Posts Tagged ‘Brooklyn’

The way the Aces have been playing this season, going 21-2-2 through their first 25 games, you wouldn’t expect them to have problems against any team in the EPHL, right?

The New Jersey Rockhoppers have been responsible for two of Brooklyn’s losses this season however, thanks in part to brilliant goaltending by Nick Niedert, who seems to step up his game every time the two teams play.

Making 30 saves on the night, Niedert kept the Aces at bay for two periods, but wasn’t able to stop Aces assistant captain C.J Tozzo, whose two goals in the third paved the way for a 4-2 come from behind win.

“We played pretty bad in the first two periods,” said Aces head coach Chris Firriolo. “We played very well in the third period though and came back strong.”

Going into last night’s game unbeaten in 2009, the Aces knew beforehand that they’d have their hands full against a talented New Jersey Rockhoppers team, especially with veteran Chad Wilcox on injured reserve and steady defenseman Nick Grove on the sidelines.

As part of their “We will bring home a winner” promotion last night at Aviator Arena, the Brooklyn Aces guaranteed their fans a win.

While the team as a whole played stellar, racking up 63 shots on goal, Mike Thomson and Jesse Felten delivered like Joe Namath and Mark Messier, as Thomson’s first professional hat trick and a pair of goals by Felten paved the way for an impressive 9-3 Brooklyn win.

“I’ve had a couple of chances to get a hat trick this season, but it just didn’t come,” said Thomson. “I feels great now that I’ve done it.”

The Aces got on the scoreboard first after a pretty deflection in front by Thomson on a shot from the point by Gabe Yeung at 9:06. The lead didn’t last for long however, as a tally by Tommy Westfall at 14:51 tied the score at 1-1.

Although it was by the skin of their teeth in their last game on Friday, the Brooklyn Aces proved they could beat a quality team in the New Jersey Rockhoppers without then-leading scorer James Brannigan.

Now they’ll have to face an improved Hudson Valley Bears team and prove once again that they have the personnel to stay on top of the EPHL standings.

Against New Jersey on Friday, Brooklyn got a two-point night from winger Jesse Felten, who will be asked again today to be a factor for the Aces. While his 17 points in 19 games this season aren’t exactly eye-popping, Felten is one of the speediest players in the league and has the ability to take over a game. Working hard in the corners and playing a physical game as well, despite his size at 5′8, 165 pounds, Felten is one of the best two-way players in the league and someone who will be counted on down the stretch for the Aces.

Mike Christensen has been absolutely on fire as of late, nailing down three four-point games over the past two weeks. Last night in Danbury, the slick two-way center was up to the same antics again,dealing out four assists and powering a 4-2 road win over the Mad Hatters on Friday that continues to prove that the Brooklyn Aces are the team to beat in the EPHL.

Continuing to play with only three natural defensemen in the lineup and Ian McLoughlin and Mike Thomson being double-shifted at forward and defense, the Aces continue to outperform their opponents. Last night, the Aces were forced to come back from an early deficit, after Danbury sniper Igor Karlov scored at 1:20 to give the Hatters an early 1-0 lead.

Luckily for Brooklyn, Jesse Felten scored with just 1:34 remaining in the period to tie the score going into the second. A three- goal period in the second for the Aces on tallies by Chris Holmes, James Brannigan and a powerplay marker by Nick Grove gave Brooklyn a 4-1 lead going into the final period.

You’d expect the Aces, who are coming off a more than convincing 11-3 win last night against Hudson Valley to be extra confident tonight against the second place New Jersey Rockhoppers, but that isn’t the case at all.

Knowing full well that New Jersey is the only team that has beaten them this season, Brooklyn isn’t about to take any chances against Nick Niedert and the Rockhoppers.

“This is going to be a real test,” said Aces coach Chris Firriolo after the team’s win last night. “I’d rather coach a one-goal game where you see a great effort from both sides than what happened tonight out there. When a game gets as sloppy as this one did, you don’t really know what to expect the next day.”

According to a press release by EPHL received just minutes ago, several players from both the Danbury Mad Hatters and Brooklyn Aces will be fined and/or suspended, following an almost team-wide brawl during their contest on Saturday.

However, no players have been directly named as of yet and will not be released until an appeals process is completed.

The game was a rough one from start to finish, but things soon fell apart, as the third period alone produced eight fighting majors [with Jesse Felten, B.J. Kuper, C.J. Tozzo and Chad Wilcox dropping the gloves for the Aces] and two game misconducts.

Things got so heated during the scuffle that Aces coach Chris Firriolo and Danbury bench boss Dave MacIsaac even became embroiled in a heated argument, with both leaning over their respective benches to make sure they were hearing each other correctly.

Here we go again boys and girls, time for another podcast. This time around, I interview Aces second line center Mike Christensen, who talks about what it’s like to play with Jesse Felten and Chris Holmes, in addition to discussing some of the players he tries to emulate while on the ice.

Check it out!

As always, you can listen directly here at: http://media.switchpod.com/users/patrickhickeyjr1/AOB1126.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

With 1,609 fans packed inside the Aviator Arena screaming their heads off for their undefeated Brooklyn Aces, things originally looked pretty grim for the New Jersey Rockhoppers.

Beating New Jersey in their two prior meetings and scoring 12 goals through their first two regular season contests, the Aces were the heavy favorite before the game.

New Jersey goaltender Nick Niedert had other things in mind though, making 60 saves in a 3-2 Rockhoppers win.

“You got to tip your hat to the guy,” said Aces coach Chris Firriolo. “They deserved to win tonight. He was the reason why they won.”

The game started well enough for the Aceshowever, as they were aggressive on the forecheck and fired a ton of shots early on Niedert. A fight early in the period by Aces forward and Bensonhurst-native Jerry Cardinale also got the fans into the game and seemed to sway the momentum. Nevertheless, the Aces offense, which came into the game with ten players averaging a point a game, couldn’t find the back of the net.

Here’s a little summary of what went down over the team’s first two games of the season. At the very least, it’s something to listen on the way to the arena so you’re still in the loop. Enjoy!

You can listen directly here at:

http://www.switchpod.com/users/patrickhickeyjr1/AcesOverBrooklynPodcast1108.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