THE Newcastle North Stars were unsuccessful in their bid to claim the Wilson Cup for a first time after going down 4-2 to the Sydney Ice Dogs in the pre-season tournament final last Saturday.
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Despite the loss, Newcastle coach Garry Dore said he was not disappointed.
"A pre-season event, you still want to win it," Dore said.
"You want to put your best foot forward.
"But at the end of the day this event is a good way to see how your team looks out there [on the ice], give the young guys a taste of the national stuff and test them on how they would go if they're called up to play in the season.
"I'm not disappointed at all."
The North Stars trailed the Ice Dogs, champions of the 2013 Australian Ice Hockey League season, 3-0 at the end of the first period.
Newcastle charged out the gate strong in the second period with Matt Wetini and Sam Lammert taking advantage of Sydney's defensive lapses, scoring to take the game to 3-2.
Minutes in to the third period Sydney racked up one more goal.
Despite pressuring the Ice Dogs net, the North Stars were unable to lift their score.
"We got over-anxious," Dore said.
"We made some fundamental mistakes.
"We applied a lot pressure, but couldn't finish it off [with a goal]."
The North Stars will head to Canberra on Saturday for the 2014 season opening game against the AIHL's newest team, the Brave.
Import goaltender Harrison May was expected to arrive in Newcastle on Tuesday.
A third import, Canadian Cody Danberg, was also expected to arrive ahead of Saturday.
On the North Stars newest import, Dore said Danberg was a "great character" and a "great player".
"His role here at the North Stars will be to score goals," Dore said.
Following the season opening game on Saturday, the North Stars will return home to play their first home game at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium on Sunday.
