2008
The Australian Ice Hockey League launched on Saturday 19 April. The North Stars played at home on opening night, and defeated the Gold Coast Blue Tongues despite not having any available import players.
The Inski North Stars set a record loss-streak with five consecutive losses in April–May (two of those in a shoot out) before recording a shoot-out win against the Canberra Knights on 17 May in Canberra. From that point the North Stars improved their position from 6th-place team to 4th-place by the end of May.
On 22 June the North Stars had two key players injured. Starting goaltender Matt Ezzy and top-scoring forward Colin Nicholson were unavailable for over 4–6 weeks. The North Stars performed poorly in late June and early July, but recovered to record six consecutive outright wins (one game worth double points) to finish the season in fourth place, 1 point shy of 2nd/3rd placed Melbourne Ice and Western Sydney Ice Dogs.
The North Stars underwent a considerable change of personnel in 2008, with several experienced local players being unavailable at the start of the 2008 season. Pier Martin started the season but withdrew after a few weeks, around the same time that Allen Campbell returned to the team. Rookie Matt Price established himself as a top-4 defenceman after returning home to Newcastle from college in Canada. Captain Ray Sheffield suffered a broken foot bone, forcing him to miss most of May.
The North Stars utilised resident University student Matt Vickers early in the season, along with 2006 Melbourne Ice player Gabriel Andre, who played 18 games of 25 total in the season. Other import for the North Stars included college player Grant Buckley in defence, B.J. Pelkey (SPHL), Colin Nicholson (ECHL), Mark Carberry (College), and Mickey Gilchrist (NCAA College) into the forwards.
The Inski Newcastle North Stars became National Champions for the fourth time after winning the Goodall Cup for 2008. The North Stars defeated the Ice Dogs 4-1 in the cup final, after eliminating the Bears in the semi final with a score of 7-5. Mickey Gilchrist was awarded the AIHL Finals MVP award.
In the off-season, Australian representatives Matt Ezzy and Casey Minson were signed to European national league teams. Minson to Ankara in Turkey, and Ezzy to Utrecht in the Netherlands.
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