Melbourne Ice makes it three in a row

By Robert Bremner

Melbourne Ice has won its third Australian Ice Hockey League title in a row after a nail-biting 4-3 win over the Newcastle North Stars in the first weekend of September.

In front of a sold-out crowd at Newcastle’s Hunter Ice Skating stadium, the two top teams once again fought it out for the glory of the Goodall Cup with Melbourne coming up trumps.

Melbourne Ice created an early chance to draw first blood. However, it was Newcastle which managed to put the points on the board going up 1-0.

Newcastle continued to dominate the Ice in the first third, scoring again through Brian Bales with two minutes to go and alarm bells were beginning to ring in the Melbourne camp with the defending champions down 2-0.

They say “never write off a champion” and, as they have continually done all season, Melbourne fought back, scoring a much-needed goal in the dying seconds of the first period.

In the second period, the momentum was turned around and the Ice came out firing. They got their second goal five minutes in. The match continued to be of a high standard, showcasing the best of what these two teams had to offer.

In the final minute of the second third, Ice again found the back of the net and went into the final break leading 3-2.

The final third was an unbelievable struggle with the Newcastle defence being forced to save shot after shot until Ice finally broke the scoring drought six minutes in to lead by two.

The North Stars tried to fight back hard and, with about six minutes to go, they clawed back to be down by one.

The crowd erupted with a deafening noise, with both teams' supporters trying to help their respective teams over the line.

Newcastle continued to attack, but this time the Ice defence held strong, handing them their third trophy in a row.

Melbourne Ice's journey to victory has been captured in a six-part documentary.

The Ice Road to 3Peat  follows the team from the training camp where the 2012 team was selected all the way to the success of the finals weekend.