Newcastle Northstars captain Liam Manwarring says 2022 is now simply about "doing it for Don".
As the Australian ice hockey community comes to terms with the loss of Don Champagne, who died last weekend aged 72, the Northstars hope to play out the rest of this season honouring one of the club's founding fathers.
"I think this year is now based on doing it for Don," Manwarring told the Newcastle Herald.
"You can probably take it two ways. One way is a little bit of motivation. He was very humble and professional and loved winning, that's why he coached the team for so long.
"Going down the stretch into finals, it puts that fire in the belly again. As sad as the situation is, we've got to try and do the best we can out of it and see the positives."
Manwarring admits it was a "pretty tough weekend, not just for me but everyone involved with the Northstars organisation" when word of Champagne's death, following a long battle with illness, reached Hunter Ice Skating Stadium on Saturday.
"Don coached me for seven or eight years growing up, he played a big part in the development of the local boys," Newcastle's first homegrown skipper said.
Northstars general manager and rink owner Garry Dore paid tribute to his long-time friend Champagne with an emotional speech just prior to the AIHL encounter.
Newcastle then defeated the visiting Sydney Ice Dogs 8-4.
"I don't think we could do any better that what we did as a send off. He would of loved that," Manwarring, who scored a double in his 100th appearance, said.
Tim Stanger marked his 200th game with the Northstars while rookie Ryan Duchemin, son of former player Rob, netted his first national league goal.
Second-placed Newcastle are still eyeing off the minor premiership despite being seven points behind leaders Canberra Brave.
"We have four games left and if we take all the points we can still finish outright first. That's our goal," Manwarring said.
The Northstars welcome back both Ethan Hawes and Connor Shultz, who recently helped Australia claim bronze at the under-20 World Championships (division three) in Mexico, for Saturday's clash with third-placed Sydney Bears at Macquarie Ice Rink. Richard Tesarik also returns.
