2013 AIHL season
| 2013 AIHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Australian Ice Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | 20 April 2013 – 8 September 2013 |
| Regular season | |
| H Newman Reid Trophy | Sydney Ice Dogs |
| Season MVP | Jeff Martens (North Stars) |
| Top scorer | Jeff Martens |
| Goodall Cup | |
| Champions | Sydney Ice Dogs |
| Runners-up | Newcastle North Stars |
| Finals MVP | Anthony Kimlin (Ice Dogs) |
| Qualified for the playoffs |
The 2013 AIHL season is the 14th season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It will run from 20 April 2013 until 1 September 2013, with the Goodall Cup finals following on the 7 and 8 September. The Sydney Ice Dogs won both the H Newman Ried Trophy for finishing first in the regular season, and the Goodall Cup after defeating the Newcastle North Stars in the final.
In October 2012 it was announced that the 2013 season would be played with eight teams as the Gold Coast Blue Tongues' licence was suspended due to the team being unable to secure a home venue for 2013. The Blue Tongues were forced out of their arena during the 2012 season when the AIHL deemed it to not be up to specifications for the league forcing the team to temporarily relocate to Brisbane for the remainder of the season. It was also announced that the suspension on the Sydney Ice Dogs had been lifted allowing the team to ice four imports again. The Ice Dogs were restricted to three for the 2012 season by the league due to breaches of the league's code of conduct. Following the Annual General Meeting (AGM) it was announced that the third period of play has been increased from 15 minutes to 20 minutes, while the first two remain 15 minutes in length. The change was in response to fans calling for the league to align itself with international hockey which plays three 20 minute periods. The Melbourne Mustangs revealed their new logo and jerseys for the start of the season featuring a redesigned mustang horse, holding an ice hockey stick. The new jerseys include a white home jersey, a black away jersey and an orange third jersey which is being released as off-ice apparel only. The Sydney Ice Dogs also revealed their new jerseys with an aqua green away jersey and a white home jersey. The change in colours was made as part of a deal with corporate naming sponsor Reach Crane Trucks and will be in place for three years, the duration of their deal with Reach Crane Trucks. Their previous colours of maroon, yellow, blue, black and white will remain as the team's corporate colours.
On 17 February the AIHL announced that it had entered into a partnership with Fox Sports in which a game of the week will be aired on the network as part of a 60-minute program which also includes league and state federation news and AIHL highlights. The Canberra Knights held an exhibition game on 23 March 2013 with the team competing against a team of former Knights' players for the Soldier On charity. The Knights won the game 6–5.
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