Posts Tagged ‘Doug Hoffman’

With scorers the likes of James Brannigan, C.J. Tozzo and Kyle McCullough on the Brooklyn Aces roster on Dec. 18, 2008, many would be hard pressed to believe that the first penalty shot in team history at Aviator was taken by defenseman Doug Hoffman. However, that was indeed the case as the talented offensive blueliner squared off against Danbury Mad Hatters goaltender Derek MacIntyre.

Check it out!

Video by Patrick Hickey Jr.

Brooklyn Aces defenseman Doug Hoffman, who led all full-time defensemen in the EPHL with 36 points this season, came by the basic journalism class I’m teaching this semester at Kingsborough Community College today in order to let the class interview him.

Talking for about a half hour about his goals in hockey and the rest of his life, Hoffman was on his game, answering questions from all comers.

He even spoke at length about his love of music and aspirations for a career in media one day.

You can listen to the interview here @

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

Or if you’re one of those trendy I-pod owners, you can download it here:

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

Photo by Patrick Hickey Jr.

My name is Doug Hoffman. I’m a defenseman for the Brooklyn Aces minor league hockey team. I consider myself a very happy person because, well, I’m playing hockey. I’m doing what I love. I’m aiming to get to that higher level one day, but right now, I’m just enjoying myself. I’m playing a sport I love and I’m getting paid for it. It’s great.

I started playing in Long Island. It was not the best hockey area, but still, it was good for me in the beginning. My friend, Chris Higgins, who plays for the Montreal Canadiens and his father used to take me to skate in the neighborhood. Since then, it was hockey, hockey, hockey… it’s something I was always passionate about.

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.

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.

In 17 games this season, Brooklyn Aces defenseman Doug Hoffman has 16 points, good for third in the EPHL behind Danbury’s Dan Hickman and Hudson Valley’s Dan Malloy. However, in spite of his offense prowess, Hoffman has proven he’s a more than capable defender and has played a pivotial part in the Aces giving up only 53 goals this season despite the injuries and departures of key blueliners line Dan Rohanna, Mike Richards, Andrew Scampoli and Rob Miller.

Chatting with Aces Over Brooklyn this past Saturday before the team took on the Mad Hatters at Aviator Arena, Hoffman talks about his game this season, in addition to discussing how it feels to be only one of three healthy natural defensemen on the team and how the team’s recent losing streak may have been a good thing after all.

Check it out!

As always, you can listen directly here at: http://www.switchpod.com/users/patrickhickeyjr1/DougHoffman1227.mp3

After going 10-1 through their first 11 games this season, not many expected the Brooklyn Aces to go on a losing streak.

However, following an overtime loss to New Jersey and a tough loss to a gritty Danbury team on Thursday, the Aces find themselves in unfamiliar waters.

Add in injuries to assistant captain Rob Miller and speedster Tony Resendes and it’s obvious that the Aces have hit their lowest point of the young season. Nevertheless, the team has shown a camaraderie and togetherness that looks like it will help them weather through the storm.

In spite of the loss, the Aces still have the top line in the league with James Brannigan, C.J. Tozzo and Kyle McCollaugh and a host of other players who can put the puck in the net.

The problem right now isn’t so much with the Aces offense as much it is the team’s defense.

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.”

Tonight’s contest between the Brooklyn Aces [9-1] and the Hudson Valley Bears [1-8] pitted the best and worst of the EPHL against one another in what was expected to be a lopsided affair.

The cliché “The numbers never lie” couldn’t have been any truer in this one.

Powered by a seven-goal first period, Brooklyn and their top-flight offense dismantled a flustered Hudson Valley team en route to a stellar 11-3 win.

“We got up  on them quick and we didn’t want to embarrass them,” said Aces head coach Chris Firriolo. “It was a rough night for them and we wanted to play with some class and make sure we respected them and the game.”

Things started quiet enough for Brooklyn, but after a goal by leading scorer James Brannigan at 4:00, his 17th of the season, the offense was ignited and followed with two more tallies in the next 1:51 by C.J. Tozzo [9] and Chris Holmes [5], giving them a 3-0 lead.

On paper, this looks to be an extremely lopsided affair.

At 9-1, the Aces have the league’s best offense, best defense and best duo in net. Aside from one hiccup against the Rockhoppers and a few slow starts, Brooklyn has been as perfect as you can be up to this point.

In order for the Hudson Valley Bears to be able to hold their own tonight, they’ll have to do a pair of things.

1- Shutdown the Aces BMT Line of James Brannigan, Kyle McCollaugh and C.J. Tozzo.- So far this season, Brooklyn has scored 61 goals. The Aces top line has been responsible for 30 of those tallies, so obviously keeping them off the scoresheet, something no team has really been able to do this season, will prove to be pivotal.