Late-Night Hockey In The Early Afternoon

If you needed more hockey action following the Florida Panthers' Game Five win over the Edmonton Oilers, the AIHL was kicking off its Sunday games with a contest between the Perth Thunder and the Melbourne Mustangs. Depsite this game starting at 2pm on Sunday in Australia, we were treated to an 11pm start here in the Central Time Zone. That gave me enough time to settle in and cheer for the black-and-orange as the Mustangs looked to pull even with the Thunder at third-place in the AIHL while having a game in-hand. Who doesn't enjoy a little late-night Aussie hockey to cap off a Saturday night of hockey?

The broadcast began by announcing that there would be some history equalled tonight as Melbourne starting goaltender Tom Papas as the 16 year-old who played for South Alberta Hockey Academy in 2023-24 would be starting! Papas is seven days, at the time of writing, from his 17th birthday which means he could have his first professional hockey victory before he has his full driver's license in Australia. According to the broadcast, Papas' debut tonight would tie him with Fraser Carson as the youngest goaltender to play in the AIHL!

Obviously, the Mustangs have a lot of faith in their netminder as they got set to battle the third-place Perth Thunder, and it would be Perth who opened the scoring as Yannic Lodge ruined Papas' shutout just 2:24 into the game to put the Thunder up 1-0. Melbourne, though, wasn't going to let that goal stand as the only one of the opening frame. Melbourne's Dean Klomp scored at 10:17 to make it a 1-1 game before Kieran Webster scored with six seconds remaining in the period to send Perth into the intermission with a 2-1 lead.

Papas, for the record, stopped 10 of 12 shots as Melbourne held a 17-12 edge in shots on goal after one period. He looked more confident as the period wore on, but the Mustangs trailed by a goal.

Melbourne bounced back in the second period as Dean Klomp went off while killing a penalty. He scored his second goal of the game while shorthanded at 16:37 before capping off his hat trick - still while shorthanded - 14 seconds later as Melbourne grabbed a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes! Papas was solid through the middle frame as he stopped all 15 shots sent his way as Melbourne took the lead and a 32-27 shot edge into the third period. Could he pick up the win?

Papas would be victimized by Lodge once again as Lodge found the back of the net at the 7:27 mark to make it a 3-3 game. Melbourne would respond on the power-play 52 seconds later when Mac Roy scored his ninth goal of the season to put the Mustangs back up by a goal. From there, Papas and the Mustangs defence held the fort through the remaining eleven minutes as Tom Papas backstopped the Melbourne Mustangs to the 4-3 victory and his first AIHL win!

Papas also added his name to the AIHL record books as he becomes the youngest goalie to win his debut game in the AIHL as Papas stopped 34 of 37 shots for a .919 save percentage in his first AIHL win. Not that I'm complaining about Papas' performance in any way, but this was the picture they posted on Twitter prior to the game.

Yes, Papas wore #4 as he stopped pucks tonight for the Mustangs, but I have to say that the "4" on his back needs some better centering on the jersey because that looks way off. Technically, the number is in the proper spot on the jersey based on Barrett's jersey, but that gap of black fabric between his name bar and the number is massive!

In any case, Papas looked like a seasoned professional out there tonight in his AIHL debut, and the starting netminder for Australia's U18 National Team earned a major milestone with his first professional win in his home country tonight. The young man appears to have a big future in front of him when it comes to hockey, and there's no telling where he may end up in his career. It would be pretty incredible to see Tom Papas on an NHL roster one day, and I'm hopeful that he'll get a shot like fellow countryman Nathan Walker got. Starting his 17th year on the planet with a professional win in the AIHL with the Melbourne Mustangs under his belt is a good way to continue to chase that dream!

Congratulations to Tom Papas on his successful AIHL debut and to the Melbourne Mustangs on their win tonight/tomorrow afternoon! Considering that this is being finished on Sunday morning after a few more photos were published, the sleep I got wasn't nearly enough considering when this game ended in Nort America. In saying that, I'm going to squeeze a nap in today so I'm somewhat functional.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!