Posts Tagged ‘Chad Wilcox’

When I think about it, this season was easily my favorite of the past five seasons covering professional hockey because not only did I get to blog about the New York Islanders and cover the Aces, I was able to bring some of my Journalism Students to games and teach them the ropes of the field, something I would have wished for when I was first starting out.

The first time I was able to do this, I figured I was going to have some fun with it, so I set up an interview between Aces then captain and EPHL penalty minute leader Chad Wilcox and one of my best students, Joey Curto. Again, dealing with personalities all the time at the college and at the rink, I like to think that I’m a good judge of character and after the fist time I spoke with him, I thought Wilcox, despite his menacing stare that could tear a hole in the universe, was a straight up, no nonsense guy that just wanted to play the game and be a good teammate. Curto, who was in his second class with me after taking a basic English course the semester before was and still is an animated and bright kid that isn’t scared to be himself. I figured it would be a perfect match, in spite of Curto’s mixed feelings that Wilcox was going to kill him during the interview.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Brooklyn Aces winger Chris Holmes this past week over the phone and before I post that interview sometime next week, I figured I’d share some of the things that didn’t make it into the article.

Always a fun interview, Holmes was candid and shared his thoughts on the season. After about 20 minutes of chatting it up and touching on various topics, it was obvious, just like all of you, the Brick, New Jersey-native with the booming slapshot is eager for the upcoming season.

AOB: The last week of the season, Mike Christensen had said that even before he had played with you, he was intimidated by you. He said that he just knew that you were a great hockey player. He also said that throughout the season, he wanted to make sure that he didn’t let you down and wanted to be as good a linemate for you as possible. Considering Christensen scored 34 goals this past season, how does that make you feel?

Over the course of the season, the Brooklyn Aces have parted ways with several tough customers.

After the first handful of games this season, the team traded then-Captain Dan Rohanna to the Hudson Valley Bears in a parity move to help the struggling team keep pace with the rest of the league. The same day, the team let agitator and Bensonhurst-native Jerry Cardinale go on waivers, who despite his relatively small size at 5′9, 165 pounds, had no problem dropping the gloves with anyone in the EPHL.

Now, after losing Chad Wilcox to injury and maybe even suspension, for what may be the rest of the season, the Aces must find a way to toughen up and fast.

For the third night in a row this week, the Brooklyn Aces hit the ice at the Aviator Arena and for the third night in a row, they came out victorious.

Fueled by two-goal nights by Josh Coyle, Ian McLaughlin and Eric Frank, the Aces stormed past the Danbury Mad Hatters 8-5.

“Coyle is a really smart player,” said McCullough. “He made some intelligent plays out there tonight.”

Without captain Chad Wilcox in the lineup, who injured his knee after getting checked by New Jersey’s Rich Jondo during the team’s last game, Brooklyn knew they’d have to score early and then establish themselves physically.

While they more than held their own in the physicality department, Danbury got on the board first less than a minute into the game on an Eric Kent marker. The Aces then tied the score at 4:56 on a Coyle wrister with traffic in front. Coyle soon extended the lead with his second goal of the night at 10:20. A factor again offensively, Coyle assisted on a Kyle McCullough goal at 12:33 that made it a two-goal game. With 32.1 seconds remaining in the first, Danbury got a goal from Stephen Schofield in traffic to cut the lead to 3-2.

Injuries are one thing you don’t want to be dealing with when you play the Danbury Mad Hatters.

Already without steady blue liner Rob Miller and speedy forward Tony Resendes, the Aces may be without veteran D-man Nick Grove and captain Chad Wilcox for tonight’s game.

It’s a rough situation and a situation Aces head coach Chris Firriolo isn’t happy about.

“The gang is banged up,” he said after last night’s 6-1 over the Rockhoppers. “I don’t want to think about it until tomorrow. It’s going to be tough.”

On a positive note, despite those injuries to their defense, Firriolo is thrilled with the play of Mike Thomson and Ian McLoughlin, two forwards who have gone to the blue line and stepped up over the past 10 games.

“I think they’re on their way to becoming two of the best defensemen in the league,” he said last night. “I really believe that. They move the puck extremely well and look good on the powerplay. If you ask me, aside from Miro Recicar, they were probably the MVPs of tonight’s game.”

After defeating the lowly Hudson Valley Bears 9-3 in their last game, the Brooklyn Aces knew things would be a bit tougher last night against a much better New Jersey Rockhoppers team.

Making a statement, the Aces never trailed against the second place Rockhoppers and got a hat trick from Jesse Felten and a 36 save night from Miro Recicar, defeating New Jersey 6-1.

“I feel really great out there,” said Recicar. “My teammates supported me and allowed me to see the puck well. I’m happy with what we did tonight.”

The first period was a seesaw battle, with both teams scoring a goal apiece. Felten opened the scoring at 6:51 however and gave the Aces the early 1-0 lead. After some sloppy passing in the neutral zone, the Aces gave the Rockhoppers a two on one opportunity and Anthony Becker made the most of it, scoring his fifth goal of the season at 16:04 and tying the score at 1-1.

By Joey Curto and Patrick Hickey Jr.

At 6′4 and 220 pounds, Brooklyn Aces captain Chad Wilcox isn’t your ordinary hockey player; he’s like a small armored vehicle. Mean, gritty, cut up,and bruised, the four-year pro has some pretty high expectations for the hockey team’s inaugural season, which includes inducing some serious pain on anyone who stands in his way.

The EPHL’s leader in penalty minutes, Wilcox doesn’t have have a lot to prove in the physicality department, but feels that way as of late. Out of the lineup the past couple nights due to wear and tear on his body, Wilcox was more than jovial to be out on ice again tonight. In the locker room before the game, the captain was cool, calm and downright excited. Dancing to Jay-Z’s hit “Brooklyn, We go Hard,” it didn’t seem that Wilcox was preparing to play one of the league’s best in the New Jersey Rockhoppers on Jan.16.

Despite beating the Hudson Valley Bears 9-3 last night, the Brooklyn Aces have no time to relax.

The New Jersey Rockhoppers have the weapons on offense, defense and in net to play 60 solid minutes against the Aces and have done it before. Coming off a tough loss to Danbury last night, the Rockhoppers will look to rebound and it’ll be up to the Aces to stop them in their tracks.

Wilcox back in full swing- Making his return to the team last night after nursing a few injuries over the past few games, Aces captain Chad Wilcox nabbed two assists and was on his game, forechecking, fighting and getting the crowd involved. While he may only play about 10 minutes a game, Wilcox can play on any line and is capable of switching the momentum of a contest in a heartbeat. Getting him back in the lineup is definitely a good thing.

When the Brooklyn Aces and Danbury Mad Hatters square off, you can bet your bottom dollar it’s going to be a physical affair.

This time around, it’ll be extra physical.

In the prior three games with Danbury, Brooklyn, despite winning all three, were roughed up physically and were dealing with injuries, which made it even tougher for them in battle in the corners and in front of the net. However, with newly acquired 6′5 D-man Gabe Yeung in the lineup for the first time against Danbury, the Aces just got a whole lot tougher. That’s not to say that Yeung is a talentless goon either. It’s actually quite the opposite, as he’s the stay at home D-man the team was in desperate need of with various injuries to their blueline over the past few weeks. With Yeung’s presence in the neutral zone and the rambunctious play of Chad Wilcox, the days of Brooklyn being pushed around by Danbury may be over.

Playing their first game since leading scorer James Brannigan was called up to the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL, the Brooklyn Aces knew they had to prove to the rest of the league they had what it took to maintain their spot atop the EPHL standings.

Going into the third period tied 3-3 with the Rockhoppers, a team that has been playing with much more confidence over the last few weeks, C.J. Tozzo scored on New Jersey goaltender Nick Niedert, giving Brooklyn a hard-earned 4-3 win in a statement game that proved the Aces’ unquestionable heart.

Things didn’t start off well for Brooklyn however, as New Jersey got on the board first after a Kyle Bozoian marker at 11:29. The lead didn’t hold for long after the surging Jesse Felten tied it just 1:25 later. The Rockhoppers had the last laugh in the period though, as Chris Ferazzoli lit the lamp for the 13th time this season, giving New Jersey a 2-1 lead.