AIHL Player Milestones Round 4. Players are part of the lifeblood of hockey in Australia. It is high time we celebrate their ongoing milestone achievements as they hit the ice week in week out in the Australian Ice Hockey League.

In week four of the 2024 season, there were many headlines, goals and talking points including six important player milestones which will now enter into the league’s history books, chants and fables.

Jayson Chalker: 200 AIHL Games

The Rhinos defenceman, Jayson Chalker celebrated his 200th AIHL game last weekend. Chalker started his AIHL career in 2006. He is one of the original Rhinos players to have returned for the second coming of the team in the AIHL. In between Jayson spent seven successful years with the Newcastle Northstars, winning two back-to-back Goodall Cups in 2015 and 2016. Chalker is a former U20 international with the Australian national team and has spent time playing in Sydney and Newcastle in the ECSL too. Before picking up ice hockey, Jayson came from the world of Inline hockey. He has also interestingly spent time playing gridiron (American football) in Australia too.

Patrick Nadin: 200 AIHL Games & 100 AIHL Points

Newcastle born and bred, Patrick Nadin is celebrating two milestones this week. The first is 200 AIHL games and the second is 100 AIHL points. Nadin has been with the Northstars and the AIHL for the past decade, joining his hometown team in 2014. Patrick is enjoying a rich vain of points form to kick-start this season. He has 10 points from his past five games. Nadin is a former U18 and full Australian international and has demonstrated leadership skills with the Novocastrians, wearing an ‘A’ in 2022.

Matt Harvey: 150 AIHL Games

Matt Harvey is celebrating 150 AIHL games this week. A foundation play with the CBR Brave, Matt joined the AIHL in 2014 for the new team in Canberra following the collapse of the Knights. Harvey has played all but one Brave season since. Unfortunately, he missed out on a second Goodall Cup in 2022, but he was captain for the first in 2018. Harvey retired during the forced COVID-19 lockdown break and then returned to the AIHL and the Canberra Brave in 2023. Matt is a very versatile skater for the Brave, having played both as a forward and defenceman.

Wehebe Darge: 450 AIHL Points & 300 AIHL PIM

Wehebe Darge clocks in two big milestones this week. 450 AIHL points and 300 AIHL penalty minutes (PIM). The former Adrenaline and Brave player, Darge has settled in nicely to the Newcastle Northstars setup following a season of acclimatisation. He has started 2024 in blistering form with 21 points from six games. Wehebe first started playing AIHL hockey with Adelaide in 2009 and has been a ever-stay in the league since then. He has often played professionally overseas in the AIHL off-season. Darge is a regular for the Australian national team. however did he did not travel with the Mightyroos this year.

Ty Wishart: 100 AIHL Points

Although having only been in the AIHL for a relatively short period of time, this is his third season, Ty Wishart has already racked up 100 AIHL points from defence. Wishart joined the league and the Melbourne Mustangs in 2022. This came after an extended period playing Euro hockey in Germany, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Sweden. Wishart is one of the few AIHL players to have NHL experience. Ty was a first round pick (16th overall) in the NHL draft in 2006 to the San Jose Sharks. He represented Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders in the NHL. Wishart won his first Goodall Cup with the Mustangs in 2023. He is apart of their on-ice leadership team and he has off-ice roles with the Mustangs as director of hockey operations and assistant coach of the Melbourne Glaciers in the AJIHL.

Sam Hodic: 100 AIHL PIM

A recent Brisbane Lightning recruit, Sam Hodic is celebrating 10 years in the AIHL and 100 penalty minutes (PIM) to boot. Hodic joined the AIHL in 2014 with the Melbourne Ice after a productive season in the AJIHL with the Melbourne Glaciers. Hodic is a former U18 and U20 international with the Australian national team. He missed out on claiming a Goodall Cup in 2017 with the Ice but he did join their leadership team in 2022. Sam has kicked-off his 2024 season in style with 7 points from 8 games. He was desperately unlucky to have a goal chalked off in Canberra during week three. He’s still hungry for AIHL success and is on a team hoping to deliver that.

That’s all for the AIHL player milestones Round 4. Keep an eye out on who will reach key milestones next week and every week to come until the end of the season. To view last week’s milestones, please see our week two article. To view more articles about the AIHL please visit our AIHL news page.