, the Bears didn’t need to put up huge scores and as such they averaged slightly less goals per game than the league overall (5.077 vs 5.081) – despite usually dressing three strong lines. This was partly due to lower output from their imports, who averaged 1.473 points per game – below the league average again (1.699).

Table 1: Sydney Bears top 5 scorers in 2023

Table 2: Sydney Bears 2023 goalie stats

History

The last few years have been a renaissance of sorts for the Bears, with the crowning glory the 2019 Cup win. From the overtime grand final in 2018, they have been contenders in each of those four seasons – backstopped by the best local goalie in the league in Kimlin. Local depth like Michael Schlamp, Brian Funes, Timmy Newmark, Jeremy Brücker and Tyerell Clare have been key, with shorter stints from high-quality local recruits like Jake Ratcliffe and Hayden Dawes.

This period came after a few years of struggle for the Bears, missing the Finals between 2010 and 2018, and picking up a couple of wooden spoons while going on an odyssey around different rinks in Sydney, before returning to Macquarie in 2017.

This recent success has been built at both ends of the ice. The Bears averaged only 3.086 goals per game from 2013 to 2017, while their opponents scored 4.108, but from 2018 onwards this improved dramatically – to 4.529 and 3.412.

The historical struggles show out in the Bears performance across venues over the period 2013 to 2023 as well – with only two venues showing a winning record with more than 2 games played – Adelaide where they take 62.2% of the points, and their home since 2017 – Macquarie (63.6%). The time at Macquarie coincides with the improvement in the Bears, and this stands out. Similarly, aside from the Lightning and Rhinos (and Canberra Knights), over this period the Bears only have winning records against three teams – the Adrenaline, the cross-town Ice Dogs and most surprisingly, the Melbourne Ice.

The tables below show the top scorers for the Bears, goalie performances for recent Bears goalies, and the top scorers against them.

Table 3: Sydney Bears top 10 scorers, 2013 to 2023

Table 4: Sydney Bears key goalie stats, 2013 to 2023

*Per game calculations based on 60 minutes, not 50.

Table 5: Top 10 scorers against Sydney Bears, 2013 to 2023

New players/imports

Samuli Vainionpää brings a hell of a pedigree with Liiga, Ligue Magnus and most recently, Mestis experience. His size will be a key asset for the Bears, and his versatility to play forward or defence is something the Bears can exploit. We project him to produce between 65 and 75 points per season, though this may be a little high, depending how much time he spends on the blue line.

A big addition to the lineup this year is South Australian, Jake Riley, joining his fourth AIHL club. Splitting the 2023 season between the Melbourne Ice and CBR Brave, he put up 10 points in 18 games, which is a bit lower than his production level had been recently. If he can fit nicely into the Bears system, he should be pushing close to a point-per-game.

Newly announced Bear, Brody Lindal is a shrewd acquisition at Macquarie, and while he is only 18, he has a bright future ahead of him. A northern winter spent playing Junior A hockey in Canada should mean he can take the next step in the AIHL as well.

The most recent announcement is that American forward Adam Kadlec is joining the Bears. A bit harder to get a read on, since he hasn’t played since 2017/18, he does boast a strong junior career with stints in the WHL, OHL and USHL. If he fires, he could be a real find for the Bears – time will tell how his return to hockey plays out.

The Bears have also announced several additions of younger players, adding to the depth in their roster and planning for the future. Don’t expect these players to dominate in 2024, but they are a positive sign for the future.

Player to watch

Kenny Hayashi had a breakout 2023 season, with 19 points in 19 games and being used in a wide range of roles – across forward and defence. With two seasons under his belt now, it looks to be time to take on more responsibility with a new face behind the bench to settle him into a role.

Keys for 2024

A little better player availability would help the Bears, who struggled at times to put a full-strength team on the ice – not that you would know from their record. Keeping their players on the ice to gel together would help embed any new systems under new coach Tyler Huberty as well.

Further to this, trusting the depth in the lineup would help as well. In the semi final, the Bears came unstuck a bit and relied very heavily on the first two lines. Being able to spread the offensive load across three is reliant on further development from the younger local guys in the lineup, but would help to keep pressure on opponents. This would also help to prepare for the changing of the guard as many of the players who have been key for the Bears over the last five years are not getting any younger.

As flagged above, stronger production from imports would also assist in keeping the Bears threatening – even moving to the league average production would be a plus.

Overall though, they don’t need to change much – they were one of the best teams in the AIHL in 2023, and can be expected to be again in 2024.