2004 AIHL season#Final

{{Infobox sports season

| title = 2004 AIHL season

| league = Australian Ice Hockey League

| sport = Ice hockey

| color = black

| color_text = white

| duration = 1 May 2004 – 5 September 2004

| season = Regular season

| season_champ_name = V.I.P. Cup

| season_champs = Newcastle North Stars (1st title)

| MVP =

| MVP_link =

| top_scorer = Martin Jesko (41 points)
(Ice Dogs)

| top_scorer_link =

| finals = Goodall Cup

| finals_link = Goodall Cup

| finals_champ = Western Sydney Ice Dogs

| finals_runner-up = Newcastle North Stars

| finals_MVP =

| finals_MVP_link =

| nextseason_year = 2005

| prevseason_year = 2003

| seasonslistnames = AIHL

}}

The 2004 AIHL season was the fifth season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It ran from 1 May 2004 until 29 August 2004, with the Goodall Cup finals following on 4 and 5 September 2004. The Newcastle North Stars won the V.I.P. Cup after finishing the regular season first in the league standings. The Western Sydney Ice Dogs won the Goodall Cup for the first time by defeating the Newcastle North Stars in the final.

Regular season

The regular season began on 1 May 2004 and ran through to 29 August 2004 before the top four teams advanced to compete in the Goodall Cup playoff series.{{cite web | url = https://theaihl.com/leagues/print_schedule.cfm?leagueID=11464&clientID=3856&teamID=0&mixed=1 | title = 2004 AIHL Schedule | publisher=theaihl.com | accessdate = 26 September 2018 }}

= Standings =

width=165\|Team !width=40\|{{Tooltip\|GP\|Games played}} !width=40\|{{Tooltip\|W\|Wins}} !width=40\|{{Tooltip\|T\|Ties}} !width=40\|{{Tooltip\|OTW\|Overtime wins}} !width=40\|{{Tooltip\|OTL\|Overtime losses}} !width=40\|{{Tooltip\|L\|Losses}} !width=40\|{{Tooltip\|GF\|Goals for}} !width=40\|{{Tooltip\|GA\|Goals against}} !width=40\|{{Tooltip\|GDF\|Goal difference}} !width=40\|{{Tooltip\|PTS\|Points}}
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
style="background:#90EE90;" \|style="text-align:left;"\| Newcastle North Stars	20	15	2	2	0	1	93	50	+43	51
style="background:#ccffcc;" \|style="text-align:left;"\| Western Sydney Ice Dogs	20	11	0	0	2	7	92	71	+21	35
style="background:#ccffcc;" \|style="text-align:left;"\| Sydney Bears	20	8	1	1	4	6	68	71	-3	31
style="background:#ccffcc;" \|style="text-align:left;"\| Adelaide Avalanche	20	7	1	1	2	9	64	68	-4	29
style="text-align:left;"\| Melbourne Ice	20	5	1	2	0	12	53	71	-18	20
style="text-align:left;"\| Canberra Knights	20	3	1	2	0	14	53	109	-56	14

class="wikitable"

style="background:#ccffcc;"|Qualified for the Goodall Cup playoffs

|style="background:#90EE90;"|Premiership winners

[https://www.eliteprospects.com/league/aihl/2003-2004 Source]

= Statistics =

== Scoring leaders ==

List shows the ten top skaters sorted by points, then goals. Current as of 5 September 2004{{cite web | url = https://www.eliteprospects.com/league/aihl/stats/2003-2004 | title = AIHL 2003-2004 season: Regular Season Player Stats | publisher=eliteprospects.com | accessdate = 26 September 2018 }}

width="175px"\| Player !width="175px"\| Team !width="50px" \| {{Tooltip\|GP\|Games played}} !width="50px" \| {{Tooltip\|G\|Goals}} !width="50px" \| {{Tooltip\|A\|Assists}} !width="60px" \| {{Tooltip\|Pts\|Points}} !width="50px" \| {{Tooltip\|PIM\|Penalties in minutes}} !width="60px" \| {{Tooltip\|POS\|Position}}
class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
align="left"\| {{sort\|Jesko\|Martin Jesko}}	align="left"\| Western Sydney Ice Dogs	17	20	21	41	14	F
align="left"\| {{sort\|S Starke\|Sean Starke}}	align="left"\| Newcastle North Stars	17	19	19	38	51	F
align="left"\| {{sort\|Heinen\|John Heinen}}	align="left"\| Western Sydney Ice Dogs	18	17	21	38	18	F
align="left"\| {{sort\|Oddy\|Greg Oddy}}	align="left"\| Adelaide Avalanche	17	12	18	30	40	C
align="left"\| {{sort\|Duchemin\|Rob Duchemin}}	align="left"\| Newcastle North Stars	19	16	11	27	46	F
align="left"\| {{sort\|Walsh\|Trevor Walsh}}	align="left"\| Adelaide Avalanche	17	16	10	26	110	C
align="left"\| {{sort\|D'Jamirze\|Alex D'Jamirze}}	align="left"\| Western Sydney Ice Dogs	19	15	11	26	20	F
align="left"\| {{sort\|Wasylko\|Steve Wasylko}}	align="left"\| Newcastle North Stars	19	12	14	26	26	C
align="left"\| {{sort\|Ulmer\|Trent Ulmer}}	align="left"\| Sydney Bears	17	11	13	24	12	F
align="left"\| {{sort\|R Starke\|Robert Starke}}	align="left"\| Newcastle North Stars	18	10	14	24	62	D

== Leading goaltenders ==

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage with a minimum 40% of the team's ice time. Current as of 5 September 2004{{cite web | url = https://theaihl.com/leagues/stats_hockey.cfm?leagueID=11464&clientID=3856 | title = 2004 AIHL season: League leading goalies | publisher=theaihl.com | accessdate = 25 September 2018 }}

width="170px" \| Player !width="175px"\| Team !width="60px" \| {{Tooltip\|MIP\|Minutes played}} !width="50px" \| {{Tooltip\|SOG\|Shots on goal}} !width="50px" \| {{Tooltip\|GA\|Goals against}} !width="60px" \| {{Tooltip\|GAA\|Goals against average per 60 minutes}} !width="60px" \| {{Tooltip\|SVS%\|Save percentage}} !width="50px" \| {{Tooltip\|SO\|Shutouts}}
class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
align="left"\| {{sort\|Ezzy\|Matthew Ezzy}}	align="left"\| Newcastle North Stars	778	488	39	3.15	0.920	0
align="left"\| {{sort\|Exner\|Kenric Exner}}	align="left"\| Sydney Bears	728	493	59	3.54	0.880	0
align="left"\| {{sort\|Lien\|Eric Lien}}	align="left"\| Adelaide Avalanche	632	405	49	5.54	0.879	0
align="left"\| {{sort\|Robledo\|Gabe Robledo}}	align="left"\| Western Sydney Ice Dogs	272	134	18	4.06	0.866	0
align="left"\| {{sort\|Denman\|Stuart Denman}}	align="left"\| Melbourne Ice	725	466	65	3.53	0.861	0

Goodall Cup playoffs

The 2004 playoffs was scheduled for 4 September with the Goodall Cup final held on 5 September 2004. Following the end of the regular season the top four teams advanced to the playoff series which was held at the Erina Ice Arena in the Central Coast, New South Wales region. The series was a single game elimination with the two winning semi-finalists advancing to the Goodall Cup final. The Goodall Cup was won by Western Sydney Ice Dogs (1st title) who defeated the Newcastle North Stars 3–1 in the final.{{cite web | url = https://theaihl.com/leagues/newsletter.cfm?page=95397&clientID=3856&leagueID=11464 | title = Ice Dogs honour 2004 Championship | publisher=theaihl.com | first=Andrew | last=McMurtry | date=31 May 2016 | accessdate = 27 September 2018 }}

{{4TeamBracket

| RD1=Semifinals

| RD2=Final

| RD1-team1=Adelaide Avalanche

| RD1-score1=2

| RD1-team2=Newcastle North Stars

| RD1-score2=3

| RD1-team3=Sydney Bears

| RD1-score3=4

| RD1-team4=Western Sydney Ice Dogs

| RD1-score4=5

| RD2-team1=Western Sydney Ice Dogs