League business
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In 2003, AIHL President Tony Lane introduced the 'top four' finals (playoff) format that replaced the one off final format used in the first three seasons of the AIHL. The new format saw the top four placed teams in the regular season standings qualify for the finals weekend where first would play fourth and second would face off against third in a single match elimination with the two winning teams advancing to the Goodall Cup final and he two losing teams advancing to the third place play-off, however this only occurred in 2003 and was dropped from the format in future years.[1]
Regular season
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The regular season began on 3 May 2003 and ran through to 29 August 2003 before the top four teams advanced to compete in the Goodall Cup playoff series.[2]
Standings
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The 2003 AIHL season statistics and standings are incomplete. No one source has all the information and the AIHL has not published official statistics on www.theaihl.com. The Statistics for the following table comes from Elite Prospects[3] with the final placings coming from hockeyarchives.[4]
Qualified for the Goodall Cup playoffs
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Premiership winners
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The statistics for the following table comes from the Newcastle North Stars and includes double point games.[5]
Qualified for the Goodall Cup playoffs
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Premiership winners
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Statistics
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Scoring leaders
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List shows the ten top skaters sorted by points, then goals.[6]
Leading goaltenders
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Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage.[6]
Goodall Cup playoffs
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The 2003 playoffs, known in 2003 as the 'Canadian Club On Ice Finals Series' for sponsorship reasons, was scheduled for 6 September with the Goodall Cup final and 3rd place play-off held on 7 September 2003. Following the end of the regular season the top four teams advanced to the playoff series which was held at the Sydney Ice Arena (then known as the new Sydney Glaciarium, but not to be confused with the original Sydney Glaciarium that closed in 1955) in Sydney. The series was a single game elimination with the two winning semi-finalists advancing to the Goodall Cup final and the two losing teams advancing to the third place play-off.[7] The Goodall Cup was won by Newcastle North Stars (1st title) who defeated the Western Sydney Ice Dogs 4–1 in the final.[4] The hosts, Sydney Bears, who were without their number one goaltender Joel Gibson for the weekend due to injury, secured third spot with a high scoring 10–5 victory over league Premiers Adelaide Avalanche.[8]
All times are UTC+10:00
Semi-finals
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Game reference |
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| Eric Lein | Goalies | Allan Becken | |
| 0–1 | Martin Jesko (Jason Haakstad, Kris Galloux) | (Trevor Walsh, Dylan Martini) Greg Oddy | 1–1 | | | 1–2 | Brett Thomas (Chris Sekura, Andrew Petrie) | | 1–3 | Martin Jesko (Andrew White, Anthony Wilson) | | 1–4 | Jason Haakstad (unassisted) |
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31 | Shots | 22 |
Game reference |
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| Trevor Battaglia | Goalies | Nick Windle | |
| 0–1 | Jakub Petr (Paul Shumak, Vladimir Rubes) | (Trevor Battaglia) Jake Ludvig | 1–1 | | | 1–2 | Vladan Stransky (Vladimir Rubes, Tyler Lovering) | (Trevor Battaglia) Pavel Shtefan | 2–2 | | (Andrew Ogilvie, Daryl Bat) Jake Ludvig | 3–2 | | (Henry Acres, Pavel Shtefan) Daryl Bat | 4–2 | | | 4–3 | Andrew Truman (Vladimir Rubes) | (Trevor Battaglia, Ray Sheffield) Pavel Shtefan | 5–3 | | (Trevor Battaglia, Henry Acres) Daryl Bat | 6–3 | | (unassisted) Jake Ludvig | 7–3 | | | 7–4 | Vladimir Rubes (Murray Wand) |
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25 | Shots | 37 |
3rd place
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Game reference |
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| Bill Benidictson | Goalies | Nick Windle | |
| 0–1 | Murray Wand (Tyler Lovering) | | 0–2 | Bret Nelson-Bond (Carl Di Pizza, Paul Shumak) | | 0–3 | Vladan Stransky (Vladimir Rubes) | | 0–4 | Vladimir Rubes (Mark Acheson, Dean Eisler) | (Luke Thilthorpe, Travis Watt) James Keane | 1–4 | | Greg Oddy | 2–4 | | Greg Oddy | 3–4 | | Greg Oddy | 4–4 | | | 4–5 | Don Burke | | 4–6 | Jakub Petr | | 4–7 | Paul Shumak | | 4–8 | Jakub Petr | (Dylan Martini) Derek DeCosty | 5–8 | | | 5–9 | Carl Di Pizza | | 5–10 | Vladimir Rubes |
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18 | Shots | 45 |
Game reference |
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| Allan Becken | Goalies | Trevor Battaglia | |
| 0 – 1 | 3:08 – Sheffield (PP) (Bat, Shtefan) | | 0 – 2 | 15:56 – Bat (Sheffield, McInnes) | | 0 – 3 | 16:50 – McInnes (Sheffield, Shtefan) | 17:36 – Jesko (PP) (Wilson, Haakstad) | 1 – 3 | | | 1 – 4 | 36:50 – Ludvig (Duchemin) |
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2 min | Penalties | 2 min |
35 | Shots | 34 |
References
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External links
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