Posts on ‘March 28th, 2009’

Just minutes ago, Aces Over Brooklyn interviewed Brooklyn Aces head coach Chris Firriolo and got his thoughts on last night’s game and what his team needs to do to ensure a championship tonight.

You can download the file here @

http://media.switchpod.com//users/patrickhickeyjr1/AcesOverBrooklynPodcastChrisFirrioloPregame328.mp3

You can also download the file to your I-Pod here:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=294739484

The Brooklyn Aces may have a point when they say referee Mike Geoffrion made several crucial mistakes in his officiating of the game last night, but let’s face it: referees do not play goaltender and defense.

After the game got sorted out last night, the Aces were a different club and weren’t forechecking the way they were earlier in the game.  Jersey’s fourth goal, scored by Matt Tyree, was a weak wrister that seemed to have changed direction, but compared to the other goals Jersey has scored in the series, it was by far the weakest one. The Brooklyn defense also allowed Tyree to get a decent enough shot on Eddie Neville and possibly even got in his line of sight, something that wasn’t happening through the game’s first 40 minutes.

The Brooklyn Aces were absolutely livid last night when they believe referee Mike Geoffrion made a crucial mistake and lost track of the on-ice manpower for the Aces that eventually delayed the game for nearly 25 minutes, thus stripping the team of their momentum and costing them the EPHL championship.

“I’ve never seen anything like that in hockey and this is professional hockey,” said Aces forward Eric Frank. “This isn’t the first time these guys have made a mistake either. It’s always something new with them.”

“He shouldn’t be allowed to work in this league again,” said Aces head coach Chris Firriolo of Geoffrion. “He was terrible.”

Here’s the breakdown of the penalties Geoffrion called that caused the confusion:

At 19:42 of the second, Geoffrion called both Anthony Becker and Chris Robinson for roughing. On-ice manpower is affected, making it a four on four.

Powered by a three-goal third period and a Tom Boudreau goal in overtime, the Jersey Rockhoppers won game two of the EPHL championship series over the Brooklyn Aces 5-4.

The way the Aces see it however, they were robbed.

With the Aces up 3-2 in the third, referee Michael Geoffrion was unable to sort out the massive amount of penalties he called, leading to a 25-minute stop in the action that Brooklyn never recovered from.

“He took this game into his own hands,” said Aces head coach Chris Firriolo. “He was terrible.”

Things did start out Brooklyn’s way however after Chris Holmes scored at 2:36 to give them an early 1-0 lead. Tony Resendes had an opportunity of his own a few minutes later, but missed the net on a two on one chance. That was all the offense in the period as both Neville and Niedert were solid, especially in traffic, where most of the chances were generated. However, with only 20 shots through the first 20 minutes, the majority of it was played in the neutral zone as neither team was willing to take chances big enough to induce real scoring opportunities.