Posts under ‘Aces Thoughts’

While the Aces have been the recipient of a huge emotional boost following the return of players the likes of Tony Resendes, Mike Christensen and Rob Miller over the past week and a half, newly acquired enforcer Joe Pelle may in fact turn out to be the Butch Goring-esque trade that puts the Brooklyn Aces back in the driver’s seat and nabs them a championship.

Let’s face it, the Aces have not been the same team since they lost their former captain Chad Wilcox to a knee injury and suspension almost two months ago. Despite possessing the best offense in the league, alongside amazing goaltending and sturdy defense, they’ve lacked the jam at times that played an integral part in their first half success.

It wasn’t that the organization didn’t notice the problem either. However, when Aces head coach Chris Firriolo said last that he was considering making a trade to bring in toughness last week, many fans on the message boards believed it was semantics and an attempt to rally his team together and get them to play with more of an edge.

Over the last five games, the Brooklyn Aces’ offense has hit their first real snag.

Feeling the departure of sniper James Brannigan and injuries to talented stars like Mike Christensen and Tony Resendes more than ever, the Aces are in need of a spark plug.

With Resendes back in the lineup on Friday, the addition of Vladislav Kouroedov and Christensen back soon as well, Brooklyn will finally have the depth back in the forward lines that they had earlier in the season.

Going through a myriad of free agent signings over the past month and a half, the Aces got solid offensive contributions from players like Eddie Chlanda, Josh Coyle and Derek Kern, but none have had the staying power of Eric Frank, another player brought in to provide offense. Before their injuries, both Christensen was Resendes were playing excellent hockey, with Resendes coming off player of the week honors and Christensen climbing as high as second on the league goal scoring charts. Without them, the Aces have missed a huge element of speed and spunk and as a result, the offense hasn’t been as sharp.

While the Brooklyn Aces struggles as of late have had more to do with a lack of team-wide grit and the ability to produce offensively, it’s fair to say the defense hasn’t been on it’s best behavior either.

Veteran Nick Grove has been battling injuries for most of the season and Doug Hoffman has been battling offensive consistency for the past few weeks. Dan Carney is still getting in the thick of things after being out of hockey for a few months. Chris Robinson has quietly carved out a solid niche for himself as a stay at home defenseman and can even land a big hit when he has to, but hasn’t been as noticeable the past few games. The forward turned defenseman combination of Ian McLoughlin and Mike Thomson has been eerily solid, but may be served better on the forward lines, especially considering how inconsistent the offense has been lately, against every team not named the Hudson Valley Bears.