BKN Aviators ~ Crushing OT Loss; Face Elimination in Danbury

From the desk of:   THE SKATES OF FLATBUSH

FRIDAY NIGHT FINAL ~ GAME ONE

Danbury Whalers   5

Brooklyn Aviators  4

OVERTIME

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:  The Skates of Flatbush Must Now Duke Out Two Wins in Danbury.

Danbury Whalers Fans Have a Wild Time in Brooklyn.  A's Answer Three Whaler Goals With a Four Goal Comeback.  Danbury ties Game With 0:03 Left on Clock; Win in Over-Time.

Links:

Danbury Whalers

Brooklyn Aviators

Federal Hockey League

There were no fights or acts of questionable character - just a small assortment of typical Hockey infractions that do not induce players to lose their composure during playoff games.  This was a very well played game actually; - Not that we should be surprised.  Brooklyn fans did get caught off guard however.



The first period against Danbury gave Aviator fans every indication Game One of these playoffs was going to be a long night.  The Whalers' faithful fanatics, generally acknowledged as the league's most rabid supporters, invaded Hangar Five in numbers.  They came donned in their green, blue, and white colored jerseys, and basically had their way of the place.  They were raucously loud and for good reason too.  After the teams spent the first ten minutes or so shadow boxing, Danbury went to work on the Aviators' goalie, initially scoring at 13:42, then two more times within the nineteenth minute to close out the opening session staked to a 3-0 lead.

The Whalers' Rooters did their part too, as they were in Brooklyn's Josselin St. Pierre's ear most of the night, but more so when he tended net on the scoreboard side of the ice.  He was the target of a tireless stream of jeers and heckling emanating from sections nineteen and twenty in particular.  That three goal Whaler lead after the first twenty minutes had them all feeling pretty good about themselves.  And in the spirit of sharing, they expressed their opinion of St. Pierre often.  They savored all forty-four Danbury shots against the Flatbush goalie like forty-four indelible moments in time.  Gotta give 'em credit for that.

Jesse Felten tried quieting them down with a power play goal at the 2:51 mark of the second period, making it a 3-1 game.  But after Peter Vetri denied Flatbush upon being awarded a penalty shot, the Danbury contingent was right back at it.



However, Brooklyn was getting their chances and Josselin St. Pierre had a much better second period.  Then came the comeback.  It was now Peter Vetri's time to struggle stopping pucks.  Two and a half minutes into the third period, Michael Thompson's goal got Flatbush to within one.  At the 7:33 mark, Chris Campanale tied the game at three, off assists by Andrew Scampoli, and Michael Thompson.  And needless to say, Hangar Five was hearing less and less from the first two sections off to the right.  Then, at 11:25, Michael Thompson assisted Casey Mignone's goal for a 4-3 Brooklyn lead.  After four unanswered goals over the last two periods, it was now Flatbush Fans pumpin' up the noise in their house.



For the next 8:32, Brooklyn nursed their one goal lead.  Josselin St. Pierre was holding up as Brooklyn was limiting Danbury to their lowest shots-on-goal total of the three periods.  Then Coach Esposito did what any coach should do in the closing moments of this game.  He pulled his goalie in favor of the sixth skater.  And it paid off.  With just three second left on the clock, Danbury scored.  And yeah, sections nineteen and twenty went bonkers.



At 13:40 of overtime, the Danbury Whalers scored again; unassisted no less.  Game over.  And for the people dressed in green, blue, and white jerseys, it was party on.  Once they all regained their composure, it was back to Connecticut for them.  Depending on traffic, the seventy mile drive back to Danbury should take about an hour and a half.  While the A's damn-nearly sent them all home in silence, instead I'm sure there will be car loads of people recapturing the moments of a great game; a great win, and a great trip over all to Brooklyn; for them at least.

Instead, Flatbush will have the quiet drive north.  They'll have seventy miles to ponder how they let one get away after staging such a resilient comeback.  And they'll now have to think about winning two games in a place that will packed with just more than two sections of people wearing green, blue, and white jerseys.  In Danbury, they pack the joint with four-digit figures.  And they certainly won't be there to welcome Brooklyn with open arms either.



I'm sure Coach Miller and his Aviators are stewing.  They had their chance.  In last season's playoffs, Brooklyn had to win Game Four in Danbury to avoid elimination, then won Game Five in Brooklyn to clinch a trip to the championship round.  They are faced once with having to win two in row again if they are to duplicate last year's effort; albeit in a best of three series this time.  But they need to win this evening just to stay alive first.

GAME TWO

BROOKLYN AVIATORS

vs.

Danbury Whalers

From,

THE DANBURY ICE ARENA
Delay Street, Danbury





GAME ONE SHOTS

Let's Go A's!

Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ First Round Preview Versus Danbury Whalers

From the desk of:   THE SKATES OF FLATBUSH

2011-2012

FEDERAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

PLAYOFFS

 

ROUND ONE

Best of Three:

I - DAW @ BKN

II - BKN @ DAW

III - BKN @ DAW*

*if necessary

 

FRIDAY NIGHT PUCKS

GAME ONE

#3 - Danbury Whalers

vs.

#4 - BROOKLYN AVIATORS

From,

HANGAR FIVE

Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn

 

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:   Hello Danbury.  We Meet Again.

Brooklyn and Danbury will face-off in a best two of three series to open the 2011-2012 Federal Hockey League playoffs...; Again.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.  Decades from now, when someone sets out to write the history of these two teams, the early years will most certainly focus on this two years young, yet very intense rivalry.  But why wait, right?  Let's do this now!

Word is there were circling complaints within the League regarding Akwesasne's overly-aggressive and highly physical play this season.  I know this much, none of those gripes came out of Brooklyn, or Danbury.  If anything, the Warriors are just picking up on a trend Danbury and Brooklyn started last season against each other.  But yeah, the Warriors have been a bunch of brutes this season; no doubt.  However, that's old hat to Danbury and Flatbush.  Their dislike was a mutual feeling upon their first ever face-off.  And so, here we go again.

Brooklyn defeated the Danbury Whalers last season to advance to the FHL Championship round; only to lose to the fore mentioned Warriors.  But they needed all five games against Danbury to get there, and then some.  They split the first two games in Brooklyn.  Then Flatbush suffered a crushing over-time road loss in game three.  With their backs to the wall, they won game four in Danbury to bring the deciding game five back to Brooklyn.  Regulation time ended in a 3-3 tie.  And so they went into over-time for a second time in the series.  Shortly into game five's sudden death session, Jesse Felten assisted on the game's winning goal.  And now, he'll try and lead his team against the Danbury Whalers again this season.

Flatbush and Danbury clashed ten times and split the season  series down the middle, winning five games each.  So they know each other well; very well in fact.  Entering Friday night's game, Brooklyn is 3-2 against the Whalers when hosting at The Hangar.  Flatbush has outscored Danbury by a 43-30 margin this season.  In fact, they scored six or more times in four of the five wins Brooklyn has over Danbury.







The Aviators got caught in a bit of a tail spin to begin the new year.  And Danbury capitalized on the opportunity to pass Brooklyn by in the standings.  Once the Whalers took hold of third place, they were never threatened by Brooklyn or Akwesasne the rest of the way.  Number three seed Danbury finished the regular season with twenty-eight wins and eighty-nine points.  Number four seed Brooklyn, finished with twenty-five wins, and eighty-two points.



Without excuses, Brooklyn has played through their share of ECHL call-ups.  Of the players remaining, centerman Jesse Felten leads Brooklyn's scorers with twenty-seven goals and twenty-seven assists, for fifty-four points.  Matt Moffat is Danbury's leading scorer with seventeen goals and forty-two assists, for fifty-nine points.



Danbury sports three other players with over forty points.  Greg Holt has fifteen goals and forty-six points.  Sean O'Malley has twenty-goals and forty-two points.  And Chris Siefert has twenty-one goals and also has forty-two points.  While at season's end, Brooklyn's other remaining top scorers were Casey Mignone, who scored nineteen goals with forty points.  Matt Atsoff had eighteen goals with thirty one points.



But Brooklyn has other players to consider in light of ECHL call-ups.  Lucas Schott has twelve goals in twenty-six games.  Nick Petriello has twelve goals in twenty-three games.  And Michael Thompson has nine goals in sixteen games.

In discussing the guys between the pipes, Danbury's starting goalie, Peter Vetri (l.) is all too familiar to the A's.  After the pair of net-minders the #1 New Jersey Outlaws platoon between the pipes, the Whalers' goalie was perhaps the League's best this season.  With twenty-one wins, he was third in the circuit behind New Jersey's Dan McWhinney, who tied for the League lead with twenty-four wins, along with 1000 Islands' Matt Anthony, who also had twenty-four wins.  Vetri came in second in the League with a .919 Save Percentage, and was number three with a 3.28 GAA.  Whalers' back-up Nick Neidert played in thirteen games with a 5-6 record.

Brooklyn's main guy in net is Josselin St, Pierre.  While seemingly not impressive as Vetri's record, in twenty-five games, St. Pierre (r.) was 12-9-2-0 this season.  He placed fourth, right behind Peter Vetri in GAA with a 3.35 mark.  His .903 Save Percentage also ranked just behind Peter Vetri's mark, and again was good for fourth best in the League.  He was one of only four goalies this season to have a better than .900 Save Percentage; keeping in mind, New Jersey boasts two of them, leaving Vetri and himself.



But Coach Miller is just as likely to start back-up Michael DiLorenzo as well.  Coach Miller gave his newly acquired goalie substantial minutes between the pipes down the stretch, as if to hopefully get him up to game speed in time for the playoffs.  He only has fifteen games played all season.  In eight games for Brooklyn, he was 5-2, with a 3.00 GAA, and a .915 Save Percentage.  In seven games with Delaware prior to his acquisition, his numbers are less appealing.



Friday night, Game One of the best two out of three series will be in Hangar Five.  Game Two, and if necessary Game Three, will be played before, what I'm sure will be a raucous, League's best, Danbury crowd.  The winner of this series will move on to play the winner of the 1000 Islands/Akwesasne series.



I'm expecting nothing short than an intense, hard hitting, somewhat chippy, but well played series by both teams.  While tempers are always liable to explode when these two teams meet, I think hockey will prevail and sportsmanship doesn't deteriorate too badly.  And if mood mismanagement does bring out the worst in each other, well, that's always fun too.



Good Luck to the Danbury Whalers, although I really don't mean it.  But then again, we need each other in order to create great moments in FHL Hockey.  I hope I did you guys some justice here.



And Let's Go Aviators!!





Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ Danbury Loses Minds and Game; Round VII Tonight

From the desk of:   THE COOLEST GUYS IN BROOKLYN

FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS HOCKEY

in HANGAR FIVE

ROUND - VII

Danbury Whalers

vs.

BROOKLYN AVIATORS

from,

FLATBUSH AVENUE

Kings County

I - BKN 8  -  DNW 1

II - DNW 3  -  BKN 2

III - DNW 3  -  BKN 1

IV - BKN 4  -  DNW 2

V - DNW 8  -  BKN 3

THURSDAY  Feb. 2, 2012

VI - BKN 9 - DNW 3
Series tied 3-3

It's now that time when the Aviators are not only skating against their competition, they're skating against the clock/schedule as well.  So in a series that quite literally can flip the standings between these two teams, the Skates of Flatbush took a strong confident stride in the right direction by taking care of business up in Danbury last night.  Danbury handed Brooklyn their first loss after winning five straight last weekend.  A pair of wins this weekend against their rival gets them back into the all important first division standings again.  They got a big win Thursday.  And now it's home to Brooklyn for a Friday night in Hangar Five.


The first period between visiting Brooklyn and the Danbury Whalers was more like the Chase Watson Show.  The new Aviator centerman, signed in January, opened the scoring right away with his fourth goal of the season at the 1:42 mark.  Chase then assisted on Jesse Felten's goal a little over two minutes later for Watson's eighteenth point in nine games.  Jesse Felten returned the favor assisting on Chase Watson's second goal of the period; this one coming on the power play.


Brooklyn shut-down Danbury allowing just four first period shots on goal against Flatbush starter Josselin St. Pierre.  At the other end, they spent the period peppering Danbury goalie; Peter Vetri; with eighteen first period shots.  Things could have been worse for Danbury as they allowed Brooklyn seven PP opportunities in the first period alone.  And luckily for them, Brooklyn's Coolest only cashed in once with the man advantage.  But it was Danbury who would lose their cool this night, and practically spent the entire third period at a disadvantage due to a major lack of comportment on their part.


In the second period, Danbury continued to their lack of discipline and thus kept putting Brooklyn on the Power Play.  At the 3:36 mark, both Whaler's goalie Perter Vetri, and Coach Phil Esposito, were given Unsportsmanlike Conducts while Esposito was additionally called for the Bench Minor.  That was a mere prelude of things to come.  Twenty seconds into the power play, Jesse Felten struck for his second goal giving Flatbush a 4-0 lead.  Michael Thomson, and Ken Trentowski (who was recently named FHL Rookie of the Month) assisted on Felten's twentieth goal of the season.


Brooklyn took another seventeen shots against Peter Vetri in the second period and limited Danbury to just eight shots against Josselin St. Pierre, for a two period total of twelve.


Danbury finally got on the board in the third period.  At 2:21, the Whalers' Chris Seifert made it a 4-1 game.  Then half way through the period, Chase Watson completed his hat-trick with a power play goal.   At that point, every one in the crowd could smell what was cooking.  The game, sportsmanship, and everything just degenerated from then on.  Brooklyn's next four goals came on the power play as well.  Why?


Apparently, Brooklyn kicked too much sand under Danbury's skates and so the home team looked to take out some frustrations on the invaders visitors.  However, it seemed since they dropped the puck way back in the first period, the Whalers came into the game seemingly inspired to spear, slash,  elbow, be abusive to the Ref, fight, charge, cross-check, and in a case or two, get disqualified.  OH! - And as an encore, Danbury broke out with some new material. - Try this one;  -  a Tier One Gross Gross Gross Misconduct Penalty.  Hey, if that was their plan, mission accomplished. 


In between all Danbury's frolicking and fiestiness, Nick Petriello; Joe Dabkowski; Casey Mignone; and Lucas Schott all tallied power play goals for Flatbush during the third period melee.  The A's took another TWENTY-SIX shots for good measure against a combination of Whaler goalies, for a grand total of sixty-one shots on goal for the game.   Yep.


There was one moment of clarity.  Danbury scored shorthanded shortly before regulation time expired. The "game" finally ended in a 9-2 final.  And now they get to do it again; Tonight!


Yeah!  Tonight the Whalers must come to Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn.  How appropriate huh?  The Dukes Skates of Flatbush will be there waiting along with somewhere between six to eight hundred of their fans friends too.  And who knows, maybe cooler heads prevail and a hockey game breaks out. 


But all kidding aside, this is a very important game for the A's.  A loss would just cancel out last night's effort and keep them skating in place.  By winning Thursday night, they leapfrogged over Danbury in the standings and are now in fourth place and back in the first division just behind Akwesasne.


The late season push is on!


Let's Go Aviators!






Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ Pressing on into February

From the desk of:   THE SKATES OF FLATBUSH






BROOKLYN AVIATORS:  Taking Body Blows and Counter Punching; Coach Miller's Boys Will be Fighting to the Very End.



So where are we?  Who are we?  And what are we doing?  Sorry, since attending Ace's birthday party in The Hangar two weeks ago, I've had New York Giants of the brain.


The A's are currently skating with the second division in fifth place.  Although Brooklyn (55) has more total points than fourth place Akwesasne (51), the Warriors lead the Aviators by percentage points.  Cape Cod, Delaware, and Danville, round out the FHL trailers. 


New Jersey has been, and still is the clear cut power of the circuit with 93 points this season.  Second place 1000 Islands trails them by thirteen points.  And Danbury has recently made a climb in the standings (59 points) into third place. 


Fourteen games remain on the schedule.  The A's will have between their February 2nd game versus Danbury, and March 4th, to earn themselves a spot along with the top seeds for a hopeful spot in the playoffs.  The team's situation does not seem as dire as they faced last year with twenty-some games left in the season.  They just need a little consistency right now.


Who are we?  For starters, back-up goalie; Peter Dundovich; was waived on January 27, by the Boss-Man Coach Miller.  Goalie Richard Scarsella came and went.  Adam Avramenko was then signed to back-up Josselin St. Pierre but has since been loaned out to the CHL.  So that leaves rookie Jeff Rose as Flatbush's back-up goalie.  Back on January 24th, Jarrett Rush and Andrew Owsiak were packing up to play for ECHL clubs but have since returned.  And lastly, Brendan Baumgartner was traded to the 1000 Islands Privateers for defensemen Vinny Geonnetti.


No Brooklyn.  Although several players remain, this is not the same team that went on a torrid twenty-some game winning streak last season and steamrolled into the playoffs.  Coach Miller continues to tinker with this roster as he has all season.  Over that time, too many games were lost, specifically earlier on in the schedule, for a failure to secure wins during regulation time and thus finishing many nights shy one additional point. 


What are we doing?  For starters, we're suffering from a lack of identity.  Are we still a team led by veterans; Chris Ferazzoli; K.C. Timmons; Jesse Felten; Chris Scampoli; and Casey Mignone?  Or did our gumption exit along with Vladimir Nikiforov; Stephen Obelnicki; and some of last year's favorites like Puntureri, and Goffredo?  And of the newer class?  Rookie; Matt Atsoff; Trent Trentowski; Lucas Schott; Steve Koich; will they be making this their team?


Secondly, we're bobbing up and down like an ocean buoy.  The month of January is representative of just how up and down this season has gone for the Floyd Bennett Aviators.  They started the month losing their first five contests.  Then went on a five game winning streak which was snapped this past Saturday by the Whalers in an 8-2 drubbing up in Danbury.  And so the A's end the month with a 5-6 record.


When they resume play Thursday, the Whalers and Brooklyn will play a home and home starting in Danbury.  The series then comes to Hangar Five on Saturday night.  They'll finish the weekend in New Jersey as they take on the Outlaws again, whom they finally defeated this season for the first time.


We need to gain some altitude Boys.





Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ A's Crash ACE's Party in Hangar Five

From the desk of:   THE COOLEST GUYS IN BROOKLYN

Friday Night ~ Pre-Game Skate

NEW JERSEY OUTLAWS vs. BROOKLYN AVIATORS

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:  It Was Party Night at Hangar Five Friday Night; Until the Home Team Crashed It.




Seeing Matthew Puntureri and John Goffredo certainly brings back memories, doesn't it? - Back to a time when they used to score goals for the home team and leading us to the Finals last season.  Without them, life in Hanger Five has been somewhat of a struggle this season.



The return of Josselin St. Pierre wasn't enough to thwart a fourth consecutive loss by the Aviators.  New Jersey heisted the game from Brooklyn in a big first period.  The A's were left chasing down the Outlaws the rest of the night.

Jesse Felten rushes back on defense.

The Skates of Flatbush were grounded before they ever took off.  In the first period alone,

One Goal - Two Goals - Three Goals - Four Goals, found net beyond Josselin St. Pierre before the Aviators could muster even one before the session expired.

John Goffredo scored New Jersey's fourth goal of the first period.  That's when Coach Miller decided to use his time-out.

Later, Matthew Puntureri scored a third period power play goal to make the game a 6-3 affair at the time.  Brooklyn ultimately lost a 7-3 final to the FHL's first place team.

#27 - Casey Mignone

The Aviators were kind of skating around in figure-eights right around this time last season also.  Then, along with a bunch of this year's A's, former Brooklyn favorites Matthew Puntureri and John Goffredo embarked on a remarkable twenty-one game winning streak, and rode that wave all the way into the Finals against Akwesasne.

If that's Brooklyn's plan again this year.  They had better hurry up.  There's only twenty-three scheduled games left in the season.  And there's no time like the present.  The Coolest Guys in Brooklyn will try to end this four game losing streak in the second game of a home-and-home series out in Wayne, New Jersey tonight.

The final score might have sent everyone home in a somber mood.  But it was a festive night inside Hangar Five during the first intermission.  Team mascot, ACE, celebrated his second birthday Friday night.  Seven hundred-two fans and a few of ACE's closest friends stopped by to offer their congratulations to the Crazy Bird and Keeper of the Hangar.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ACE!

Johnnie, the St. John's Red Storm mascot stopped by.  And the Brooklyn Cyclones' own Sandy the Seagull came down off his perch atop the Parachute Jump in Coney Island to help ACE make sure he had some fun on his birthday.

Ace's party gift?  -  An opportunity to take a couple of slap-shots against his unprotected and vulnerable buddies.  Johnny and Sandy didn't walk away too bruised though.  ACE has quite the accurate shot.  Many of his goals found nothing but net although you couldn't convince Sandy of that.

Sandy better stick to Baseball because there is no future Brooklyn's beloved seagull as a goalie.  Look at all those pucks in the lower left corner that got by.  I think this shot (pictured) clipped Sandy in the wing.  But just look at the smile on Ace's face.  You know that Crazy Bird was having fun and that's all that really matters.  Johnnie from St. John's was forced to put his body in front of a few shots as well.  His message was simply - Real Mascots don't wear pads! - Then ACE let him have it.

After scoring some goals, even more little friends joined the on-ice party, and along with the fans, joined together in singing Happy Birthday to ACE.

Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ Fixing Cracks in the Ice

From the desk of:   THE COOLEST GUYS IN BROOKLYN

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:  Beware!  Coach Miller is Watching.


Look what the New Jersey Outlaws did to us...again!  New Jesery has only lost three times all season, and the Aviators quite literally did little to change that.  We are now 0-6 versus the cross-harbor bad guys.  And in those games Brooklyn has been out-gunned 34-16, largely based on the branding they put upon us last weekend at the Outlaw's Jersey hideout.



Thursday's game was bad, and Friday's game got worse.



Casey Mignone's two third period goals weren't enough to undo the damage from the first two periods of Thursday's game.  The first period went fairly enough.  Former Aviator; John Goffredo; scored a mere :41 seconds into the game for New Jersey.  From then on Brooklyn would never lead nor tie at any time over these two games.  Half way through the period, the Outlaws scored again for a 2-0 lead.  But Brooklyn had an answer for that one.  Jordan Bernier scored a power play goal at the 14:27 mark, to bring the A's within a goal again.



However, New Jersey poured it on in the second period with two more goals against Brooklyn goalie Josselin St. Pierre.  Then in the third period, New Jersey answered Casey Mignone's two goals with two from Brett Liscomb making the final score 6-3 Outlaws.



Friday night?  Let's just say after Thursday's night loss, Peter Dundovich made the start in goal for Brooklyn.  And let's just say Josselin St. Pierre still had to enter the game in the third period in relief of Dundovich.  In the first period, New Jersey took fifteen shots against Dundovich.  Two got by for a 2-0 lead.  In the second period, New Jersey took nineteen shots against Dundovich.  Four more got by for a 6-0 New Jersey lead.  Coach Miller then turned to Josselin St. Pierre to stop the bleeding.  New Jersey then took seventeen third period shots against him.  Two more goals found net to make this game an 8-0 final.



No; there was no Brooklyn offense to speak of.  This was perhaps their worst defeat of the season.  Their previous low might have been their 8-2 loss in Cape Cod back on November 22nd.  But clearly getting shut-out 8-0 by the top team in the league qualifies as the worst.



Whether because Coach Miller most certainly had something to say regarding the last two games, and the previous night's game in particular, or, whether the Aviator skaters realized they just may have cost their goalie his starting job, - which ever the case A) - signed back on December 31st; new Brooklyn goalie Jeff Rose made his first start in net.  And B) - the Aviators responded to a message apparently received loud and clear, and scored six first period goals against the Cape Cod Blue Fins on Saturday night back in The Hangar.  The final score of that game was 7-3 A's.

With the win, Brooklyn may have salvaged an otherwise disastrous weekend against the League's top team.  But more importantly, some Aviator players might start thinking about what it takes to keep an A's jersey on their back in Coach Miller's eyes.





Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ Stepping Up in the Standings

From the desk of:  THE SKATES OF FLATBUSH

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:  The Coolest Guys in Brooklyn Rewarded Themselves With a Six-Pack of Points This Weekend For a Job Well Done.


The Skates of Flatbush spent the weekend in Hangar Five taking on the visiting Danbury Whalers and  1000 Islands Privateers.  Their dual victories earned them six more points and inched them a little closer to the circuit leaders.  After the FHL's weekend schedule concluded Sunday in Danbury, the Brooklyn Aviators now find themselves in third place with twenty-eight points; thirteen points behind first place New Jersey, and only eight points behind 1000 Islands who occupy second place.




Friday Final:
Danbury Whalers - 2
Brooklyn Aviators - 4


In quite the civil game by their standards, dotted by mere charging; roughing; and boarding penalties; the Aviators took advantage of extra-man advantages two times in eight opportunities; first to tie the game in the second period, then to seal the deal in the third.


Half way through the first period, Anthony Iaquinto started Brooklyn's night with a goal assisted by Jordan Bernier and KC Timmons.  Then a little over four minutes later, Danbury struck back with an inexcusable short-handed goal, tying the game at one each.


Danbury jumped ahead in the second with a go-ahead goal at the 4:33 mark. Then a tripping minor to Danbury's Kelly Miller opened the door for Chris Ferazzoli's power play goal the the 5:06 mark which tied the score at two.  At 8:10 of the second period, Andrew Owsiak followed-up and put Brooklyn ahead 3-2 with his seventh goal of the season.


When Danbury's Adam Blanchett got whistled for slashing at 3:39 of the third period, Chris Ferazzoli took the opportunity to score on the ensuing power play, upping his team lead in goals to ten, and increasing Brooklyn's lead by two.


And with the score set at 4-2, the game went final.  Josselin St. Pierre made the start in net for Brooklyn and stopped thirty-three shots of the thirty-five he faced.  It's his third win this season since being signed to replace former goalie; Thomas Lee.



Saturday Final:
1000 Islands Privateers - 3
Brooklyn Aviators - 6




In their second ever trip to Brooklyn, the 1000 Islands Privateers were looking pretty good after one period at the Hangar.  They were leading 1-0 on a Ryan Pearson goal scored a little shy of the half way mark.  They also held Brooklyn scoreless after allowing them two power play opportunities.  The A's weren't without their chances however as they put seventeen shots on net during the period.




The second period?  Not so pretty for the Privateers.  Brooklyn lined up the cannons and opened fire lobbing four volleys past 1000 Islands goalie Matt Anthony.  Ken Trentowski fired off the first two goals of the period.  His first was unassisted and came at the 2:26 mark.  A little over two minutes later at 4:32, Jason Dolgy assisted on Ken Trentowski's second goal of the period.  The next blow against the Privateers hit it's mark at 10:13, when Jesse Felton gave Brooklyn a 3-1 lead.  And the final Aviator shot to find net this period came at the 15:32 mark, scored unassisted by Casey Mignone.




The Privateers spent the better part of the third period trying to mount a comeback and came close.  They made it a 4-2 game at just 1:34 into the final session.  Then made it a 4-3 game at exactly 13:00 on a Michael Richard goal.




But Brooklyn got play going their way again and made it a 5-3 game when Matt Atsoff made 1000 Islands pay for a boarding penalty called against Jeff Winchester.  His power play goal came after the 17:45 mark. 




Having to take the necessary step of pulling the goalie for an extra attacker, 1000 Islands suffered the riskier side of the move.  Jesse Felton scored his second goal of the night into an empty net at 19:41 to give this game an ultimate 6-3 final.




Josselin St. Pierre picked up his third win versus one loss (...and an OT loss).  He faced thirty-seven shots and turned back thirty four.  So far in his short time minding Brooklyn's net, he's sporting a  .905% saves percentage and a 3.38 goals against average.






Next weekend should be a lot of fun folks.  The A's will be hosting three games at Hangar Five starting Friday night, Dec 9th against the first place New Jersey Outlaws.  After dropping a pair of back-to-back games on their ice recently, it would be nice to get a measure of pay-back against some of the A's former team-mates and anything generally associated with New Jersey.  Hey!  Rivalries need to start some how.  Right?




Saturday is the fight game I'm really looking forward to.  The Cape Cod Blue Fins are coming back to Flatbush.  If you're in the neighborhood Saturday night, I assure you, this match-up will not disappoint.  Drive down Flatbush Avenue and check this one out.




Sunday, we welcome back an old competitor in the Akwesasne Warriors; whom we met and lost to in last season's FHL Championship series.






Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ N.J. Outlaws Hold-Up A's Weekend

From the desk of:  THE COOLEST GUYS IN BROOKLYN







BROOKLYN AVIATORS:  One Wrong Exit Off the Turnpike and What You Get is a Lost Weekend in Jersey.



Talk about losing your way in the Garden State.  The Aviators' short flight over the skies of New Jersey ended in a lost weekend for the locals.  Emelia Earhart once landed and took off from Floyd Bennett Field too ya know.  How'd that go?



After taking a game from the then first place 1000 Islands Privateers before the holiday, it was Black Friday and Bleaker Saturday for the Aviators in New Jersey this weekend.  In two games on consecutive nights on New Jersey's turf, the Skates of Flatbush dropped a pair to the Outlaws.  After hoping the A's could close the gap with three games against the circuit leaders, the two losses now drop Brooklyn ten points behind New Jersey and 1000 Islands who are tied for the league lead with thirty-two points each.



Friday's game ended in a 5-3 final.  After an opening period goal by Matt Atsoff put Brooklyn ahead at the 6:22 mark, five different New Jersey players proceeded to score the next five goals over the first two periods against Aviators' goalie Josselin St. Pierre, who was making his second start since being acquired.  After three second period Outlaw goals, two former A's scored two more in the second.  John Goffredo scored N.J. goal number four on the night.  Matthew Puntureri followed up with the fifth and final score for the Outlaws. 



The A's were pretty much toast after that.  They managed two third period goals; one by Casey Mignone on the power play at 12:21 of the third.  The second Brooklyn goal of the period came on Chris Oswiak's shot at the 15:30 mark.



In taking the loss, Josselin St. Pierre faced forty-three shots; stopping thirty eight.  Brooklyn managed thirty-three shots on goal and were 1 for 5 on the power play, while holding New Jersey scoreless in three opportunities.



In the second game on Saturday, the teams took turns dominating the first two periods before ending the third session in a stalemate which necessitated over-time to determine a winner.



New Jersey had their way with Brooklyn over the last half of the first period.  Three goals; the third coming short-handed; put Brooklyn behind 3-0 at the intermission.



In the second period, it was Brooklyn's turn to dominate.  Andrew Scampoli scored goal one of the period on a power play at 6:15; assisted by A's blueliners Ken Trentowski and KC Timmons.  Goal number two came at 13:07 when KC Timmons again figured in the scoring with his third goal of the season.  Then just before the second period ended, Casey Mignone tied the game at three with his goal at the 19:33 mark.



At 3:29 of the third period, Matt Atsoff put Brooklyn ahead 4-3; assisted by Andrew Owsiak and Jason Dolgy.  But a little under ten minutes later, a Ken Trentowski slash put New Jersey on the power play.  Matt Miller cashed in for the Outlaws with his second goal of the game.



Into over-time they went.  And it didn't last long at all.  At 1:32, Travis Kauffeldt got a shot past Josselin St. Pierre for a 5-4 New Jersey win.  It was the second consecutive night St. Pierre yielded five goals to the Outlaws.  He faced thirty-eight shots in this game and stopped thirty-three.  He now owns one win against two losses as a starter.



Brooklyn finishes the weekend with a 6-5-0-4 season record and sit in fourth place with twenty two points.  The A's are off till Friday night, when they take on Danbury at the Hangar.







Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ Making a Move on First Place

From the desk of:  THE COOLEST GUYS IN BROOKLYN

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:  After Knocking 1000 Islands Out of First Place, the Skates of Flatbush Seek to do the Same Against the New Jersey Outlaws.




*FHL NEWS ~ VERMONT WILD CLUB FOLDS:

Prior to this season's start, Brooklyn Head Coach Rob Miller stressed the necessity of all Federal Hockey League member club's ability to finish out their season schedules was paramount to establishing not only a strong foundation for the League, but to also gain much needed credibility for the two year old circuit if they are to survive. 



At this level, players must have a certain degree of confidence in a League's operational viability before they commit.  We hockey fans in Brooklyn have been given a small dose of understanding into this matter with the coming and going of the Brooklyn Aces.  Lest we forget some of our current Aviators were cajoled into coming to Brooklyn from the more established southern circuits.  



The FHL took a bold step step forward into expansion this season by adding teams in New Jersey, Cape Cod, Danville, and Vermont.  And now the Federal Hockey League has announced The VERMONT WILD will cease operations immediately.  The ramifications for the league are wide and varied.  First and foremost, the League must address rescheduling.

*   *   *   *

The A's take on another one of those expansion teams tonight.  Brooklyn's Coolest are headed to New Jersey where they will take on the currently in first place Outlaws for two games on consecutive nights on their ice.  This is still somewhat of an implied rivalry as true tensions between the teams are yet to materialize due to the teams having played each other infrequently.  That should start changing tonight.  With two wins in New Jersey, the Aviators can pull up along side the first place teams.  None the less, the Outlaws sport two former popular Aviators that should get this rivalry kicked-up a notch.  Former Brooklyn forward, Matthew Puntureri, was recently named FHL Player of the Week.



In their last game Wednesday night at the Hangar, the Skates of Flatbush welcomed the then first place 1000 Islands Privateers and gained victory with a 5-2 final score.  Goalie Thomas Lee was waived on Nov. 23rd.  Making his first start against 1000 Islands, new pick-up, goalie Josselin St. Pierre, made the start and gained his first win as an Aviator.  Josselin was a member of the Privateers last season.  He faced twenty-six shots on goal from his former team and turned back twenty-four.



In another transaction, Coach Miller waived Anthony Monte and signed two forwards; RW-Joseph Pelle Jr.; and C-Jason Dolgy.  And in making his debut for Brooklyn, Jason Doly who comes to us via the Vermont Wild situation, scored a power play goal at 12:48 of the second period Wednesday night, and assisted on another.  At the time, Dolgy's goal put Brooklyn ahead of the Privateers 2-0.



Also joining in on the scoring against 1000 Islands was Chris Ferazzoli who started the night with his eighth goal of the season at the 4:40 mark of the opening period.  Casey Mignone and Matt Atsoff chipped in with a goal apiece.  And Vladimir Nikiforov took over the team lead with his ninth goal of the season on an empty netter at the 19:01 mark of the third period.

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY

BROOKLYN AVIATORS

vs.

New Jersey Outlaws

FROM

Somewhere in NYC's Backyard

 

Mike.BTB