Northstars close out home season in style as Drolet skates into the record books
- intouch Magazine
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
The Escadia Newcastle Northstars brought the curtain down on their home season at Hunter Ice Skating Stadium this past weekend, splitting a physical, milestone-filled double header that saw them fall to Canberra Brave on Saturday before roaring back with a 6-3 win over Perth Thunder on Sunday — a weekend of big hits, big goals, and two career milestones that speak to just how much heart this club has built over the years.
Saturday: a hard-fought battle, and 200 games for Beau Taylor
Canberra came out flying, jumping to an early 2-0 lead and controlling much of the play in the opening period. Santeri Haarala got the Northstars on the board late in the frame, finishing off a nice passing sequence from Yevgenii Skachkov and Wehebe Darge.
The Brave pushed the margin out to 4-1 in the second, before Riley Klugerman snuck one past Alexandre Tetreault to give the home crowd something to cheer. Things then boiled over after a hit on Matus Trnka, with goaltender Liam Ryan stepping up to defend his teammate — a scrap that sent four players to the box and lifted the intensity in the building.
Canberra had the last word of the period, scoring with just five seconds on the clock to lead 5-2 at the final break.
Haarala struck again early in the third to give Newcastle hope, but Canberra held the fort and iced the result with an empty-netter in the closing minutes, taking the game 6-3.
Amid the tough result, the night belonged in part to Beau Taylor, who brought up his 200th AIHL game in front of the home faithful — a milestone captain Liam Manwarring made sure didn't pass quietly.
"He is a natural leader. He is one of my best friends personally, and he is the heartbeat of that group," Manwarring said.
"He knows what it takes to be an all-star. He brings such a great piece of local talent that's been around for so long here. Credit to him."
Manwarring was honest about where the loss came from. "We didn't make the first play that was presented to us. We overcomplicated the game, and you can't do that against another really good team like Canberra," he said.
"I'm proud of the boys. I'm proud of the fight right till the end. This is a little bit of a learning curve and a step to the bigger picture."
Head coach Kevin Noble echoed that sentiment, giving credit where it was due. "They worked really hard. They competed hard," Noble said of Canberra.
"They played the game that came to them, they didn't try to manufacture plays that weren't there… and we didn't do a good job when we had our opportunities to capitalise on goal scoring chances. We were outworked and out-competed tonight — we were chasing the game."
"They didn't try to manufacture plays that weren't there… and we didn't do a good job when we had our opportunities to capitalise on goal-scoring chances "
Sunday: Drolet rewrites the record books as Newcastle finish on a high
Any sting from Saturday night was soothed on Sunday, as the Northstars turned in a dominant six-goal performance to see off Perth Thunder 6-3, with Skachkov, Haarala, Francis Drolet, Aziz Baazzi, Klugerman and Ryan all finding the back of the net.
But the biggest moment of the night had nothing to do with the scoreline. Francis Drolet's point on the day moved him past former Northstars captain Rob Starke to become the AIHL's all-time leading point scorer, closing the book on Starke's 11-year hold on the record.
It capped off a big weekend for the veteran forward, who also became just the second Northstar to reach 350 AIHL games.
"It's a little bit surreal. It's something that I always wanted, but it is not something you really think about during your career," Drolet said of the milestone.
On breaking the all-time scoring record, Drolet was equally measured.
"It felt nice. It felt like people were talking about records, so it's a little bit like a weight off the shoulders, and now I can keep thinking about our next goal, which is obviously the finals."
Manwarring didn't hold back in his praise for his teammate. "It's so good to have him here — in our colours. He does little things on the ice that bring a different nature to our group. He's a natural leader. Congratulations to him," he said.
"I couldn't think of any other person that I'd want to break that record. He shows what it truly means to be an all-star, and he wears the crest with real pride, and all us boys follow him."
Perth clawed back two late goals in the third to make things interesting, but Newcastle held their nerve to close out the win. Coach Noble was pleased with the turnaround from the night before.
"We were a lot better on the puck, and I thought our entries were better, and we were a little bit more hungry," he said.
What's next for the Northstars
With the home season now behind them, the Northstars turn their attention to the final round of the regular season, taking on the Central Coast Rhinos in Erina on Saturday, August 22, before heading to Sydney to face the Sydney Bears on Sunday, August 23.
Fans can catch every minute of the action via AIHL.TV, before the 2026 AIHL Finals get underway at Melbourne's O'Brien Icehouse from August 28-30.
