Bears Coach Vlad Rubes spoke after the game on his game plan which was eleven minutes from a shut-out victory, as the Bears led 1-0 from the sixth minute.

“The Ice have talented, young and fast players and we sought to play them on the counter.”

“We worked towards trying to gain possession in the neutral zone, and frustrating them in the defensive, before trying to catch them out on odd-man rushes.”

The Bears took the lead in the first period breaking the deadlock by Vlad Stransky scoring off a deflection from the goaltenders helmet into the back of the net from out wide.

The play came off the back of a breakaway after some heavy Melbourne dominance in the Bears defensive zone.

The Bears conceded heavy opposition attacks throughout the second period, with powerplays leading to desperate defence from the Bears, along with some outstanding goaltending from Nick Boucher.

The final five minutes of the period saw a one minute five on three opportunity for the Ice, who were left frustrated by the bodies packed into goal to keep the one goal lead intact.

The third period was the heartbreaker for the Bears, where despite all Melbourne’s passing play, two blue line shots were the decider.

The clock showed 11:15 to go when a Liam Webster’s long shot slid in past the Bears defence to draw level.

Shortly after, the Ice caught a lucky bounce, this time a great pad stack by Nick Boucher deflected onto Joey Hughes stick and an open net opportunity to give the lead.

Vlad Rubes, the new coach of the Australian Mens National Team, was proud of his teams performance after the game “even losing, you don’t feel like a loser, you lose it sucks, everyone played their best”.

“We didn’t blow the game, we played smart hockey and we were ahead for most of the game, but that’s hockey”.

The Habitat Furniture Man of the Match went to goal tender Nick Boucher who was only 10 minutes away from shutting out a potent Melbourne Ice offense.  

We would also like to thank the Bears supporters who travelled to Melbourne for all their support. 

Finally on behalf of the Coaching and Management staff we want to say how proud we are of the achievements of the players and the hard work that they put into 2010 and we look forward to the 2011 season.

Please don’t forget the Presentation Party (more info to click here) Saturday September 4 from 1.00 pm at the Oaks Hotel in Neutral Bay.