The 2012–13 AJIHL season is the first season of the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League. It ran from 20 October 2012 until 17 February 2013, with the finals running from 3 March 2013 until 10 March 2013. The AJIHL is the highest Australian national junior ice hockey competition.

League business On 18 September 2012 Ice Hockey Australia announced the formation of the Australian Junior Ice Hockey League with the league starting its inaugural season on 20 October 2012. On 22 September 2012 they announced that the league would consist of four teams for the first season – Melbourne Blackhawks, Melbourne Red Wings, Sydney Lightning and the Sydney Maple Leafs, with teams being operated by their respective state governing body, the Victorian Ice Hockey Association and the New South Wales Ice Hockey Association respectively. Games are set to be held in the Melbourne, Penrith and Sydney.

Following the games on 9 December 2012 there is an eight-week stoppage to allow for the festive period and for the 2013 IIHF World U20 Championships program which runs from December until the end of January.

Regular season The regular season began on 20 October 2012 and ran through to 17 February 2013 before the teams compete in the playoff series.

October Game Date Time Away Score Home Location Attendance Recap 1 20 October 2012 18:45 Sydney Lightning 3–5 Melbourne Blackhawks Melbourne 150 2 20 October 2012 20:30 Sydney Maple Leafs 2–7 Melbourne Red Wings Melbourne 150 3 21 October 2012 15:23 Sydney Maple Leafs 0–4 Melbourne Blackhawks Melbourne 60 4 21 October 2012 17:00 Sydney Lightning 5–3 Melbourne Red Wings Melbourne 60

November Game Date Time Away Score Home Location Attendance Recap 6 9 November 2012 20:00 Melbourne Red Wings 1–2 Melbourne Blackhawks Melbourne 75 5 10 November 2012 19:00 Sydney Maple Leafs 0–4 Sydney Lightning Penrith 7 11 November 2012 17:00 Sydney Lightning 5–4 Sydney Maple Leafs Penrith 8 11 November 2012 14:30 Melbourne Blackhawks 3–4 Melbourne Red Wings Melbourne 94 10 23 November 2012 20:00 Melbourne Blackhawks 2–4 Melbourne Red Wings Melbourne 52 9 24 November 2012 19:00 Sydney Lightning 4–3 (SO) Sydney Maple Leafs Penrith 11 25 November 2012 19:30 Sydney Maple Leafs 1–4 Sydney Lightning Penrith 12 25 November 2012 13:15 Melbourne Red Wings 3–1 Melbourne Blackhawks Melbourne 75

December Game Date Time Away Score Home Location Attendance Recap 13 1 December 2012 17:00 Melbourne Blackhawks 4–3 Sydney Lightning Penrith 14 1 December 2012 18:45 Melbourne Red Wings 2–1 Sydney Maple Leafs Penrith 15 2 December 2012 08:30 Melbourne Blackhawks 6–3 Sydney Maple Leafs Penrith 16 2 December 2012 17:00 Melbourne Red Wings 2–3 (SO) Sydney Lightning Penrith 18 7 December 2012 20:00 Melbourne Red Wings 2–4 Melbourne Blackhawks Melbourne 17 8 December 2012 17:00 Sydney Maple Leafs 2–1 Sydney Lightning Penrith 19 9 December 2012 17:00 Sydney Lightning 4–5 Sydney Maple Leafs Penrith 20 9 December 2012 13:15 Melbourne Blackhawks 5–2 Melbourne Red Wings Melbourne

February Game Date Time Away Score Home Location Attendance Recap 21 2 February 2013 17:00 Sydney Lightning 2–1 Sydney Maple Leafs Penrith 22 2 February 2013 20:02 Melbourne Blackhawks 3–5 Melbourne Red Wings Melbourne 84 23 3 February 2013 17:00 Sydney Maple Leafs 3–4 (SO) Sydney Lightning Penrith 24 3 February 2013 13:15 Melbourne Red Wings 3–1 Melbourne Blackhawks Melbourne 59 25 16 February 2013 17:00 Melbourne Blackhawks 4–0 Sydney Lightning Penrith 26 16 February 2013 18:45 Melbourne Red Wings 5–6 Sydney Maple Leafs Penrith 27 17 February 2013 08:30 Melbourne Red Wings 4–3 Sydney Lightning Penrith 28 17 February 2013 17:00 Melbourne Blackhawks 0–3 Sydney Maple Leafs Penrith

Standings Team Melbourne Red Wings 14 8 0 1 5 47 41 +6 25 Melbourne Blackhawks 14 8 0 0 6 44 36 +8 24 Sydney Lightning 14 5 3 0 6 45 41 +4 21 Sydney Maple Leafs 14 4 0 2 8 34 52 −18 14

Source

Player statistics

Scoring leaders The following players led the league in regular season points.

Player Team Melbourne Red Wings 14 26 7 33 +24 14 Melbourne Blackhawks 14 20 11 31 +26 48 Melbourne Red Wings 12 10 12 22 +19 8 Sydney Maple Leafs 14 10 7 17 +14 18 Sydney Maple Leafs 9 7 12 19 +16 2 Melbourne Blackhawks 14 11 7 18 +15 0 Melbourne Blackhawks 14 5 11 16 +14 46 Sydney Lightning 11 7 8 15 +11 38 Sydney Maple Leafs 12 6 4 10 +8 24 Melbourne Red Wings 8 0 10 10 +6 39

Leading goaltenders The following goaltenders led the league in regular season goals against average.

Player Team Melbourne Blackhawks 12 7 5 0 29 2 .836 2.77 Melbourne Red Wings 13 6 6 0 35 0 .844 3.00 Sydney Lightning 9 4 3 0 24 1 .847 3.08 Sydney Maple Leafs 8 4 2 1 26 1 .845 3.24 Sydney Lightning 9 4 4 0 24 0 .793 3.33

Playoffs The 2013 playoffs started on 3 March 2013 with the final being held on 9 and 10 March 2013. Following the end of the regular season the teams will play their opposing state team in the semi-finals. The winners move on to play each other in a best-of-two final being held at the Medibank Icehouse in Melbourne. Melbourne Red Wings and Sydney Maple Leafs both progressed to the finals after winning their semi-final game. The Maple Leafs won the first game of the finals while the Red Wings won the second game tying the two game series. As a result, the two teams entered a sudden death overtime period. Scott Clemie scored the game-winning goal in the 13th minute of the period, with the Maple Leafs winning the first AJIHL season. Clemie was named the AJIHL Finals MVP.

Semi-finals

Final

References

External links Ice Hockey Australia AJIHL Coverage – Hewitt Sports