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.