AIHL All-Star Weekend


The Australian Ice Hockey League All-Star Weekend is an annual event showcasing the best talent from the AIHL in skills tests and an exhibition 'All-Stars' match.

History

4 August 2015, the Australian Ice Hockey League announced the formation of a new event in the Australian ice hockey calendar, the AIHL All-Stars Weekend. The event occurs two weeks following the conclusion of the AIHL Finals Weekend.
The maiden Australian Ice Hockey League All-Star Weekend, took place between 12 and 13 September 2015 at Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Newcastle, NSW.
Cash prizes are on offer for players for the breakaway challenge during the skills tests, the winner of the Most Valuable Player in the All-Stars match and the team the MVP comes from. In 2015 the winner of the Breakaway Challenge received $1000, the winner of the MVP received $5000 and the MVP club received $4000.

2015 Rosters

Andrew Petrie and Joey Theriault of the Newcastle North Stars and Vlad Rubes and Ron Kuprowsky of the Sydney Bears were named as the coaching teams for the game.
#Pos.PlayerTeamNat.
1GSydney Bears
20GNewcastle North Stars
2DNewcastle North Stars
3DPerth Thunder
4DSydney Bears
5DSydney Ice Dogs
6DCBR Brave
7FNewcastle North Stars
8FAdelaide Adrenaline
9FAdelaide Adrenaline
10FMelbourne Ice
11FNewcastle North Stars
12FPerth Thunder
13FPerth Thunder
14FCBR Brave
15FPerth Thunder
16FCBR Brave
21F*Newcastle North Stars

#Pos.PlayerTeamNat.
1GNewcastle North Stars
20GMelbourne Mustangs
2DNewcastle North Stars
3DPerth Thunder
4DPerth Thunder
5DSydney Ice Dogs
6DSydney Ice Dogs
7DCBR Brave
8FCBR Brave
9FMelbourne Ice
10FMelbourne Ice
11FSydney Bears
12FMelbourne Mustangs
13FSydney Bears
14FMelbourne Mustangs
15FSydney Bears
21FNewcastle North Stars
22F*Melbourne Mustangs

* Denotes a player not originally selected in either All-Star team but played in the All-Stars match.

Skills competition

The skills competitions selected for presentation by the respective coaches include a number of skills events the National Hockey League showcases at their All-Stars Weekend event. Each event is sponsored by one of the league's major sponsors and are performed on the Saturday afternoon.

Air Canada Fastest Skater competition

In this event, pairs of skaters raced each other simultaneously on parallel courses on the rink. The fastest two skaters then had a final race.
The breakaway challenge saw three shooters and one goalie from each team take to the ice. Each skater was given 3 shots, with full access to the offensive zone, to play out their routine and take a shot. The winner was judged on their presentation as well as scoring by a fan shout off. In goals for Team Bales was Kamil Jarina and for Team Schlamp Dayne Davis.
In this event, competitors were positioned in front of the net, and were passed the puck from two teammates situated behind the goal line. The players had to hit targets at the four corners of the net in the fastest time.
The stickhanding competition saw two skaters positioned in a head on head contest on identical obstacle courses that would test different styles of stick handling, first one to the finish line wins. There are four skaters in total selected by each team to compete.
In this competition, four players from each team skate in from the blue line one at a time, and slap a puck as hard as possible into the net with a speed camera positioned behind the net to register the impact speed. Each player gets two attempts in the heats and the top two players face off in the final and get one attempt to win the event.
In this competition, players attempt to score on the opposing team's goalie. Players who score earn a point for their team for each goal they score. Players are eliminated from the competition if they fail to score.
The All-Star game sees a selection of the best players from the AIHL pitted against each other under than banner of two captains. The match is played on the Sunday afternoon.
Source: AIHL

Broadcasting

Television: Fox Sports. The AIHL released information that Fox Sports would broadcast the All-Stars Weekend event on their pay-television platform the following Thursday.