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.

In other moves, recently acquired forward forward Joey Grasso was placed on injured reserve and seldom-used defenseman Tom Collingham was placed on team suspension.

Photo by Ron Hatcher.

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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.

Recent addition Tom Collingham looked solid offensively in his first game with Brooklyn, joining the rush and pinching on several occasions, but didn’t get on the scoresheet and gave up on the puck on the powerplay and in the neutral zone a few times. Released by the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL earlier in the season, the Aces need Collingham to step in and be the same player who scored 41 points in 54 games in Germany last season in order for the defense to stay as solid as it has been.

Other D-men Ian McLaughlin and Mike Richards are still getting used to being back or to the position and are getting better with every game under their belts. Steady blueliners Nick Grove and Doug Hoffman didn’t have their best game defensively against Danbury Thursday night and will have to bounce back quickly. At the end of the day, in order for the Aces to get back in the in column, the entire defense has to limit the neutral zone breakdowns and make the smart first pass. Over the past two home games, Aces goaltender Eddie Neville has been facing a plethora of quality shots. That has to stop if the Aces want to turn their recent fortunes around.

The New Jersey Rockhoppers, on the other hand, are surging, getting quality goaltending from Nick Niedert and a point a game offensive production from Chris Ferazzoli, Kyle Bozoian, Tom Boudreau, Drew Sanders and Russell Spence. They also have Teague Willits-Kelley, who according to the Rockhoppers official website, is in the running for professional hockey’s most popular player. While I’m not sure exactly what that means, I do know that Kelley has an extensive collection of fight video on YouTube and is an accomplished energy player that can annoy the hell out of the opposition.

With that being said, the Aces will have their biggest test of the young season tonight against New Jersey.

With their game last night against Danbury postponed due to inclement weather, New Jersey will also have plenty of energy, making this a great game to watch.

Photo by Ron Hatcher.

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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

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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.”

What the Aces can expect in tonight’s game is another quality effort from newly returned defenseman Mike Richards, who in spite of sitting out the third period due to fatigue last night, was a solid +4 with a shot on goal. The same goes for defenseman/forward Ian McLaughlin, who was also a +4, but also notched an assist. With Rob Miller possibly out for the game as well, it’s crucial that the Aces get a repeat performance from these two.

Another guy coming off a good game last night is Doug Hoffman, who is now second in scoring among EPHL defensemen with 14 points in 10 games. In spite of his great game last night however, where he lit the lamp twice and dished out two helpers, Hoffman, like his coach, knows the team has to continue to work hard if they want to keep on winning.

“We have to keep that same intensity and passion,” he said. “Games like this are rare, so we have to keep our composure and come out strong against New Jersey. They’ll be ready for us.”

Coming off a 6-5 win against Danbury on Thursday, New Jersey is beginning to establish themselves as the clear-cut second place team in the league. With a quality goaltender in Niedert and plenty of solid offensive players in Chris Ferazzoli, Kyle Bozoian and Drew Sanders to go along with the toughness of Teague Willits-Kelley, the Rockhoppers will indeed give the Aces a run for their money tonight.

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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.

What is even scarier is the Aces offensive firepower as a team. Minus the production of their top line, Brooklyn would still have a better overall offense than Danbury [25 goals on the season] and would be extremely comparable to Hudson Valley [31 goals] and New Jersey [39 goals]. Simply put, the Aces have three lines that can give you nightmares. Nevertheless, the top line is the one that has to be stopped if Hudson Valley wants to stay in the game.

2- Make the Aces defense work hard- With Andrew Scampoli off playing in Holland, the Aces will be leaning heavily on the trio of Doug Hoffman, Rob Miller and Nick Grove. Ian McLaughlin, a converted forward has proved to be a solid d-man, but hasn’t been given enough ice-time to prove how solid he can be in the crunch. Mike Richards was activated off IR a week or so ago, but it’s unknown how much of a factor he’ll be. If Hudson Valley can make the Aces defensemen work hard in both ends and play physical, they may be able to get a few second chance opportunities that they wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.

If they can get that done, this is going to be a great game to watch. If not, expect another six-goal affair from Brooklyn that results in a ton of shots and even more penalty minutes.

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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.

In spite of limited ice time and despite having only one assist in six games with Brooklyn this season, Richards has been solid, showing an ability to pinch in the offensive zone and make quality passes in the neutral zone. However, he hasn’t shown a huge amount of overall polish, due especially to a lack of a consistent defensive partner and barely any opportunities on the powerplay.

Could this now be the opportunity the youngster needs? A competent player on both ends in juniors with the Syracuse Jr. Crunch and the Cobourg Cougars a few years ago, Richards definitely has the ability to fill the void on the blueline for Brooklyn.

McLoughlin, however, won’t have things quite as easy and will have to continue to prove himself at a new position. Spending most of the season at forward, McLoughlin, who has a goal and an assist in seven games this season, hasn’t been on the blueline long enough this season for anyone to assess what he is capable of. However, his speed alone may be a good enough attribute to keep him out of trouble in his own end and may give him an opportunity to join the rush and become a factor in both ends.

Again, just like Richards, this may in fact be the opportunity they have been waiting for.

Nonetheless, if Richards and McLoughlin fail to pan out for Brooklyn, it’s possible the Aces may begin to put a forward at the point during the powerplay with more regularity, to make sure their defensemen don’t run out of gas. If all else fails, it is possible that Aces head coach Chris Firriolo, who has said on numerous occasions that he is consistently looking for upgrades at every position, may in fact go out and get himself the extra depth defenseman the team may need.

Photos by Patrick Hickey Jr.

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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.

8:04 into the second however, Aces sniper James Brannigan found the back of the net and tied the game. A Kuper goal at 15:10 then gave Brooklyn the lead and a Tozzo Marker just 40 seconds into the third put them up by two. Jersey cut the lead to one just 47 seconds later after a Justin Todd goal, but another Brooklyn goal, this time by Mike Christensen, gave the Aces their two-goal lead back.

With the game then 4-2 in the third, Boudreau added his second goal of the night, but just five minutes later, Tozzo followed suit, putting the game away at 5-3. New Jersey then took goaltender Nick Niedert [36 saves] off the ice and attempted another comeback, but Kuper tallied with an empty net with 49 seconds remaining to ensure a 6-3 Aces win.

Notes-

Aces goaltender Miro Recicar made 32 saves.

Brooklyn went one for five on the powerplay.

Ian McLoughlin and Chad Wilcox were the only Aces without a shot on goal.

Aces forward Tony Resendes led the team with six shots on goal.

Defenseman Mike Richards made his return to the lineup after being placed on injured reserve on 11-21.

With Eddie Neville still in Elmira, the Aces signed goaltender Anthony Felice as an emergency backup. Spending time as an emergency backup with the Trenton Devils of the ECHL recently, Felice also participated in the Danbury Mad Hatters tryouts.

The attendance for the game was 673.

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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.

“I think I’m capable of scoring a point a game,” said Felten. “That’s what I’m going to try and do this season.”

The team however isn’t all about flashy offensive players. Aside from solid two-way defender and team captain Dan Rohanna, the Aces defense is all about speed and smarts with guys like Mike Richards and speedster Nick Grove all showing the ability to play solid defense and make the first pass out of the zone. If that wasn’t enough, the team also has a grizzled veteran in Rob Miller, who ironically was the assistant coach of the New Hampshire Freeze before the team folded a few weeks ago.

That combination of experience, size and smarts may end up playing a huge factor in the team’s play this season.

“I know it’s the first day, but they seem like a really good group of guys,” the 29 year-old defenseman Miller said. “They all want to get to the next level.”

Aside from the offense and defense, the team’s goaltending looked solid as well, as both Eddie Neville and Miroslav Recicar stopped several solid scoring opportunities. Sporting bright orange pads and a mask depicting the Marvel comics character “The Thing,” Neville may be someone to watch as the season progresses. The team has even more support in net however, as ECHL netminder Ryan Scott is set to join camp this weekend, giving the team three solid goaltenders to battle for the starting spot this season.

“All three of these guys are going to battle it out for that number one spot,” said Firriolo. “They all will have every opportunity to fight for this job. The next week is going to be really competitive between them.”

While it may be a bit too early to tell how Brooklyn’s newest team may fare this season, Firriolo expects the best from his boys, many of who are setting lofty expectations for themselves. Putting together a team that looks like it can hold their own in net and on both ends of the ice through their first practice, Firriolo may already know what cards he has in his deck this season.

“I think I got really lucky with these bunch of guys,” said Firriolo. “We have a bunch of talented guys on this team that I know aren’t going to be here at the end of the year. We’re going to be a really competitive team. I know they’re itching to play that first exhibition game on Saturday night. We’re really excited.”

Photos by Patrick Hickey Jr.

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