Selected photos from the 1st of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) games of the weekend between the Adelaide Adrenaline and Perth Thunder played on 22/08/2026 at the Ice Arena, Adelaide, South Australia. Cale Dolan was back for the Adrenaline in goal, and Aleksi Toivonen for the Thunder. Lucas Giveen would be playing his first AIHL game for the Adrenaline after some playing experience in North America. Coach for the Thunder was John Kennedy, former player for the Newcastle Northstars, meaning former playing coach Ben Breault could now just concentrate on playing. 
The Thunder were sitting in 4th place on the AIHL ladder and looked safe but the Ice Dogs below them were facing 2nd to bottom team Brisbane Lightning playing for pride. There were milestones for several players this weekend. Thunder’s David Kudla would be playing his 300th AIHL game on Sunday (and needed 1 point to reach 100 career points), all of them for the Thunder. Adrenaline’s Jory MacDougall was playing his 100th AIHL game today. Adrenaline’s Zach Boyle needed 5 points to reach 100 career points, and Nathaniel Benson needed 1 point to reach 100 career points.
The Adrenaline was fielding many younger players and were without the services of Austin Pickford serving a 4-game suspension so it would be a tough game. Despite this the Adrenaline held their own in the 1st period. There would be only one goal scored, by Thunder’s captain Kieren Webster at 11:53 (assists Peter Hrehorcak and Felix Plouffe). A few seconds later Adrenaline’s Lucas Giveen would receive a tripping penalty but there was no change in the score. Shots on goal for the period: Thunder 16, Adrenaline 16.
The Adrenaline would need to find a way to put more shots on goal and a powerplay would be handy. And that it was as Thunder’s Maxim Lyashenko was called for tripping 30 secs into the period. With 18:07 on the clock Nathaniel Benson would tie things up (assists Coy Prevost and Kolby Johnson). Coy would receive a hooking penalty at 10:33 but his team’s penalty kill unit did the job. Thunder’s Slovakian import Peter Hrohorcak would them ahead again at 7:57 (assists Kieren Webster and Felix Plouffe). A late penalty to Adrenaline’s Tyler Boyle didn’t result in a change to the score. The Adrenaline’s young team were holding their own despite the shot count being dominated by the Thunder: Thunder 16, Adrenaline 9.
The 3rd period was still even, until Thunder’s Brayden Maybee headed to the penalty box for kneeing at 8:38. Despite the one-man disadvantage, Thunder’s Ville Tenosalmi found a way past the Adrenaline’s defence and score shorthanded to give the Thunder a 2-goal lead (assists Henri Auvinen and Maxim Lyashenko). Adrenaline’s Kolby Johnson received a tripping penalty at 6:27, and the Thunder’s Ben Breault uses the powerplay to put his team further ahead (assists Henri Auvinen and Peter Hrohowcak). A late penalty to Ben with just under a minute to play in the game should have seen a 4-1 score, but Hrohorcak wasn’t done yet and scored shorthanded with 18 secs to play. Shots on goal for the period: Thunder 14, Adrenaline 5.
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