Posts under ‘Playoffs’

With a 1-1-1 record and a 3.17 GAA and a .916 GAA in three playoffs games this season, Brooklyn Aces goaltender Eddie Neville could hardly be blamed for his team’s demise this post-season.

In game one, Neville was one step ahead of Jersey goaltender and EPHL MVP Nick Niedert the entire night and played perhaps one of the biggest roles in the first playoff win in the franchise’s history.

Making 35 saves on 37 shots, it’s obvious that Neville wasn’t as busy as Niedert, but he made the big saves when he had to.

That’s all you ask a goaltender to do, especially in the playoffs.

However, much like the play of his entire team, Neville was never the same goaltender after the 25 minute stoppage in play by referee Mike Geoffrion in game two.

Through the first 104:26 of the series, Neville made 53 saves on 56 shots. Through the rest of the series, Neville gave up a whopping seven goals on only 47 shots. From these numbers alone, it’s obvious that something changed.

While the Aces forward lines for the most part didn’t hold up their end of the bargain in the championship series with the Jersey Rockhoppers this past weekend, the defense is another story. Taking away the empty-net goal and the fourth goal Jersey scored in game three, the Aces defense was rather solid overall.

In game one and most of game two, Rob Miller, Dan Carney and Chris Robinson especially were making great first passes out of their zone, springing guys like C.J. Tozzo, Mike Christensen, Kyle McCullough and Jessie Felten on numerous occasions. This was perhaps one of the biggest reasons why the Aces offense was able to hold it’s ground for the first half of the series.

On the powerplay, while the team went one for 12 throughout the series, a far cry from the regular season, when they led the league in powerplay efficiency, the defense did its part to induce opportunities. Miller, Carney and Doug Hoffman combined for 13 shots through the first two games, with most of them coming with the man advantage.

During the regular season, the Aces were an absolute juggernaut on offense, producing six 20-goal scorers and 11 players with over 30 points. In the playoffs however, the team was limited to just eight goals in three games, which ultimately played a huge part in their demise this post-season.

Despite posting 21 shots in the three game series, Aces leading scorer and EPHL rookie of the year C.J. Tozzo scored only once. That’s not to say that Tozzo was ineffective, quite the contrary, but his teammates weren’t positioning themselves in front of the net to take care of the rebounds his shots produced.

Aces forward Tony Resendes said after game three that the team knew that Jersey goaltender Nick Niedert had problems controlling his rebounds and one of their main goals in the series was to induce those second chance opportunities and to get traffic in front, which was one of the reasons why the speedster was continually following up his shots in the series. It didn’t happen often enough however and that is one of the reasons why the team’s offense produced as little as it did.

When Jersey Rockhoppers goaltender Nick Niedert was named the EPHL’s MVP last week, some questioned it.

Today however, Niedert proved for one last time just how dominant he could be, making 43 saves as his Rockhoppers defeated the Brooklyn Aces 4-1 to claim the very first EPHL championship.

“Niedert was dynamite tonight,” said Aces head coach Chis Firriolo. “He showed why he was MVP.”

Despite an absolute lack of offense, the Aces were the aggressors in the first, out-shooting the Rockhoppers 16-9. Niedert was on top of his game, making several solid saves, but was also aided by a Jesse Felten shot that rang off the goalpost around the midway point of the period. On the other side of the ice, Eddie Neville wasn’t tested much, but held his ground and played his part in keeping the game scoreless after 20 minutes of play.

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.

Just minutes ago, Aces Over Brooklyn interviewed Brooklyn Aces head coach Chris Firriolo to find out his thoughts as his team prepares for the second game of the best of three EPHL championship series with the Jersey Rockhoppers.

You can listen to the interview here @

http://media.switchpod.com//users/patrickhickeyjr1/AcesOverBrooklynPodcastChrisFirrioloPregame327.mp3

Or download it to your I-pod here @

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

Photo by Patrick Hickey Jr.

With his grandmother in the hospital following heart surgery yesterday, Brooklyn Aces goaltender played perhaps the best game of his professional career, making 35 saves in the biggest win of the Aces franchise.

If the Aces are to win again tonight and claim the EPHL championship, Neville will be asked to rise to the occasion once again.

“Eddie was the man tonight,” said Aces head coach Chris Firriolo after last night’s game. “New Jersey was dynamite tonight and made him work. It was one of the top three hockey games I’ve been a part of in the 14-years I’ve been involved in this sport. Neville was phenomenal.”

Speaking of phenomenal, the Aces “Red Line” of “Super” B.J. Kuper, Jesse Felten and Andrew Scampoli were also a big part of the team’s success, as they were aggressive on the forecheck, in the corners and weren’t scared to take shots on net. Of the Aces three forward lines, the Red Line produced 12 of the team’s 37 shots and drew several penalties with their hard work.