Game Preview #1: Stars vs. Brewers

We can finally say it: “Game Day is here.”

On Friday night at 7:00PM the much anticipated National Hockey Super League will make history as Australia’s first professional hockey league.

If you’re looking for background on the journey we’ve been on as a league so far, or either of the teams, we highly recommend reading these Team Guides before you come. Here’s a really, really quick catch up for all you stragglers out there though:
 

1. We named three General Managers to take over three NHSL teams. They were in charge of appointing coaches to their squad.
    
2. The GMs were allowed to sign any two players they wanted as a “Marquee Player” to build their team around
    
3. Over 150 players registered for a draft in early October and the teams went to war and picked their squads (22 players each)
    
4. The teams went to work and have been training in a more professional environment than ever before. Twice on ice per week, and a couple times off ice.
    
5. There’s a few differences to what these guys are normally used to playing hockey in Australia. We’ve moved more “in line” with the rest of the world. That means that games are three 20 minute periods with stop time. The AIHL is 50 minutes (stop time) and the Premier League is 60 minutes run time.

TEAM GUIDE – NOARLUNGA STARS

TEAM GUIDE – PORT BREWERS

Each team will play eight games over a 12-week stretch. All games will be on Friday. Up first is the Port Adelaide Brewers vs the Noarlunga Stars, so let’s jump right into it.

THINGS WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE

1. Killer Combo - Jake Riley + Jan Koubek (Stars): The Stars literally built their team around this combination. It’s something worth getting excited about. Jake Riley is arguably the most dynamic player in South Australian hockey and only 21. He led the local competition in scoring and you feel like something can happen every time he touches the ice. Jan Koubek is a Czech player with heaps of experience around the globe. He’s known as the “Apple King” for his ability to set up players and propel them to mountains of goals. The Stars are hoping they have the best playmaker and the best goal scorer in the league on the same line.
 

2. Electric Leeming (Brewers): Multiple players have told us that Tyler Leeming is looking “better than he ever has.” Frankly that statement is frightening. Leeming, originally from Canada, has won multiple MVPs in the local competition. In one four-year stretch he put up 215 points in 58 games. That’s just….obscene. Now that he’s training 3x per week his skills would only be sharpened and I’m scared to be the Stars goalie. 

3. Emerging Talent: There’s a few intriguing prospects on both teams. On the Stars we have players like 19-year-olds Zach Steele (forward) and Jake Hazel (defense). The Stars said they want to “unleash” the potential of Steele. They also drafted Hazel with their first round pick so they must think highly of him. Ben Handberg (Brewers) is just two days younger than Zach Steele, the same height, and has a similar hockey background after playing high school in Canada. Jake O’Brien (Brewers) is also an 18-year-old returning from a 10-year stint in Canada where he grew up playing hockey. A big unknown for the South Australian ice hockey community but potentially a huge addition to the family we have.

4. Interstate Talent: Fresh Blood! Tomek Sak – a Team Australia player from Perth – joins the Brewers and Yoann Levesque (also from WA) joins the Stars. Hard to game plan what you don’t know….

GOALTENDER MATCH UPS

Brewers: Matus Trnka – An acrobatic 17-year-old sensation who the Brewers spent their #2 overall pick on. He led the local competition in statistical categories as a 16-year-old and keeps his team in every game he plays. It’s amazing he’s only 17.

Stars: Glen Forbes White or Sam Poole or Pete King – Yep, you read that right. We don’t know. Their starting goalie Glen Forbes-White is recovering from an injury he suffered in the playoffs of the local league. He is a game time decision. Sam Poole was drafted as their back-up and has experience in the Premier League with the Blackhawks and training with the Adrenaline. They’ve also been using a local emergency goalie Pete King - one of the most experienced guys in the state. King is available to all teams should an injury crisis rise up and it might be put into action in Game #1 Either way, this will be a very interesting development. 

A WORD FROM THE COACH…

Sami Mantere, Head Coach of the Stars: “We’re going to play fast-paced, up-tempo hockey. Look for players like Zach Steele to be unleashed. This is a game changer for South Aussie hockey.”

Mitch Villani, Head coach of the Brewers: “You’ll see two-way hockey from the Brewers. Full stop. We’ll try to move the puck around playing a team style of system. The Brewers are about winning with each other, for each other. “

POTENTIAL LINE COMBINATIONS 
 
Brewers

N. Pau - S. Best - B. Handberg
T. Leeming - T. Sak - T. Boyle 
J. Pellerin - D. Pope - J. Klein
R Boundy - Matchoss

Z. Boyle - A. Wise
J. O'Brien - T. Reece
C. Pope - D. Strawbridge

M. Trnka
A. Glass

Stars 

J. Riley - J. Koubek - J. McDonnell
Y. Levesque - Z. Steele - R. Foll
Q. Tombleson - T. Boyd - A. Foster
K. Collier

J. Hazel - C. Smith
T. Benson - M. Komozec
J. Sinko - D. Madsen

G. Forbes-White
S. Poole 
P. King