Posts Tagged ‘Mike Richards’

According to a press release by the EPHL, the Brooklyn Aces have acquired defenseman Joe Lyle from Hudson Valley for future considerations.

Originally an Ace after Training Camp this season, the team lost Lyle in the expansion draft once Hudson Valley joined the league.

At the time, it was a move Aces head coach Chris Firriolo showed some remorse about.

“He’s a really good player with a lot of  talent,” he said before the season began. “We hate to lose him.”

Now with Lyle back in the fold, the Aces have both Gabe Yeung and Lyle back after losing them in training camp to the Bears.

They also activated forward Tony Resendes from injured reserve, who had 13 points in just eight games before injuring his MCL on Dec. 18.

In addition, defenseman Mike Richards, who was battling injuries for most of the season, was placed on waivers, alongside third-string goaltender Anthony Felice.

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.

The way I’ve been posting guys, I was in need of a day off. However, rather than do so, I figured I’d throw up another podcast.

This week, I shoot the breeze with Aces defenseman Mike Richards, who is fresh off a stint on Injured Reserve. Happy to be back, the d-man talks about his game, who he grew up emulating as a kid and where he sees himself as the season progresses.

With Rob Miller now on the shelf, expect an expanded role for the youngster over next few games.  A solid two-way defenseman in juniors, Richards is capable of big things on both ends and this may be his first real opportunity to show what he’s made of.

Check it out!

As always, you can listen directly here at: http://www.switchpod.com/users/patrickhickeyjr1/AOB1220.mp3

Or you can download the file on to your I-Pod or I-Phone here:

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

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.”

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.

A few weeks ago, the Aces defense featured five defensemen, Dan Rohanna, Andrew Scampoli, Nick Grove, Doug Hoffman and Rob Miller, that could all perform extremely well on both ends of the ice.

Isn’t it funny how a few weeks can change things?

After trading then captain Rohanna to Hudson Valley and watching Scampoli leave the team in order to play in Holland last week, the Aces, while still having the sturdy and dependable Hoffman, Grove and Miller on the roster, will have to ask for more out of guys like Ian McLoughlin and Mike Richards, two players that haven’t been getting a ton of ice-time up to this point in the season.

Just coming back from injured reserve a few days ago after being placed there on Nov. 21st with an undisclosed injury, Richards won’t have the luxury of getting time to acclimate to his surroundings.

Powered by a four-goal third period, the Brooklyn Aces proved once again that they weren’t going to take the second place New Jersey Rockhoppers for granted, stretching their winning streak to seven games in a 6-3 win.

Like most of the season, Brooklyn received contributions from all three lines, as three point nights from Kyle McCullough [three assists] and James Brannigan [one goal, two assists] and two-point nights from B.J. Kuper, C.J. Tozzo and Mike Thomson fueled a come from behind win.

Brooklyn also had six other players in the game including, defensemen Nick Grove, Doug Hoffman and Rob Miller, register points in the game.

However, things didn’t start exactly the way the Aces would have liked after a Tom Boudreau goal 11:13 into the first on the powerplay gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead.

After holding their first practice of the 2008-2009 season at Aviator Arena on Tuesday night, the Brooklyn Aces took to the ice and showed that they have both the skill and depth to be more than a passing fad in the borough’s rich sports history.

Speedy forwards such as Brooklyn-native James Brannigan, CJ Tozzo and Chris Holmes stood out repeatedly throughout the practice and should give the Aces the pieces on the forward lines that could give the first-year team a smörgåsbord of offensive options.

“We got some great guys on this team and in the locker room,” said Tozzo. “We’re going to be a lot of fun to watch.”

Aside from Brannigan, Tozzo and Holmes, the Aces’ other forwards, players like Jessie Felten and Scott Estey, also have the speed needed to perform in head coach Chris Firriolo’s high puck pursuit game as well.