How Long Will Aces Checking Line Stick Together?

Over the past few games, the Brooklyn Aces have comprised a trio of players to anchor the team’s first real checking line.

Those three players, Matt McGilvray, Sean Walsh and Mike Baccaro have given the team a much different look than the offensive juggernaut they’ve been most of the season.

Even Aces head coach Chris Firriolo acknowledged the job the three did over the team’s last homestand.

“They did a good job out there,” said Firriolo after the team’s last game at home on Sunday. “They were warriors and really helped us out.”

With that being said, Firriolo no longer has the three potent offensive lines he had earlier in the season, when he and the rest of the league had a problem identifying what line was in fact the best the team had. Regardless, he now has an energy line that isn’t scared to get gritty in corners and take the body, something the team has been in desperate need of with Chad Wilcox’s status still up in the air and Mike Christensen out for the next few games.

Once Christensen returns to the lineup however, things will be shaken up once again, but there are plenty of intangibles in place to ensure the Aces hold on to the top spot in the league.

That means the newly formed line of Baccaro, McGilvray and Walsh is in serious jeopardy of being broken up.

Baccaro was a linemate of Aces captain C.J. Tozzo’s in college and could possibly be reunited with him on a line with EPHL scoring leader Kyle McCullough. This could also make for an interesting line combination of McGilvray, Christensen and Holmes, which would leave the dependable line of B.J. Kuper, Jesse Felten and Eric Frank, in tact. That would leave Derek Kern, who has jumped right into the fire since joining the team and made himself a factor on the ice [ironically, Kern is a firefighter as well] and Sean Walsh being the extra forwards who are spot shifted.

The role has been one that Kern has flourished in, scoring five points in seven games, which could possibly force Walsh out of the picture. However, Walsh was originally signed for the weekend homestand last week and despite playing well, was never guaranteed a spot the rest of the season.

Nevertheless, in spite of that, it’s hard to know what Firriolo will end up doing with his forward lines, but one thing remains crystal clear.

The lifespan of his new checking line may be a short one.

Photos by Patrick Hickey Jr.

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