Posts Tagged ‘Hudson Valley’

Behind a hat trick from Mike Christensen, the Brooklyn Aces defeated the Hudson Valley Bears 8-1 at Aviator on Tuesday night.

Sporting the beginnings of what look to become future playoff beards, the Aces ran the table on a Hudson Valley team that despite a hard luck season, never gave up.

Now with only two games remaining, due to the ever-growing possibility that the last game of the season with the Bears will be canceled, the Aces are warming up for the playoffs.

“We’re looking towards a championship now,” said Aces defenseman Doug Hoffman. “We got the W and we’re moving on.”

Hudson Valley got the scoring started at 15:09 of the first on a Kevin Straub goal that put the Aces down early. Brooklyn fired right back however, getting goals from C.J. Tozzo and Hoffman 20 seconds apart at 17:09, giving them a 2-1 lead.

With four games remaining and a playoff birth and first place finish already in the bag, some would question how important this game is for the Brooklyn Aces.

However, after the team’s 6-4 loss to the New Jersey Rockhoppers, expect Brooklyn to get back on track against the last-place Hudson Valley Bears.

The game can also end up being a pivotal one for two Aces in particular, as both of the team’s assistant captains, C.J. Tozzo and Kyle McCullough, currently find themselves with 90 points. While it’s obvious they won’t both score 10 points tonight, great games against Hudson Valley could play a huge factor in the duo being the first two players in league history to get to 100 points.

While Tozzo has put winning ahead of any personal goals, he did say it was something that has crossed his mind.

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.

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.

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.

If tonight’s game between the Brooklyn Aces and Hudson Valley Bears at the Ice Time Sports Complex had a promotion, it would have to have something to do with the Twilight Zone.

At 17-2-2, the Aces are coming off a rare loss and at 2-16, Hudson Valley is coming off of an equally as rare win.

So with both team’s current predicaments spoken for, the questions become simple ones. Do the Aces have the strength to bounce back after a tough loss to a gritty and driven Danbury Mad Hatters team and have the Hudson Valley Bears finally found out what it takes to win this season?

Because of these questions, this game should be an entertaining one, as both teams have everything to prove, with the Aces trying to get back on track and the Bears attempting to make a statement that they aren’t ready to lay down for the rest of the season.

Players to watch-

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.

Leading the EPHL with 25 assists, Kyle McCollaugh has proved on countless occasions this season what a talented passer he is. Last night against the Hudson Valley Bears, McCollaugh lit the lamp twice in a 7-4 Brooklyn Aces win, proving he isn’t too bad a shooter either.

The Aces started off quickly in the first, getting goals from McCollaugh, James Brannigan and the still white-hot Mike Christensen, giving them a 3-0 lead after one period of play.

Hudson Valley was far from finished for the night however. A goal by defenseman Chris Clark cut the Brooklyn lead to 3-1 at 5:33. The Aces bounced right back after recent addition Bobby Brannigan, the brother of the Aces and EPHL’s leading scorer, netted his first professional goal just 1:36 later to make it a three-goal game again. Tallies by Dan Malloy and Mark Lebenns [who some may remember was a training camp invitee of the Aces this season] cut the Brooklyn lead to 4-3.

Both sides of the EPHL standings will be represented tonight when the Brooklyn Aces take on the Hudson Valley Bears at the Ice time Sports Complex in Newburgh.

Outscoring their opponents 98-49 this season, the Aces have gotten amazing offensive production from all three lines for most of the season. However, in spite of the balanced production, the Aces top line of James Brannigan, Kyle McCullough and C.J. Tozzo, aptly dubbed the “BMT” line, has been the team’s bread and butter offensively the majority of the time. That hasn’t been the case recently though, as center Mike Christensen has been on a tear, recording 11 points in his last four games. Already averaging a point a game and playing exceptional two-way hockey all season before his recent hot streak, Christensen has now put himself on center stage and has quickly become one of the league’s best all-around players.

Before last night’s game with New Jersey, Rockhoppers goaltender Nick Niedert was the only goaltender to beat the Brooklyn Aces this season.

Today, he’s the only one to do so, twice.

Making 40 saves, Niedert proved why he was called up to ECHL a few weeks ago and then some, standing on his head and leading New Jersey to a 5-4 overtime win over the Brooklyn Aces.

After the team’s whopping 11-3 win over Hudson Valley on Friday, various members of the organization were concerned how the team was going to respond against a much better team in the Rockhoppers. Also, without James Brannigan [team suspension] and Rob Miller [injured reserve] the Aces couldn’t afford to fall behind early. Goals by Anthony Becker and Matt Tyree however forced Brooklyn to play catch up. Luckily for the Aces, speedster Tony Resendes, who filled in for Brannigan on the top line, scored two goals in the second, which cut the lead to 3-2 after a Tom Boudreau goal at 8:17 before his second tally at 11:20.