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Blue Tongues MVP Extends Ice Hockey Contract For 2010 |
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Written by Team Management
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Friday, 06 November 2009 04:31 |
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Bartercard Gold Coast Blue Tongue’s star forward Brad Smulders has signed a one-year contract extension, making him the team’s first import signing for the 2010 season.
Smulders, 25, scored an Australian Ice Hockey League season record 33 goals in 2009 on his way to being voted team and AIHL Most Valuable Player. He also racked up 43 assists for the Blue Tongues before the team was knocked out of the playoffs earlier this year.
Smulders’ return is unusual for an import hockey player, as most don’t return to Australia after one season. But he said his desire to win silverware for the Gold Coast drew him back.
"I wanted to come back to the Blue Tongues because I met a lot of great people and I feel the team has a great chance of winning the championship," Smulders said from Holland, where he is currently playing with the Nijmegen Devils. "The people surrounding the organisation deserve to win something and I would love to be part of that."
Smulders, a native of Canada, said he didn’t think twice when offered the chance to play another season for the Blue Tongues. He cited the fans, the beach and the atmosphere of playing in Australia as contributing factors to his contract extension.
"I really love playing in Australia because hockey is not as popular and fans get a little more excited because of it," Smulders said. "For myself, I just want to win and have fun and score a few goals doing it."
Now re-signed, Smulders hopes to resume his winning, fun-loving and goal-scoring ways in April, when the Blue Tongue’s start their new season. |
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Last Updated on Friday, 06 November 2009 04:56 |
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2009 Blue Tongues Awards Evening |
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Written by Sam Hansen
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Sunday, 04 October 2009 09:41 |
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Gold Coast Blue Tongues management, players and supporters gathered at the Benowa Tavern on September 1 to celebrate a successful season of Blue Tongues hockey at the annual Awards night.
Brad Smulders won the award for Most Valuable Player (MVP) after putting up huge numbers to set a team and league record of 77 points (35G 44A).
The Best Local Player award was shared between Jon Bale (7G 4A) and team Captain Ross "Rosco" Howell (3G 6A). Jon stepped up his game this season and excelled at all areas of his game, including special teams. Rosco, a natural defenseman played the season switching between the forward and defense positions, and excelled at his game no matter what position he played. A true leader of the team, Rosco played in the semi-final game against the North Stars with an injured ankle, playing through pain to help the team.
Cam Trew (1G 4A) was voted the Most Improved player this season. While not a player who puts up big numbers, Cam could always be counted on to block shots, jam the passing lanes and win puck battles in the corners. The team sees nothing but improvement in Cam's game in the coming seasons.
In a show of support to the fans, Craig "Bluey" Duncan was voted fan favorite. Bluey traveled with the team on almost all road games and was always there to help cheer the team on, win or lose. The team would like to thank Bluey, and all other Tongues fans for their support this season.
Dave Emblem (General Manager) and Kevin Sands (Head Coach) also thanked the rest of the team, volunteers, announcers and all others who helped during the season.
The Blue Tongues are dedicated to building a solid team for the future and look forward to a successful 2010 AIHL campaign. Off ice training is set to begin in late 2009. |
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AIHL Finals Television Schedules |
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Written by Sam Hansen
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Tuesday, 08 September 2009 13:31 |
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The AIHL Final Match between the Newcastle North Stars and Adelaide Adrenaline will be shown at the following times on Fox Sports.
Oct 6 (Tuesday) @ 2:30pm - Fox Sports 2
Oct 10 (Saturday) @ 7:00am - Fox Sports 3
Oct 15 (Thursday) @ 6:00am - Fox Sports 3
For those without Foxtel subscriptions, you can also catch the Slapshot feed of the finals game on free to air television at the following times.
Sept 9 (Wednesday) @ 7:00pm - Bris31 (QCTV)
Sept 12 (Saturday) @ 1:30pm - Bris31 (QCTV)
Other Community Television stations around the country are playing the games also, please check your local guides.
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Read more... [AIHL Finals Television Schedules]
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Reigning Champs Burst Blue Tongues Fairytale Ending |
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Written by Wendy Hansen
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Tuesday, 01 September 2009 03:55 |
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The atmosphere was electric as the lights were turned off and the strobe lights came on for the entrance of the home team, Newcastle North Stars, and their opponents, the Gold Coast Blue Tongues. In front of a packed crowd, the Blue Tongues took to the ice to the cheers and horns blaring from their home contingents, who made the trip down from Queensland to witness the Blue Tongues historic first semi-final. As the teams lined up for the national anthem, the anticipation in the arena was palpable throughout the crowd.
On one end of the rink the hometown favourite, goaltender Matt Ezzy scraped up the ice in front of his crease in preparation of the showdown. On the other end, Blue Tongues goaltender Milan Novysedlak did the same. When the whistle blew and the first puck was dropped to start the game, the chanting from the crowd started – for both teams.
It was 16 seconds into the first period when the first penalty was called – on both teams. From that point, it was clear that both teams were there to win, and neither was going to give anything away to their opposition.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 September 2009 04:11 |
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Read more... [Reigning Champs Burst Blue Tongues Fairytale Ending]
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AIHL 2009 Final sets now available for pre-order! |
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Written by Mike Crowhurst
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Tuesday, 08 September 2009 13:09 |
Hi everyone, I hope that you were either able to attend the recent Finals series weekend or caught it on our live webcast which went out to over 300 viewers worldwide, our best audience to date. We were pleased to have been able to provide the service for free which allowed us to iron out some bugs for future live broadcasts. Thanks for all your patience and support! Slapshot is pleased to be taking orders now for the 2009 Finals DVDs which can be purchased via our website: http://www.slapshot.com.au/shop/Purchases ordered this week will ship the week of September 14th. The 3-game/disc set comes with all the full-resolution versions of the games as they went to air (the Power Productions version is not included) at the price of $26.95 per set. We also have a combo deal for $39.95 for both the 2007 and 2008 Finals sets or a "Trifecta" deal of all of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Finals' series for a massively good price of $54.95. (If you are located outside of Australia, please reply to this email with your location, and we will send you an invoice including correct shipping.) As always, your purchases help support our small business and allow us to continue to bring ice hockey to your tv every year. Thanks for your generosity and tell your friends about how great Australian ice hockey is! Cheers, Mike Crowhurst
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Read more... [AIHL 2009 Final sets now available for pre-order!]
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Adrenaline Dominate ice; Make AIHL Final |
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Written by Wendy Hansen
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Tuesday, 01 September 2009 03:45 |
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Second ranked Melbourne Ice faced off against third placed Adelaide Adrenaline in the first semi-final for the AIHL Championship trophy at Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Warners Bay on Saturday afternoon.
Adelaide won the first face off, taking possession early. Melbourne came back aggressively battling for the puck in a fast and furious struggle for dominance. With strong forechecking on both sides, it seemed imminent for an epic fight for lead early in the game. The Adrenaline were the first strike when import Sami Mantere, assisted by captain Greg Oddy, netted the puck past Ice goaltender Stu Denman 5 minutes and 49 seconds into the period. Exactly 2 minutes after their first goal, Jeremy Beirnes took the Adrenaline to a 2 goal lead over the scoreless Ice, assisted by James Keane and Luke Tilthorpe.
The Adrenaline continued on their offensive assault on embattled Stu Denman with Jeremy Beirnes scoring his second only 39 seconds into the period. Sami Mantere buried his second 26 seconds later, giving Adelaide a 4-0 lead and all but ending the hopes of the Melbourne Ice to come back.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 September 2009 03:55 |
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Read more... [Adrenaline Dominate ice; Make AIHL Final]
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