The Newcastle Northstars have been crowned 2026 AIHL Minor Premiers after completing the regular season with back-to-back comeback victories.
Newcastle secured the H Newman Reid Trophy after defeating the Central Coast Rhinos 3-2 on Saturday before producing an 8-5 fightback against the Sydney Bears on Sunday.
The Northstars trailed the Rhinos 2-0 before Calvin Bright and Yevgenii Skachkov levelled the contest.
Skachkov’s goal also saw him become just the third player in AIHL history to reach 40 goals in a season.
Aziz Baazi then completed the comeback to secure the 3-2 victory.
Before Sunday’s puck drop against the Bears at Macquarie Ice Rink, Newcastle officially secured the Minor Premiership after the Melbourne Mustangs defeated the Canberra Brave.
Despite already having the trophy locked away, the Northstars were forced to fight back again after falling behind Sydney 3-0.
Wehebe Darge sparked the comeback before Liam Ryan and Darge again reduced the deficit.
Santeri Haarala brought Newcastle within one before Riley Klugerman scored his 50th AIHL goal to level the game at 5-5.
Akihide Watanabe then gave the Northstars their first lead, before Haarala extended the advantage and Francis Drolet sealed the 8-5 win.
The weekend capped remarkable regular seasons for Skachkov and Haarala, who finished tied on 84 points each, placing them equal third on the AIHL’s all-time single-season points list.
Head coach Kevin Noble said securing the Minor Premiership was an emotional moment for the club.
“We obviously haven’t won the final trophy yet, but in some ways doing it pillar-to-pillar, the best team in the league, hands down throughout the whole season, there was never a doubt from the start to the end,” he said.
“I’m so happy for the guys in there.”
Captain Liam Manwarring said the achievement reflected the consistency of the group throughout the season.
“We’ve been the best team all year,” he said.
“We definitely deserve to be minor premiers.”
Manwarring said the focus would now shift firmly to the championship.
“We’ve got the team to win the championship,” he said.
The Northstars will head to Melbourne for the AIHL finals, with their opening game scheduled for Saturday 29 August at O’Brien Icehouse.
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