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 ~ Huge Game Looms vs. Akwesasne

From the desk of:   THE SKATES OF FLATBUSH

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:   Losing Altitude!



A season after soaring through a miraculous, end of season winning streak to qualify for the playoffs and ultimately make it to the Finals, the Aviators find themselves caught in a tailspin which threatens their chances of a playoff spot this season.


They are running out of time and short on fuel.  Flying is such an unnatural thing anyway.  But right now, with seven games left, the A's are flying on fumes.  Very simply, they are having trouble scoring goals and can't get any lift.  Their fourth loss in a row; this time against the first place New Jersey Outlaws, in which they could only manage one third-period goal scored by Michael Thompson, and were 0 for 7 on the power play; now puts Brooklyn squarely into a must situation Thursday against the Akwesasne Warriors in their last head-to-head match up of the season.  The Warriors just swept a two game series from Brooklyn last weekend to leap-frog them in the standings and into fourth place.


While Brooklyn still has sixty-four points, Akwesasne has only sixty-three.  But the advantage they hold over Brooklyn is in percentage points.  the Warriors sit at .538, while Brooklyn lags behind with a .496 winning percentage.  For Flatbush, seven games remain in the season.  And Thursday, they get the Warriors one last time.


The A's and Outlaws played a President's Day game at The Hangar with Brooklyn hoping to gain some ground on the idle Warriors.  It wasn't to be though.  But Flatbush goalie, Josselin St. Pierre, made sure the A's wouldn't go down without a fight.  And that's just what he did when both goalies left the crease and had at each other.  Yes, Josselin St. Pierre fought with New Jersey's goalie Dan McWinney towards the end of the game.  The only ones missing at that point were the Hanson Brothers.


For his part, Dan McWinney stopped thirty-five of thirty-six Brooklyn shots on goal.  Josselin St. Pierre faced thirty-three shots and stopped thirty in taking another loss.

THURSDAY

Akwesasne Warriors

vs.

BROOKLYN AVIATORS

From,

Hangar Five, Flatbush Avenue

BROOKLYN

Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ Face Off Against Rival Danbury Tonight

From the desk of:   THE SKATES OF FLATBUSH

FRIDAY NIGHT PUCKS

Danbury Whalers

vs.

BROOKLYN AVIATORS

From,

HANGAR FIVE

Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:  Flying High; Winners of Eight of Their Last Nine Games.  Swept Pair of Games From Danbury Last Weekend - Look to do the Same Tonight.



The A's will play their lone game of the weekend against their chief rivals, the Danbury Whalers, tonight in Hangar Five.  They'll try and pick up where they left off last weekend, when they took both games of a home and home against Danbury, and then took a huge game from first place New Jersey.


The three wins propelled the A's into third place who now have sixty-four points.  New Jersey is still running away with the circuit with ninety-six points, while 1000 Islands maintains a firm grip on second with eighty-six points.  Even though they only have fifty-four points, the Akwesasne Warriors still hold an advantage over Danbury by percentage points due to having played six less games than the Whalers (and Brooklyn).  But the Danbury Whalers do have sixty-two points and can pull even with Brooklyn tonight.


Since losing back-to-back games against the New Jersey Outlaws in January, the Skates of Flatbush have gone on to win eight of their last nine games.  They rebounded to defeat New Jersey twice since then, and beat the 1000 Islands Privateers once.  And after taking a pair from the Whalers last weekend, Brooklyn leads the season series versus Danbury four wins to three.


Thirteen games remain in the Aviators' season.  Brooklyn will play Danbury three more times after tonight.  They have four more games against last place Danville.  Three games remain against the Outlaws.  And three games remain against last year's FHL Champion; Akwesasne Warriors.


The battle to stay within the first division will not be easy.  But this season is headed towards another fun finish as the A's are seemingly ironing out the wrinkles involved with incorporating new players into the fold.




REMINDER:  Don't forget, Saturday's home game against the VERMONT WILD has been cancelled.  There is no game.  There is no more Wild.  That is all.




I'll be at the game tonight.  Maybe I'll see you there.  Tweet me.





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 ~ Wake Up in Time to Salvage Weekend

From the desk of:   THE COOLEST GUYS IN BROOKLYN




BROOKLYN AVIATORS:  Who Were Those Guys, and What Happened to the Skates of Flatbush?



FRIDAY FINAL

SATURDAY FINAL:
3 - Cape Cod Blue Fins
0 - Brooklyn Aviators


What the....?  This game was no less bizarre than the disappearance of Emilia Earhart, who also once took-off from Floyd Bennett Field.  Remember what happened to her....?   For the Aviators though, talk about flying into your random worm hole.



Apparently, the Aviators held a practice around Cape Cod while the Blue Fins continued to treat the night like a regularly scheduled Saturday night in the Hangar.  While the A's were busy doing...something, The Fish paced themselves in the relaxed atmosphere during an unusually quiet night on South Flatbush Ave.  Cape Cod posted a goal in each period for a 3-0 victory.  Whether Brooklyn got that memo is still unknown.



Not exactly trying to get in any one's way, the A's spent their ice time taking shots at Fish goalie; Chris Testa, who was nice enough to stop thirty nine attempts, and there-by preventing Brooklyn from having to retrieve their own pucks.


Brooklyn's Jarrett Rush was guilty of Brooklyn's lone penalty of the game; a tripping minor in the first period.  Cape Cod reciprocated with an interference call as the first period closed.  Otherwise, thanks for stopping by.  There is literally nothing else to report about this game outside of the fact the Fish now lead the season series four games to two.

Yeah.....Odd to say the least.  Is this thing on?

Kory Hilowka; Andrew Owsiaak; Jordan Bernier; and Andrew Scampoli all registered a minus-two for the game.  Josselin St. Pierre suffered another loss minding Brooklyn's net.




SUNDAY FINAL:
2 - Akwesasne Warriors  
5 - Brooklyn Aviators



The Brooklyn Aviators played the role of pacifists Sunday.  The Warriors came into the Hangar apparently wanting a mass escalation of on-ice non-hockey activity, but the A's seemingly wanted no part of it.  They played this game close to the vest to secure a rather disciplined 5-2 victory over Akwesasne.



At 3:06 of the first period, Akwesasne got whistled for it's first penalty of the night.  Everything went down hill for the Warriors after that.  The visitors effectually spent the rest of the period; and the game for that matter; interfering, roughing, cross-checking, and collecting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, with nary any tangible retaliation on Brooklyn's part except for A's goalie, Josselin St. Pierre, who picked up a first period slashing penalty of his own.



The A's did their talking on the scoreboard Sunday.  Heading into the first intermission, the A's sported a 2-0 lead on goals from Jesse Felten (power play), and Andrew Owsiak.



In the second period, Akwesasne cut into Brooklyn's lead and laid into the refs for good measure.  On this night at least, one of the few penalties the A's did commit cost them.  KC Timmons' slash at the 17:32 mark of the second period resulted in a power play goal for the Warriors at the 18:41 mark.  Midway through the period however, Akwesasne's Nicolas Corbeil lost his mind after getting whistled for a hooking penalty.  Clearly not happy with the call, he picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct/misconduct penalty, as well as an Abuse of Officials game misconduct.



In the third period, Brooklyn goalie Josselin St. Pierre picked up his second penalty of the game; a roughing call.  That is a story in itself, when your goalie has to take matters into his own hands.  Be that as it may, Brooklyn lit the lamp three more times to seal the deal on a 5-2 victory to salvage a rather uninspiring and odd weekend at the Hangar in which they dropped two of three games.



Andrew Osiak scored his tenth goal of the season, and Matt Atsoff nailed a pair of goals during the final session.







Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ Here Come The FISH

From the desk of:   THE SKATES OF FLATBUSH

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:   Here Comes That Garrett Peters and the Fins Again.  Let's Rumble.



Brooklyn dropped Friday night's face-off against the New Jersey Outlaws 3-2, in the first game of a three game weekend set off-Flatbush at Hangar Five.



After skating to a scoreless first period, the cross-Harbor rivals took turns scoring a pair of consecutive goals against each other.  The Outlaws from New Jersey went first.  Old friend Matthew Puntureri scored at 6:04 of the period.  Team mate Travis Kauffeldt made it a 2-0 game at the 8:14 mark.



Then Brooklyn's Coolest took their turn.  At 13:25, Jesse Felten made it a 2-1 game with his ninth goal of the season.  After KC Timmons got called for hooking at 17:53 to put N.J. on the power play, Andrew Owsiak scored short-handed for Brooklyn just before time expired on the penalty at the 19:27 mark.  The teams went into the 2nd intermission tied at two apiece.



Three times New Jersey put Brooklyn on the power play.  Three times the Aviators came up empty.  New Jersey's Kevin Cooper scored at the 3:01 mark of the third period, and that's all she wrote.  Friday night went to the visitors from New Jersey by a 3-2 final score.  Brooklyn's Josselin St. Pierre stopped twenty-six of twenty-nine shots in defeat.



Friday night's loss drops the A's home-ice record to five wins and five losses; two losses came in over-time.  Their overall record is now eight wins; six losses; four overtime losses; good for twenty eight points and tied with Danbury for fourth place.



The Hangar will have the unmistakable smell of Fish in the air tonight.  New nemesis; the Cape Cod Blue Fins; will be swimming into Jamaica Bay tonight for a game against the Aviators.  Cape Cod hasn't done very well in the standings this season and are 2-6 on the road.  But they put up one hell of a fight when they play Brooklyn.  Go figure....  For a team with half the A's point total (BKN-28 vs. CC-14), they've been an awfully hard Fish to reel in.  They lead the season series against Brooklyn so far three games to two.  Chris Ferizzoli of Flatbush and Cape Cod's Garrett Peters are their team's respective scoring leaders.



Tonight I expect no less an aggressive game than any other we've played against them so far this season.  These games have been quite entertaining to say the least.  Let's see how long everyone can keep their gloves on.  And maybe....a hockey game just might break out.



The A's will wrap up a weekend in the Hangar Sunday evening against the defending FHL Champs; Awkesasne Warriors.

Saturday Night's Alright for Fightin'...

Cape Cod Blue Fins

vs.

BROOKLYN AVIATORS

FROM

HANGAR FIVE, off FLATBUSH AVENUE

in the County of Kings

Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ Gain Four Points the Hard Way

From the desk of:  THE COOLEST GUYS IN BROOKLYN

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:  Kings County's Coolest Earn Four More Points After a Very Hard Fought FHL Week Three.


The latest game in the rivalry between the Whalers and Aviators goes to the team from Danbury two periods to one. 


A late first period goal by Devin Guy which gave Danbury a 1-0 lead came on a power play after Casey Mignone was called for slashing.


Brooklyn carried the second period play with two goals.  After just nineteen ticks off the clock, Anthony Iaquinto scored the tying goal.  Twenty-one seconds later, Danbury got whistled for tripping putting Brooklyn on the power play.  And one minute and thirteen seconds after Iaquinto's goal, Andrew Owsiak cashed in on the man-advantage at the 1:32 mark with the go ahead goal.


But Danbury had final say in the third period.  Two unanswered goals; the first by Greg Holt, then a power play goal by Stephen Mallaro; finished off the A's 3-2, and ended Brooklyn's weekend on a sour note.


In the weekend that was, Brooklyn lost a home-ice back breaker in over-time last Thursday to the Vermont Wild in the first ever meeting between the two teams.


Goalie Peter Dundovich entered the Vermont game in relief of Thomas Lee.  And Coach rewarded Peter's effort by giving him the rest of the weekend.  Dundovich made both starts against Cape Cod and Danbury.


During the Friday Night Fight in Hyannis against the Cape Cod Blue Fins, a hockey game still managed to break out.  And after all the pleasantries, punches, and penalties to both teams, Brooklyn still posted a 6-1 drubbing of the Fins.


Then of course, there was Saturday night's close game, but a loss none-the-less, against Danbury on our home-ice which didn't nearly resemble the whooping we put on the Whalers last weekend.


Brooklyn's portion of the FHL's Week Three schedule is done.  The Aviators went 1-1-1 this weekend.  They are now 3-2-3 for the season, good for twelve points and fourth place as of Sunday night.  They are one of the top four teams in the standings with double digit points.


The A's have a quick turn around this week.  For Week Four, Brooklyn takes on the Whalers in Danbury this Wednesday night.  They get a day off and host Cape Cod on Friday.  Then Saturday, the Danville Dashers, another of the FHL's expansion teams, will make their Flatbush Avenue debut.




PREVIOUS POSTS:

Thursday - Vermont Has WILD Third Period
Friday - Road Rage in Cape Cod






Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ A's Touch Down in Brooklyn Tonight

From the desk of:  THE COOLEST GUYS IN BROOKLYN

BROOKLYN AVIATORS

OPENING NIGHT at HANGAR #5

Air tower, clear the landing strip at Floyd Bennett Field.  The Aviators are finally coming home.  After opening the season in Lewiston , Maine on Thursday and playing in Hyannis, Massachusetts on Friday night, it's time for the local blades to take to their home ice off Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn.



The Aviators took Game One of the season in a return match scheduled in Maine against the defending FHL champion, Akwesasne Warriors.  Two goals in the third period and playing shut-down defense over the last forty minutes Thursday, along with Thomas Lee's 29 saves helped the A's gain victory.



However, in Friday night's game against the Cape Cod Bluefins, two goals by Casey Mignone were good enough to get the A's into overtime.  But they couldn't manage to score another in the extra session.   Cape Cod beat them to it when Dan Gordon scored the winning goal past Brooklyn's starting goalie on this night, Pete Dundovich.



Although they were hard luck over-time losers Friday, the name of the game is points.  And the A's are making a five point landing as they arrive in Brooklyn.  Five points in their first two games puts the A's in an early season lead over the circuit as they head into their first game at home.



Opening Night at Hangar Five will be against the expansion New Jersey Outlaws who now sport two former Aviator players and fan favorites; Mattew Puntureri and John Goffredo.  New Jersey won their Friday night game against the Danbury Whalers at home after dropping their first game in Danbury as part of a home-and-home opening series.

LET'S GO AVIATORS!

TONIGHT

New Jersey Outlaws

VS.

BROOKLYN AVIATORS

From

HANGAR FIVE

FLATBUSH AVENUE, BROOKLYN

Mike.BTB