The Newcastle Northstars are champions. After finishing the regular season on top of the ladder, Newcastle have completed the job, holding on for a tense 2–1 victory over the Canberra Brave in the AIHL championship game.

The Newcastle Northstars and Canberra Brave will meet for the title after contrasting semi-final victories on Saturday, with Newcastle dismantling the Sydney Ice Dogs while Canberra produced another extraordinary comeback win over the Melbourne Mustangs.

The AIHL playoffs got underway with exactly the sort of drama you’d expect from sudden-death hockey. Both preliminary finals were thrilling affairs, with the Canberra Brave finally finding a way past the Sydney Bears after trailing three times, while the Sydney Ice Dogs survived a Perth fightback to book a meeting with the league-leading Newcastle Northstars.

The AIHL regular season is over, and it could hardly have finished with a more dramatic final weekend. Newcastle Northstars secured top spot, while Melbourne Mustangs and Canberra Brave finished level on 61 points behind them. Adelaide, meanwhile, finally gave their supporters something to celebrate with a convincing final-day victory over Perth.

The AIHL ladder has been reduced to a remarkable three-way tie at the top. Newcastle, Canberra and Melbourne Mustangs all sit on 59 points after a weekend that saw the Brave make perhaps the biggest statement of the season. Canberra travelled to Newcastle and came away with a convincing win before backing it up against Brisbane, while the Northstars responded on Sunday to remain level with their two closest rivals. At the other end, Adelaide endured another difficult weekend,

The race for the AIHL minor premiership remains completely undecided. Newcastle and Melbourne Mustangs both finished the weekend on 56 points after splitting their two games, while Canberra continued its remarkable late-season run with another four-point weekend. Perth, meanwhile, endured a brutal pair of defeats against the Mustangs. At the other end of the ladder, Adelaide and Brisbane - both already out of playoff contention - produced another pair of entertaining games, w

With the Mustangs sitting out the weekend, Newcastle took full advantage in the race for the minor premiership, while Canberra continued its surge to climb into outright third. But the biggest story belonged to Adelaide. After months of frustration and only one previous regulation-time victory all season, the Adrenaline produced one of the biggest upsets of the year to finish the weekend on a high.

The AIHL title race remains impossible to separate. For the second straight week, Newcastle and the Mustangs matched each other stride for stride, leaving both sides level on 50 points atop the ladder. Behind them, Canberra continued its excellent late-season form, while Melbourne Ice kept its finals hopes alive in another high-scoring weekend.

The Melbourne Mustangs produced another flawless weekend to draw level with Newcastle at the top of the ladder, while Canberra continued its late-season charge and Melbourne Ice reminded everyone they remain a dangerous finals contender.

After Week 13, Perth and Newcastle sit locked together on 44 points, while Melbourne Mustangs have surged into genuine contention just behind them. The weekend also saw some huge individual performances, with Kale Costa and David Gaeta producing standout offensive displays.

For the first time in weeks, there’s a new leader atop the AIHL. Perth pieced together a perfect weekend to leapfrog Newcastle into first place, while Canberra and Melbourne continued their charge up the standings with impressive sweeps. With just a handful of rounds remaining, the race for finals positions is becoming more intense by the week.

James Lane If there was one theme to Saturdya, it was comebacks. Time and again, teams overturned seemingly commanding leads, with Melbourne Ice producing the most dramatic fightback of all. Newcastle and Perth both split heavyweight series, Canberra kept rolling, and the battle for the remaining finals positions became even tighter. Canberra Brave 10 – 1 Adelaide Adrenaline Friday night was one-way traffic. The Brave overwhelmed Adelaide from the outset, running up double fi

Week 10 delivered huge swings in momentum, statement victories, and perhaps the clearest sign yet that Newcastle remain the benchmark of the competition. The Northstars completed a perfect weekend against fellow contenders, Canberra shocked Perth before being crushed in the rematch, and the Bears quietly put together one of the strongest rounds of any team in the league.

Week 9 was a shorter slate of games, but it still managed to shake up the standings. The Ice Dogs continued their surge with a statement win over the league-leading Northstars, Canberra kept building momentum, and Central Coast experienced one of the strangest weekends of the season, losing a thriller before winning an even crazier one.

Brisbane produced one of the most explosive offensive weekends in recent memory, piling 24 goals past Central Coast across two games. Melbourne Ice knocked off the league leaders. And Perth and Adelaide somehow needed 32 shootout attempts to settle a single point.

For weeks it looked like Newcastle were beginning to pull away from the pack. Week 7 changed that in a hurry. The Northstars suffered a shock home defeat, the Ice Dogs piled on 19 goals across two games, and Brisbane reminded everyone they are capable of troubling anyone on their day. With the standings tightening rapidly, the race at the top suddenly looks far more interesting.

Week 6 delivered one of the most bizarre double-headers of the AIHL season so far. Newcastle and Brisbane somehow produced both the most entertaining game of the round and one of the most lopsided, all within 24 hours. Elsewhere, Perth’s offence continued to terrorise Melbourne Ice, the Bears kept climbing, and the Rhinos bounced back after a split weekend.

The Northstars sit alone on top after another perfect round, while Central Coast went second thanks to a tense overtime win against Perth.

A shortened Week 4 schedule still brought movement at the top of the AIHL ladder. Central Coast entered the round in first place but left it heavily bruised after back-to-back blowout losses, while Newcastle reclaimed top spot in emphatic fashion.

Newcastle’s perfect start came to an end, while Central Coast and Perth surged into a share of top spot off the back of statement wins and some of the most explosive scoring of the young season.