Sydney Ice Dogs president Shane Rose is not afraid to individualise. Yes, he believes that his team's improved depth, commitment, import selection, his own knowledge of the team after a year in his role and an enhanced training regime are factors which will make the Dogs a contender for the 2013 AIHL championship. But he believes one player will make a big difference: goalie Anthony Kimlin. "I think he's going to be an integral part to how we perform," Rose said on Tuesday. I think he's going to give us the strength at the back to allow the Ds (defencemen) to play a more offensive role. We're expecting big things from him. So we're hoping that if he's on his game we won't be allowing too many goals to be put away. Former Gold Coast Blue Tongue Kimlin, the first-choice Australian goalie, was the national team's Most Valuable Player at the recent World Championships in Croatia. Only 23, he has played in North America since 2006, and allowed no more than four goals in an AIHL game during a fraught season for the Blue Tongues in 2012. Rose says he learnt "who's who in the zoo" in his first season in charge last year, and the Dogs have "turned a new leaf" in 2013. The quality and the speed of the hockey we're playing now, I think we're great contenders for 2013. We've got a squad with a lot of in-house competition now so no one is complacent. Every time these guys train they train to make the roster for that weekend. Having survived parts of the first two rounds without six Australian representatives and import Mike Puntereri, who dumped in two goals and four assists in his first pair of games last weekend, the Ice Dogs come to Melbourne this weekend to play the Mustangs and Melbourne Ice with their full roster. Including the all-important Kimlin. I don't know what the goaltender is like for the Ice, if he is strong or not. And if he is, I am expecting it will be a low-scoring game. There will be plenty of shots on (goal) I'm sure, but I think the goaltenders might be the one who will either make or break. Rose leaves no doubt that he thinks that this means his team is a huge chance to upset the Melbourne teams. However, in considering the early-season contests, he begins to sound more conventionally presidential, thinking of the big picture. I'm hoping we come away with two wins at the weekend... but at this stage I'm not too worried. It's more a matter of how these boys cope if they are losing, it's about their character. That character was exhibited in both Dogs games last weekend, in which the team twice came from behind in the final period to record 5-4 wins, over the Sydney Bears and the Melbourne Mustangs. Rose says his squad is much fitter after an extensive off-season of cross-training, and an extra session of on-ice training per week. Rose is convinced that the competition for places in his line-up is enabling him to be "quite strict," for example imposing an 11pm curfew on his team on the road. He says "there is not a lot in it" this year and the teams that succeed will be the most disciplined, conceding fewer penalties and moving on from what they feel are contentious decisions. Five of the 10 games so far have had margins of two goals or less, and with imports still arriving and Australian Mighty Roo stars like Kimlin, and Ice aces Lliam Webster and Tommy Powell, still returning, the action can be expected to further tighten. But a few things are already clear. Melbourne Ice is still, as Rose understates it, "a strong team." They crushed Perth Thunder twice on the road last weekend to remain unbeaten, and have added high-scoring defenceman John Gordon (five goals and two assists in three games) to an already potent attack featuring three stars on six points or more. The Melbourne Mustangs are on the improve. Rose describes the young Mustangs as a "quality side." His Ice Dogs trailed the youngsters 2-3 at the final break. The previous night, the Mustangs pulled off a 6-4 win over the Canberra Knights, scoring twice in each period and firing 46 shots for the game. Import goalie Jon Olthuis is impressing, and import forwards Pat O'Kane and Jack Wolgemuth, and young local gun Matt Stringer, are hitting the scoresheet. The Newcastle North Stars still have the right stuff. Playing their second game of the season, hosting the Sydney Bears, the North Stars were held for over two periods, and trailed 0-1 in the final stanza, but they were able to dig deep, local forward Nick Orford-Quick scoring the winner with five minutes remaining. Despite their losing start, Perth Thunder are expected to compete strongly for a finals berth. The Thunder are still awaiting three of their imports, and it told in their losses to the Ice last weekend. On Saturday, they conceded all but one goal during power plays. Shane Rose, two AIHL commissioners and Ice president Emma Poynton have predicted a big year for the second-year franchise. This weekend we get the first chance to see just how far an elite goalie can take the renewed Ice Dogs; whether the Thunder can live up to their high billing on the road; whether the Knights and Bears are just off the pace or just out of luck; and whether the Mustangs can turn the tables on a finalist the week after losing by just a goal on the road. Saturday Perth Thunder 2 Melbourne Ice 5 Canberra Knights 4 Melbourne Mustangs 6 Sydney Bears 4 Sydney Ice Dogs 5 Sunday Perth Thunder 3 Melbourne Ice 9 Sydney Ice Dogs 5 Melbourne Mustangs 4 Newcastle North Stars 2 Sydney Bears 1 Saturday May 4 Newcastle North Stars v Perth Thunder, 5pm, Newcastle Melbourne Mustangs v Sydney Ice Dogs, 5pm, Docklands Icehouse, Melbourne Sydney Bears v Canberra Knights, 6pm, Baulkham Hills, Sydney Sunday May 5 Sydney Bears v Perth Thunder, 3.30pm, Baulkham Hills, Sydney Melbourne Ice v Sydney Ice Dogs, 3.30pm, Docklands Icehouse, Melbourne