HockeyPulse

The Newcastle Northstars have taken out the 2008 Goodall Cup in the AIHL finals series yesterday. Congratulations to them on a good season!

..From the newcastle website:

The Inski North Stars have defeated the Western Sydney Ice Dogs 4-1 at Hunter Ice Skating Stadium to win their 4th national championship in 6 years.
 
The North Stars overcame a horror start to the season where they languished at the bottom few places of the table but survived injury and the poor start to finish the season with a record 53 points and following a 7-5 win in the Semi Finals over the Bears and the Final win over the Ice Dogs, have achieved something never achieved before in the Australian Ice Hockey League.
 
While the hero for the Semi Final was Colin Nicholson, Mickey Gilchrist was THE player for the Final, scoring a Hat Trick including two goals scored short-handed while killing penalties. BJ Pelkey was the other scorer for the North Stars, with Frank Angyal the lone scorer for the Ice Dogs.
 
The goaltending battle between Herbert and Ezzy was outstanding, with both players putting it all on the line for their teams. Herbert kept his team in the game several times, while Ezzy was near perfect with only a power play deflection spoiling his stats for the night.
 
General Manager Garry Dore praised his team's achievement after the game.
 
"I love this team, and I love winning. This team has done something special, for yourselves, for the people around you who do so much to make this team tick, and for the fans and people of Newcastle who have supported us."
 
The team enjoyed wild celebrations in front of a jubilant home crowd after the game, especially after the dissapointment of losing the national title to the Bears in 2007.
 
The AIHL will resume in April 2009, with the Newcastle North Stars as national champions.