Posts Tagged ‘BMT line’

It may be ice-cold outside, but it’s always hot on AcesOverBrooklyn.com, where there are constant updates on the Brooklyn Aces.

In this exclusive interview done on Dec. 18, before the team took on the Danbury Mad Hatters, AOB interviews Brooklyn Aces head coach Chris Firriolo, who discusses the team’s newest addition, defenseman Tom Collingham, in addition to discussing the depth of his forward lines and some of the injuries that have recently taken a toll on his first-place club.

Check it out!

As always, you can listen directly here at: http://media.switchpod.com/users/patrickhickeyjr1/ChrisFirrioloInterview.mp3

Or you can download the file on to your I-Pod or I-Phone here:

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

Photo by Ron Hatcher.

Through the first eight games of the EPHL’s inaugural season, the Brooklyn Aces have flown high above the competition, amassing a 7-1 record while leaving a trail of smoke over their opponents, outscoring them 52-23.

However, despite possessing the league’s best overall defense, that features talented two-way defensemen such as Rob Miller, Nick Grove, Andrew Scampoli and Doug Hoffman, in addition to the rock-solid goaltender combo of Eddie Neville and Miro Recicar, the Aces offense has been the real story of their magical season.

Nonetheless, while the Aces have gotten offense from a variety of sources, the team’s first line, aptly tabbed “The BMT Line,” of James Brannigan, Kyle McCollaugh and C.J. Tozzo, have left their opponents in pieces, ranking first, second and third in team and league scoring.

“They really work well together,” said Aces head coach Chris Firriolo. “They are definitely a top line in this league, for sure.”

When 11 skaters on your team have at least three shots on goal and every player but one has a point, there aren’t many other ways to describe it.

Offensive domination.

Scoring eight unanswered goals to start the game, the Aces ran all over the Bears and for the fourth game in a row, they hit the back of the net at least seven times. Like most of the season, the Aces offense came from a variety of sources, as Chris Holmes, C.J. Tozzo and James Brannigan netted two goals apiece, while Mike “shooter” Thomson, Kyle McCullough and B.J. Kuper had tallies of their own. McCullough also had two assists on the night, giving him 11 on the season for the league lead.

Like their last three games, the Aces defense and goaltending was extremely solid as well, with backup goaltender Miro Recicar making 24 saves for his third win of the season.

This should be a very interesting game to watch. Not only because the Aces barely squeaked out a 7-6 win when these two teams played each other last week, but because of the fact that both Dan Rohanna and Jerry Cardinale were added to the Bears roster yesterday.

After speaking to various members of the team and the Aces coach Chris Firriolo yesterday, I got a feeling those rosters moves were made for a variety of reasons:

1- On any other team in this league, Cardinale gets a regular shift, as to the Aces where he and new captain Chad Wilcox were only getting spot shifted.

2- The Aces team is stacked from top to bottom and a guy like Cardinale could really help the Bears round out their top two lines or be a extremely solid grinder on the third.

Nick Niedert made 60 saves the last time the New Jersey Rockhoppers faced the Aces at Aviator Arena on November 8. But Brooklyn, coming off of consecutive seven-goal performances against Hudson Valley and Danbury, wasn’t worried about producing offensively.

Why exactly? Three letters explain it all: B…M…T.

Combining for 12 points on the night, the Aces “BMT line” of James Brannigan, Kyle McCollaugh and and C.J. Tozzo, proved the New Jersey goaltender’s game of the year performance two weeks ago was simply a mirage, shredding both Niedert and the Rockhoppers defense to bits in a more than convincing 8-2 win.

“These guys are on fire right now,” said Aces coach Chris Firriolo. “They’re definitely a top line in this league.”

After a short-feeling out process by both team’s that included several solid saves by Niedert and Brooklyn goaltender Eddie Neville, McCollaugh, the team’s leading assist man, proved he could do a lot more than pass, scoring on a surreptitious one-timer after a beautiful backhand pass from behind the net from Aces leading scorer Brannigan at 11:31, giving them a 1-0 lead.

Through five games this season, the Aces have a 4-1 record and have scored a league-leading 28 goals, making every goalie in the EPHL look like they were made of swiss cheese in the process.

Well, every goalie except Nick Niedert that is.

The last time the Rockhoppers were in town on November 8th, the Aces took 62 shots on the New Jersey goaltender and lost 3-2 after the team’s powerplay ended up going 2 for 13.

Since then, Brooklyn has lit the lamp 14 times in their past two games and have come full circle as a team. After winning 7-6 over the Hudson Valley Bears last Friday, despite playing their worst defensively all year, the Aces defeated Danbury 7-1 in their best overall performance of the young season.

With Aces goaltender Eddie Neville and the Aces defense core playing their best hockey of the season as well, Brooklyn head coach Chris Firriolo saw the game as a step in the right direction.