Game Preview #2: Brewers vs Xtreme

Well, we did it. We started a professional ice hockey league in Australia.

And what a debut the NHSL made to the world last Friday. The 4-3 overtime win for the Brewers over the Stars was a game literally had everything. There were unbelievable saves. Highlight reel goals. A fight. A shorthanded goal. An OT winner. It was action packed and fun for the fans. 

If you missed it, read the recap here. 

The Brewers will look to carry their momentum to Friday’s game vs the Xtreme. 

Let’s get into this week’s game preview! 

TEAM GUIDE – ADELAIDE XTREME

TEAM GUIDE – PORT BREWERS

THINGS WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE

1. “X-Tremely Impressive Top 2 Lines”:  On paper, the Xtreme are loaded up on their first two lines. A possible top line of South Aussie star Nathaniel Benson, Sydney standout Xander Wardlaw, and savvy veteran Olli Martin looks like it could be a lot of fun. Wardlaw and Benson played together on the Junior National Team and both rack up the points in their local leagues. Olli Martin possesses a lethal shot we’ve seen in A-Grade. Meanwhile, MacDougall-Siemens-Maley is a mouth watering combination that features three players who play very strong two-way games that make life miserable for opponents. They can also score...and they're just so hard to play against. 
 

2. Second Line Production (Brewers): Ben Handberg scored twice and Steve Best added another so we’re not so worried about the productivity of the Brewers top line. However, the second line combo of Tyler Leeming, Nicola Paul and Jeremy Klein failed to find the scoresheet on Game #1. These are three very talented players. Will it happen again?

3. Special Teams: Penalties and special teams quickly became a Game 1 story line. The Brewers were 0-11 on the power play and the Stars were 0-9. While the Brewers’ PK was excellent – heck they even scored a goal – they need to do a better job of converting opportunities. Will the Xtreme feel the same special team rust we saw in Game #1? 

4. The Great Return (Xtreme): The Xtreme drafted a swath of players making an Ice Hockey return. How will they go back on the ice? Graham Charbonneau is a 39-year-old experienced player who has time in the Ontario Hockey League, as an import in the AIHL and in the local competitions. He’s now an assistant captain. Dean Peterson played AIHL for a while. Aaron Widger is reportedly injured, but if he’s healthy he’s another fun AIHL guy to watch. The most intriguing prospect is the possible return of 250-AIHL-game veteran David Huxley. He’s a former Adrenaline captain and has skated a few times with the Xtreme, but is he healthy enough to play? It feels like a matter of “when” and not ‘if” but Game 1 certainty remains up in the air.

5. Tomek Sak (Brewers): The Western Australian was really fun to watch in Game 1. He didn’t score but he played such a hard two-way game, took away opportunities, created some break aways and was instrumental on the PK. I think South Australian fans will love him. 




(Steve Best had two points in debut but Brewers' depth will need to step up vs the Xtreme)
 

GOALTENDER MATCH UPS

Brewers: Matus Trnka – The 17-year-old announced himself in a big way by showing how tough he truly is. Let’s put this in perspective: A Teenager let in a goal on the first shot of the game. He allowed a softie later in the first. But he bounced back to make 40 saves in the season opener, never let his team trail by more than one, made killer saves all game long, held the opposition to 0-9 on power plays, and made 26 saves in the third period / OT combined. Oh, he also assisted on the game winning goal. How’s that for an entrance? 

Xtreme: Jeremy Friederich – Jeremy has backstopped the Jokers to back-to-back local league championships with numbers that don’t seem real. This past season he had eight shutouts on his way to a merry 1.42 Goals Against Average and .936 save percentage. He’s talented. He’s confident. He can literally keep his team in games they don’t belong in. There’s a good reason the Xtreme used a marquee player spot on him.

This goaltender match-up is JUICY! 

A WORD FROM THE COACH…

Eric Lien, head coach of the Xtreme:  

"Having the bye in the first week was both a blessing and a curse. We are fortunate that we have had an extra week of preparation and we have seen the pace of play however the downside is we have not got out those first game jitters.

Our challenge will be to stay focused and settle in to our style of play as quick as we can, hopefully that only takes a couple of shifts or a period or two. If it turns out that we can’t find a system based style of play for this first game then we will just have to let go of the reigns and watch the track meet.  

Either way it will be entertaining to watch."

Mitch Villani, Head coach of the Brewers: 

“I’m really proud of how everybody played [on Friday night]. There was no quit in any of them. The fight was there. Lots to improve but they did exactly as I kind of expected – to play as one, for one.”

POTENTIAL LINE COMBINATIONS 
 
Brewers

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

Z. Boyle – J. O’Brien
A. Wise – C. Pope 
T. Reece – D. Strawbridge

M. Trnka
A. Glass

Xtreme

J. Siemens – J. MacDougall – N. Maley
X. Wardlaw – N. Benson – O. Martin
D. Peterson – A. Stapleton – B. Taylor
J. Sarcich – J. Holland

G. Charbonneau – A. Chen
T. Tait – J. Geyer
A. Widger – N. Wieland (but possibly injured)

D. Huxley questionable to play, but has been training.

J. Friederich
C. Peacock