Posts Tagged ‘Rob Miller’

It may be ice-cold outside, but it’s always hot on AcesOverBrooklyn.com, where there are constant updates on the Brooklyn Aces.

In this exclusive interview done on Dec. 18, before the team took on the Danbury Mad Hatters, AOB interviews Brooklyn Aces head coach Chris Firriolo, who discusses the team’s newest addition, defenseman Tom Collingham, in addition to discussing the depth of his forward lines and some of the injuries that have recently taken a toll on his first-place club.

Check it out!

As always, you can listen directly here at: http://media.switchpod.com/users/patrickhickeyjr1/ChrisFirrioloInterview.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

Photo by Ron Hatcher.

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.

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.

According to a press release from the EPHL, assistant captain Rob Miller has been placed on injured reserve, while leading scorer James Brannigan has been placed on team suspension, making them both ineligible for tonight’s game against the New Jersey Rockhoppers.

In 11 games this season, Brannigan also leads the league with 17 goals and 26 points.

Miller, who returned after two and half years away from the sport as a player, was thriving as well this season, with 10 points in 11 games.

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.

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.

The way the Brooklyn Aces offense has played this season, it’s easy to forget that they are human beings and not the super heroes that have been consistently scoring a half dozen goals a night.

Nevertheless, even on an “off” night offensively, the Aces still got a more than quality performance from Eddie Neville, who made 34 saves in a 3-2 Aces shootout victory over the Danbury Mad Hatters.

In spite of Neville’s performance however, Danbury goaltender Derek MacIntyre was the real star of the game, stopping 54 of 56 shots, effectively keeping his team above water against the leagues top offense.

Brooklyn jumped out to an early 1-0 lead off a Rob Miller powerplay goal, but Danbury leading scorer Igor Karlov answered back 5:02 later with a powerplay marker of his own, tying the score at 1-1. The BMT line of James Brannigan, Kyle McCollaugh and C.J. Tozzo came through in the second, as Brannigan notched his 15th goal of the season, giving Brooklyn a 2-1 lead.

Giving up seven goals in the first period over their last three games, the Brooklyn Aces couldn’t afford to make the same mistakes against the Danbury Mad Hatters on Saturday Night at Aviator Arena.

Scoring four goals in the first period, the kings of the EPHL coasted to a 7-1 win in their most complete effort of the young 2008-2009 season.

Stressing the importance of a 60-minute effort after the team’s come from behind victory on Friday, Aces head coach Chris Firriolo was all smiles after the game.

“I think this was a great turn around from the past few games,” said Firriolo. “We came out hard and we did it early. I thought that was key.”

The Aces got an early lead after Chris Holmes smoked a vicious slapshot past Mad Hatters goaltender Derek MacIntyre at 3:14. At 11:47, James Brannigan too proved that he could slap it with the best of them, sending one past MacIntyre and giving Brooklyn a 2-0 lead.

Losing their first home game 3-2 last Saturday after amassing 62 shots on goal, the Brooklyn Aces were looking to take out their frustration on the Hudson Valley Bears.

But after the first two periods, the Aces, looking flat and unenergized, seemed destined for another loss at home.

However, after a three-goal third and 61 shots on goal for the night, they clawed out a 7-6 come from behind win.

“We battled back and chipped away,” said Aces coach Chris Firriolo. “We have to be more disciplined though. We came out on fire in the third and I was proud of them for it.”

Things started out sloppy in the first, with both teams committing early turnovers and their respective goalies responding. Bears forward Scott Horvath then broke the early stalemate, putting Hudson Valley on the board first after beating Aces goaltender Miro Recicar from the doorstep at 3:20. At 7:41, Hudson Valley stretched the lead to 2-0 after a Chris Seifert shorthanded goal that seemed to take the fans in attendance out of the game.