rhinos take charge
Their fans have been telling us all off season, but finally last night, everyone learnt what Rhino's fans already knew. This seasons Central Coast Rhino's are nobody's cellar dwellers, and as the Blue Tongues just found out, the team is a force to be reckoned with.
Whilst the Blue Tongues opened the scoring with local defence man Ross Howell putting the first point on the board, it was several ill-timed penalities that ultimately costing the team, with the Rhino's potting 3 power play goals in the first period. The third goal of the period came on a bang bang play which stretched their lead to 3 – 1 with just 14 seconds left in the first period.
From that point on the game slipped out of the Blue Tongues reach, with the Rhino's adding another goal to the board in both the second and third period.
In spite of the final score line, Coach Kevin Sands found positives within the team effort, especially after injuries depleated the line up to just two lines for the majority of the game. Forward Nick Jones had suffered a knee injury in the previous nights encounter and Rob Avey was troubled by hip complaints in the first period. While the team managed to skate with them for the first two periods, by the end of the game, the half strength team started to noticeably slow.
Since last season, the Rhino's had bolstered the team with several strong European imports, including goaltender Marcus Claesson and Swedish forward Simon Kummu. The addition of these imports as well as the continued growth of the sport through the introduction of younger ECSL players into the line up was noted upon by Sands at the end of the game.
After the game, Ross Howell, the team's man of the match, and the only Blue Tongue to register a goal commented on the team's strong defence and what they need to work on for next weekends games.
"Putting the puck in the net is really all there is," Howell said, referring to the fact the team has only managed to score a goal a game, so far this season, despite registering 23 shots in the Rhino's game.
This weekend the team will head to Canberra to play the Knights on Saturday the 26th at 5 30 pm and on Sunday at 5 45 pm will face off against the Ice Dogs.
By Sasky Stewart April 21, 2008
Upcoming Games
| DATE | HOME | AWAY | TIME |
| 5 July | Avalanche | Blue Tongues | 4:30pm |
| 6 July | Ice | Blue Tongues | 4:15pm |
| 12 July | Blue Tongues | Ice Dogs | 3:30pm |
| 13 July | Blue Tongues | Ice Dogs | 3:30pm |
Previous Games
Home teams on top row| Date | Teams | P1 | P2 | P3 | F |
| 29 June | Blue Tongues Rhinos |
4 0 |
3 2 |
2 2 |
9 4 |
| 28 June | Blue Tongues Rhinos |
0 1 |
0 1 |
0 0 |
0 2 |
| 22 June | Blue Tongues North Stars |
1 2 |
1 1 |
2 1 |
4 5* |
| 21 June | Blue Tongues North Stars |
0 1 |
0 2 |
0 2 |
0 5 |
AIHL Standings
| Current as of 2 July, 2008 | ||
| GP | Pts | |
| The Bears (Sydney) | 15 | 36 |
| Western Sydney Ice Dogs | 18 | 31 |
| Melbourne Ice | 17 | 30 |
| Newcastle North Stars | 17 | 28 |
| Central Coast Rhinos | 16 | 20 |
| Gold Coast Blue Tongues | 13 | 16 |
| Canberra Knights | 18 | 16 |
| Adelaide A's | 14 | 15 |
Individual Leaders
| Current as of 30 June, 2008 | ||
| Goals: | Gaetan Royer | 14 |
| Assists: | Brian Lachance | 13 |
| Points: | Gaetan Royer | 20 |
| PIMS: | Jordon Ross | 67 |
| PPG: | Gaetan Royer Jack Conner |
4 |
| SHG: | Dave Upton | 2 |
News Headlines
aihl teams
