Posts Tagged ‘Eddie Neville’

Going 16-5-3 with a league-leading 2.97 GAA and a .916 save percentage this season, Brooklyn Aces goaltender Eddie Neville was easily the most dominant goaltender in the EPHL, despite battling injuries and getting called up to the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL on a few occasions.

In the playoffs, Neville continued to do whatever it took to keep the Aces alive. However, in spite of going 1-1-1 in the playoffs with a 3.17 GAA, the team was unable to hold up their end of the bargain on offense, leading to a loss in the EPHL finals that Neville surely can’t be blamed for.

In this exclusive interview, conducted before game two of the EPHL championship series, Neville talks about his long road to the pros and how he got some help along the way from some players you may have never expected.

As always, you can listen to the file here @

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

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.

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.

According to a source in the Brooklyn Aces organization, Aces goaltender Eddie Neville, who was rushed to the hospital after being rammed into the goalpost during last night’s 6-3 win over the New Jersey Rockhoppers, has left the hospital and is resting comfortably at home.

According to the source, he suffered a strained neck and back. However, it is still unknown when he’ll be back in net for the Aces.

Photo by Patrick Hickey Jr.

“I don’t quite know,” the Aces head coach said after last night’s game with New Jersey. “It wouldn’t be right for me to say because I’m not a doctor, but what I do know is that he just got out of the CAT scan. I also know that I saw him move his fingers and his extremities, so I think he was very fortunate. I hope to god he’s going to be OK; he hit his neck and his shoulder and he’s bruised pretty badly. Again, like I said, I’m not a doctor, but we’re all pretty optimistic that he’s going to be OK and that we’ll see him back here once he’s healed up.

“I think right now they’re just checking for a possible concussion and any spinal chord injury. Taking him off the ice on the stretcher was a precautionary measure. He was moving his hands and feet at that point, so it’s a good sign.”

After last night’s loss to the Jersey Rockhoppers, the Brooklyn Aces vowed to play with more heart against the Danbury Mad Hatters, a team with what some might say pride themselves, perhaps a bit too much at times, on theirs.

On this day however, Aces goaltender Eddie Neville proved just how big his heart was, making 41 saves in what ended up as not only being the league’s first shutout, but perhaps the team’s biggest win of the season.

“I was seeing the puck well,” said Neville. “[Aces Assistant Coach] Rob Miller mentioned to me before the game that their hasn’t been a shutout yet this season. It got under my skin a little bit;  it was motivation and I knew that if I had to give up nothing to help this team win, I was going to do whatever it took.”

Newcomer Chris Robinson played his heart out in his pro debut against New Jersey on Friday, so it makes sense that fellow newbie Eddie Chlanda, combined with the surging C.J. Tozzo both had a goal and an assist in a 5-2 win over the Danbury Mad Hatters on Saturday night.

Danbury defenseman Dan Hickman led off the scoring at 1:19 of the first, scoring his tenth goal of the season. Chlanda scored his first goal of the season just 3:49 later and a B.J. Kuper powerplay tally at 15:28 gave Brooklyn their first lead of the night. 28 seconds later, a Jesse Felten Marker put the Aces up 3-1.

After a scoreless second period, the Mad Hatters got right back into the game after an Erik Kent goal, his 14th of the season, making it a one-goal game. Scoring just 18 seconds in, Danbury had almost a whole period to get back in the game, but never did. An Eric Frank shorthanded goal at 9:45 made it a two-goal game once again at 4-2.

With both Miro Recicar and Eddie Neville between the pipes, even before the Brooklyn Aces played their first game this season, they knew they were going to be heavily fortified in goal.

However, no one could have planned for Recicar and a host of injuries to engulf the Aces defense core, which has forced forwards Mike Thomson and Ian McLoughlin to help out on the blue line. With that being said, as the season has progressed, it’s fair to say that the expectations on Neville were lessened a tad, especially with the Brooklyn offense producing every night, giving whoever is in net a much bigger margin for error than he could have had otherwise. Because of the way the Aces’ offense has played this season, some may even think the Aces could get away with having a mediocre goaltender in net every night.

With defenseman Rob Miller already out and speedster Tony Resendes now on the shelf, the Brooklyn Aces’ contest with the New Jersey Rockhoppers last night was looking to be one of the team’s first true tests this young season.

Powered by a three-goal second period, the Eddie Neville-powered Aces [28 saves] forgot about all their bumps and bruises and played one of their most complete games of the season, beating the Rockhoppers 4-2.

Their first win since Dec. 11, the Aces are back in the win column and are ready to continue their reign of dominance atop the EPHL.

“We kept battling,” said Aces head coach Chris Firriolo. “We played smart. It was a great win; we needed it. Our whole defense was great tonight and so was Neville. I thought he was our MVP.”

According to a press release from the ECHL, goaltender Eddie Neville has been released from his contract with Elmira as their emergency backup, effectively bringing him back to the Aces.

For the season, Neville has a 4-1 record and a 2.07 GAA in five games with Brooklyn.

Photo by Patrick Hickey Jr.