Nathan Walker in action against Belgium at the Division 2 World Champs

The Cityview Ice Dogs will have the services of Nathan Walker before he heads back to play top division under 20s in the Czech Republic in June.

Walker returned home and played for the National Mens Team and was an instant standout at camp earning a spot on the second line alongside Melbourne’s Joey Hughes and the Bears Vladan Stransky.

Notching 7 points (4 goals, 3 assists) in 4 games and selected as the Team MVP, having “Stormy” (Walkers nickname in the hockey community since 5 years old) for any games this season is a huge boost for the club.

The team will be missing import Mitch Bye from May 15^th for a few games as he renews his visa, meaning Walker will top up the team to full strength from the Home Opener onwards.

“Stormy will be a treat to watch for not only the Ice Dogs Supporters but for the entire NSW hockey community, who have seen him play at a young age and can now see him perform at the top level” says Andrew Burgess from Ice Dogs TV.

Walker joins the team for practise April 29^th before they do battle at the first home game against the Melbourne Ice Sunday May 1st at the LCC Sports Complex.

Welcome to Part 2 of Point Predictions where we try to forecast how many points Ice Dogs players are in for this season.  If you missed last weeks edition simply go to http://www.icedogs.com.au/blog/2011/04/14/points-predictions-part-1/

We have looked at three forwards so far so let’s take a peak at a Defenceman.  Shannon McGregor will be fresh off the boat from playing junior hockey in Canada.  Although Shannon registered no points last year, it is important to note this isn’t his type of game.  McGregor aged 19 is a stay at home defenseman who has been building his game year on year as he gets comfy in the AIHL.  He notched two goals in 2009 and an assist in 2008 giving him 3 AIHL career points.  Similar to Tomas Manco his role is very defensive so he will never put up the big numbers as he is too busy stopping them.  Hopefully Canada has improved his ability to move the puck up ice and in which we predict more assists this year and maybe a goal or two.  For the sake of this article let’s call it 4 points this season with 1 goal and 3 assists. 

David Dunwoodie can go either way, if ice hockey had an all-rounder position Dave would certainly fit the bill.  Growing up he has played all positions from Goalie to Defence to Forward.  On the 2003 National Youth team he played on the top line up front with ex-Bears Warren Jayawardene and Melbourne Ice forward Lliam Webster.  His highest points total in a season of 24 points (7 goals, 17assists) came when in his second season at the Central Coast Rhinos as a D-man.  Last year Dunwoodie found some goals when the team needed them as a forward.  If he is back up front expect him to range anywhere between 15-20 points given the 28 game schedule.  But to make this fun lets chalk it up to 18.  Keep an eye out for the #14 to notch his 100^th AIHL career point this season.

Todd Stephenson scored his 100^th career AIHL point in the last game of the season against the Canberra Knights.  Despite the highlight last season his points totals weren’t as good as they have been in years prior as he has posted highs of 26 points and 23 points in 2008 and 2009 respectively with a P/G of over a point per game.  Expect Stephenson to climb back up to these figures as he enters his 8^th AIHL season at age 22, comes back from a solid camp and tournament in Melbourne onto a deeper Ice Dogs outfit. Todd has also managed to score a hat trick in his AIHL career so far which also came against Canberra in Canberra in 2008.  If we were to put a number on it after a 1 goal performance on the road in 2 games, lets call it 21 points this season.

 Missed point predictions part 1 last week?  Not to worry.  Go to http://www.icedogs.com.au/blog/2011/04/14/points-predictions-part-1/

Todd Stephenson has scored his 43rd career goal (101points) in his 150th AIHL Game

The Cityview Ice Dogs have ended their season opening Melbourne road trip with a win and a loss after defeating the Mustangs 6-3 at Docklands Ice Arena on Sunday night. To come out of a road trip with a 50/50 record should give the players – and fans alike, a lot of confidence going in to the stretch of home games coming up in May. To put it in perspective; the Dogs took 8 games to register their first win in 2010, they didn’t win a road game in 2010, and they haven’t won a Sunday road game since 2008.

 The game began with early pressure from the Mustangs as they managed to put a few unchallenged shots on goal but net minder Jimmy Herbert was more than up to the task. Herbert stopped everything that came at him and denied the Mustangs the early momentum.

 Midway through the first period Todd Stephenson, who was playing his 150^th AIHL game, scored an amazing goal as he weaved his way up the middle and hit the top left corner to give the Dogs a 1-0 lead.

 The Dogs continued to dominate the first period as import Mitch Bye scored his first AIHL goal, but the Mustangs ruined the party scoring on a PP just before the break.

 Import Brook Robson broke the goose egg for the season scoring his first AIHL goal chasing down a rebound on the powerplay to restore the two goal buffer. Ex-Melbourne Ice player Jamie Bourke made it 3-2 after capitalising on his breakaway scoring bottom right on Herbert. 

 The Mustangs did level the scores with a powerplay goal but their momentum was abruptly halted as Andrew White put home a Tomas Manco shot.

 Similar to Saturday’s game, the third period saw the Dogs score on their first shift as Matt Monaghan extended the lead to 2, which he then added to as he scored his second of the night on the power play to seal the result.

 You might think that a win against the new young team in the league isn’t that great an achievement, but so far the Mustangs have managed competitive totals against the Ice and the Northstars, who only managed to better them 7-5. They also have beaten the Bears who finished fourth last year. This win really showed that the Dogs are on track for a great season and they are ready to back it up with another this coming weekend as the Dogs host the Melbourne Ice in the season opener on May 1^st.