Posts Tagged ‘Eric Frank’

Powered by two-goal nights from Kyle McCullough and Eric Frank, the Brooklyn Aces defeated the cellar-dwelling Hudson Valley Bears 6-2 last night.

The Aces offense continued right where it left on Thursday, scoring three goals through the first 4:16 of the first period, getting a goal from Frank and a pair from McCullough. Hudson Valley answered back just 11 seconds later however on a Lynn Beedle tally that cut the Brooklyn lead to 3-1 going into the second period.

The next 20 minutes of action were quiet offensively, as the only note on the scoresheet was a C.J. Tozzo goal, his 26th of the season at 17:15, that gave Brooklyn their three-goal lead back at 4-1.

The Aces started the third period off on the wrong foot, as Chase Decker scored for the Bears and made it interesting at 4-2. The game stayed that way until the final minute, when Frank and Ian McLoughlin scored 35 seconds apart to put the game away at 6-2.

Coming into last night’s game scoring only four goals in their last three games, the Brooklyn Aces’ offense was in need of a jolt.

Scoring 11 goals against the Hudson Valley Bears, Brooklyn got just that, eliminating any short term questions regarding their offense and with a loss by the New Jersey Rockhoppers as well, they managed to stretch their lead atop the EPHL to 12 points.

EPHL leading scorer Kyle McCullough led off the scoring for Brooklyn at 4:13. For almost 14 minutes after the game was quiet offensively, as Hudson Valley goaltender Peter Maro held down the fort for the Bears. Things soon broke down for Maro however as three goals in 1:35 by Jesse Felten, Mike Thomson and Eric Frank gave Brooklyn a 4-0 lead going into the second period.

Coming into this afternoon’s game against the Danbury Mad Hatters, the Brooklyn Aces were 18-0 when going into the third period with a lead.

For 57 minutes and 58 seconds, that streak looked like it would continue, but behind a pair of late goals by Alex Redmond and Erik Kent, the gritty Danbury Mad Hatters skated to a hard fought 5-4 shootout win.

“They worked hard,” said Aces forward Eric Frank, who scored twice in the game. “But no one on this team wants to lose to them. We can’t make excuses. I think they just wanted it more in the end. We took it to them for 58 minutes and then we made mistakes. They’re a good team and they took advantage.”

Jesse Felten opened up the scoring at 1:52 of the first, giving Brooklyn the early lead. Eric Frank later scored on a juicy rebound after a Felten shot from in between the circles at 7:26 to make it a two-goal game. Frank tallied again at 9:57 after a gorgeous cross-ice pass from Kyle McCullough, giving the Aces a 3-0 lead after less than 10 minutes of play.

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.”

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.

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.

It’s safe to say that the discussion of whether or not this team can win and win big without sniper James Brannigan in the lineup is over.

The answer is a profound yes on both parts.

After defeating the Bears 10-5 on Sunday, Brooklyn got key contributions from a slew of players including B.J. Kuper, Jesse Felten, Mike Christensen, Eric Frank and new addition Gabe Yeung, all of whom had at least had three points.

While Christensen has proven himself as an offensive force over the past ten games, Felten, Kuper and Frank have come around offensively over the past handful of games as well, making themselves viable options on the ice and giving the Aces the offensive depth needed to win hockey games by wide margins. Garnering player of the week honors last week for scoring three goals and adding three helpers, Felten is beginning to prove that he can in fact be the point a game player he and Aces head coach Chris Firriolo envisioned he’d be before the season began.

Combining for 15 goals and 78 shots on goal, one look at the box score may have had the most dedicated hockey fan believing that the legendary offenses of the New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers of the ’80s were back in town for one night.

It was the Brooklyn Aces and Hudson Valley Bears that competed last night at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center however, and it was the Aces that came out victorious 10-5 despite a three-goal period by the Bears in the third that made things interesting.

Defenseman Ian McLoughlin started the scoring for Brooklyn at 6:54 of the first, but just 1:11 later, former Ace Scott Estey tallied to tie the score. The Aces weren’t satisfied with a tie score though and over the next 5:10, they lit the lamp five times on goals by Chris Holmes, B.J. Kuper, Kyle McCullough, Eric Frank and newbie Joey Grasso, giving them an impressive 6-1 lead.

When Brooklyn Aces speedster Tony Resendes went down with a third degree sprain of his MCL two weeks ago, the organization knew they had to get a player of equal caliber as soon as possible if they wanted to maintain their impressive lead atop the EPHL standings.

Enter Eric Frank.

A point a game player for his entire college career at U-Mass-Darmouth, the 27-year-old, who was signed on his birthday by the team, was brought in to fill Resendes’ shoes and has done more than anyone had thought he was capable of up to this point.

In five games with the team, Frank, who played his last professional game nearly a year and half ago before joining the Aces, has five points and has formed an instant camaraderie with new linemates B.J. Kuper and Jesse Felten.

The end result has been a match made in heaven for both Brooklyn and Frank.