BKN Aviators ~ Decisive Game Three Today in Danbury

From the desk of:   THE SKATES OF FLATBUSH

2011-2012

Federal Hockey League Playoffs

Round One

Series Tied 1-1

I - DAW 5; BKN 4*

II - BKN 5; DAW 2

*OVERTIME

GAME THREE

BROOKLYN AVIATORS

vs.

Danbury Whalers

From,

The Danbury Ice Arena

Connecticut

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:   Series Tied!  Flatbush Pounds Out Three Third Period Goals for Game Two Win in Danbury. Decisive Game Three Sunday Afternoon.



Another game, another first period deficit.  But unlike Danbury's three goal first period in Brooklyn, the visiting A's didn't allow the Whalers to light up the scoreboard the way they did Friday night after just twenty minutes of play.  While they allowed Danbury to jump out to another lead, this one was a manageable one goal lead.  Unlike Game One, Flatbush avoided a disastrous first period, closing minute, two goal slip-up this time.  Instead, Game Two was a flat-out grind.  The guys played a little rougher and so the game got a little more tougher, and as a result, the score remained a little more closer.  Late third period mistakes would ultimately undo one of these teams.



Danbury might have been on home ice, but after Brooklyn took a 2-1 lead in the second period, Desperation grabbed a stick and took it's place on both team's benches.  Best two out of three series' are like that.



Josselin St. Pierre helped his own cause to get the Aviators' offense going.  He had the secondary assist on Chris Campanale's goal at 2:56 of the second period.  Less than four minutes later, Jason Dolgy gave Flatbush a 2-1 lead.  However, with less than two minutes left in the period, Danbury scored a tying goal.



Danbury Fan's favorite punching bag; Josselin St. Pierre; faced eleven third period shots and turned them all away.  For the game, he faced forty-five shots on goal, and made forty-three saves.  The Whalers' Peter Vetri was having as equally an effective first two periods as St. Pierre was having for Brooklyn.  Through the first two periods, he faced thirty shots, and stopped twenty-eight.



The Whalers bailed-out their goalie Friday evening after Peter Vetri allowed Brooklyn to score four goals, which erased a 3-0 first period Danbury lead.  But his team mates scored with 0:03 left in the game to tie, and then again in OT for the road win at Hangar Five.



In Game Two, like Josselin St. Pierre, Peter Vetri also faced eleven shots in the third period.  Only this time, he let three of them get by.  At 8:32, Chris Campanale nailed his second goal of the game.  Then mistakes on Danbury's part started to ruin any chances of coming back from a three goal deficit.  Penalties put the Whalers on Special Teams and ultimately off their game.  Jesse Felten scored at 14:49 off an Interference penalty.  Later, Michael Thomson scored at 17:33 off a holding penalty, for a 5-3 Brooklyn lead.



Although Chris Campanale wound up with the game winning goal when he made the game 3-2, having to kill off two penalties in the last ten minutes of the game kept Danbury at a disadvantage.  Overall, Brooklyn played a more disciplined game than did the Whalers.  Brooklyn limited Danbury to 0 for 2 on the power play.  Flatbush finished 2 for 6 with the man advantage.  But credit should be given to both teams for playing another high-quality playoff game.



This Round One bracket of the FHL playoffs now boils down to one game between Brooklyn and the Whalers in Danbury, Connecticut.  For thr second consecutive season, Flatbush and Danbury will engage in a decisive series clinching game.  Last year, the Aviators won the last two games in a best of five series to advance passed Danbury into the FHL championship round.



This season's format is somewhat different.  The winner of this bracket will move on to play the victor of the 1000 Islands versus Akwesasne series, which is also tied at a game apiece and will be decided today.  Those two teams will face off for the right to play the winner of the New Jersey Outlaws versus Cape Cod Blue Fins series in the FHL Championship round.

SATURDAY ~ GAME TWO FINAL

Brooklyn Aviators   5

Danbury Whalers    2

Mike.BTB

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 ~ Flatbush in a Dogfight to the Finish

From the desk of:   THE SKATES OF FLATBUSH

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:  Flatbush Sweeps Two From Danville Dashers.  Overtake Akwesasne in the Standings.  A's Back in the First Division With Four to Play.



SATURDAY FINAL:   BACK IN FOURTH PLACE!

Brooklyn   7
Danville     3



Let's understand for a moment Danville only has four wins this season.  So it's not like defeating the Danville Dashers; this season at least; is the stuff legends are made of.  Although the any-given-day rule still applies to all teams.  I am merely going to suggest, with the Aviators needing wins most, Jesse Felten stepped-up to remind his mates how to seize the moment; as several of his current mates were part of Brooklyn's miraculous run towards the playoffs last season.


Thanks in large part to their forward, the Aviators are back, but far from safe, in fourth place after defeating the Dashers 7-3 Saturday in the first of a two game series.  The win finally allowed Brooklyn to punch through the percentage points lead Akwesasne held over Flatbush and puts them back in the first division again with only five games left to play.  The Warriors lost to the New Jersey Outlaws 6-2 Saturday, and will be idle Sunday.  Advantage Brooklyn.


Michael DiLorenzo earned his third win in four starts for Brooklyn by turning back twenty-four of twenty-seven shots on goal by Danville.  The night started with a Kings County sized gasp when Danville scored just 0:39 into the game.  But in what are now must-win-games, the "old" Brooklyn vet, Jesse Felten, stepped in to lead Flatbush, when a leader was needed.


Midway through the first period, Felton tied the game with his twenty-fourth goal of the season.  And before the period's end, Jason Dolgy scored at 17:53 on the power play after Danville's Ryan Stern got whistled for cross-checking.  From then on, attitudes and comportment deteriorated.  But the game pressed on without too much chicanery.


Danville got off to another quick start to open the second period.  Four minutes in, this game was tied at two apiece.  But a few minutes later, Matt Atsoff put his Brooklyn mates up by one again.  Then midway through the period, Jesse Felten scored his twenty-fifth goal of the season on a power play to make it a 4-2 game.  Danville answered yet again with a goal at the 11:55 mark.  But it would be their last of the night.  Before the second period expired, Steve Koich gave the A's a 5-3 lead with his sixth goal of the season.


The third period was all Brooklyn.  Just over a minute in, Steve Owsiak scored his seventeenth goal of the season.  Then Jesse Felten and Jason Dolgy finished this game off the same way they started it.  Jesse Felten scored goal number twenty-six of the season at the 2:09 mark on a power play to complete his hat trick.  Jason Dolgy netted his second goal of the game and Brooklyn's final of the  evening for an 8-3 Flatbush win and their sixty-seventh point of the season; four better than the Warriors.





SUNDAY FINAL:  GAIN THREE MORE POINTS OVER AKWESASNE WARRIORS!

Brooklyn   4
Danville    2



Fourth place was now a matter of which team had more points again and no longer based on win percentages.  With the Warriors not playing, Sunday represented a huge opportunity to put some more distance between Flatbush and Akwesasne before both teams take the ice again Wednesday night.


With a day game after a night game, Coach Miller gave John Dorman his first Aviator start between the pipes Sunday after starting Michael DiLorenzo Saturday.  Regular goalie Josselin St. Pierre was not penciled into either game.  Regardless, in his first game in net since November 2011, John Dorman stopped fourteen of sixteen shots Brooklyn's defense allowed Danville.  At the other end, Flatbush peppered Danville's goalie; Nick Wydock; with twenty-one shots in the first period alone.


Sunday's overall shots on goal total was Brooklyn forty; Danville sixteen.  The final score was Brooklyn four; Danville two.  Who accrued more penalty minutes can be figured out if you try.  But ascertaining the number of punches thrown this afternoon is useless.  Saturday's simmering hostilities and lingering feuds boiled over throughout the first and third periods of Sunday afternoon's raucous affair.


When they weren't littering the ice with sticks and gloves, Brooklyn was doing just enough to win their third straight game, and more importantly gaining three more points in the standings over the idle Akwesasne Warriors.


There was no hat trick from Jesse Felten Sunday.  He played facilitator this time, instead assisting on three Brooklyn goals.  Five minutes in, he assisted on Henry Coxe's opening goal of the game.  A little over two minutes later, Jesse Felten again had the primary assist on Andrew Scampoli's power play goal.  With three and a half minutes left in the first period, Danville scored on a power play to end the period 2-1 Brooklyn.


Michael Thompson scored the only goal of the second just 1:31 into the period.  Then in the third period, Jesse Felten recorded his third assist of the game on Andrew Owsiak's goal at the 6:21 mark.  Danville scored a late short-handed goal to make the score a respectable 4-2 final.


That's seventy points and a job well done.  Now, Flatbush has four games left in the regular season.  The Aviators have a seven point lead over the Akwesasne Warriors and for the moment, own the final playoff spot.  Brooklyn now has a daunting task before them.  They will close out the regular season with a home-and-home against the third place Danbury Whalers, then a home-and-home against the first place New Jersey Outlaws.  The defending FHL Champions; Akwesasne Warriors; only have three games remaining.  One game remains against Danville this Wednesday.  They will then finish with a home-and-home against the second place 1000 Islands Privateers.


Should the playoff's fourth seed remain undetermined by March 3rd, Brooklyn's scheduled Sunday, March 4th game against New Jersey can quite literally turn out to be their "ACE" in the hole as Akwesasne will have concluded their season on Saturday.



Let's Go A's!





Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ Upstate Showdown; Warriors, Come Out to Plaaay!

From the desk of:   THE SKATES OF FLATBUSH

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:   It's Upstate Versus Downstate With a Playoff Spot Up For Grabs.

AVIATORS BEGIN FINAL TEN GAME STRETCH

In a trying season for the A's, these next two games are as important as any they will play down the stretch.  The Brooklyn Aviators touch down in Akwesasne this weekend for two games against last year's FHL Champions; the Warriors.



In addition to losing to the Whalers last Friday, Brooklyn had their weekend cut short last week.  And so with more games played, the Danbury Whalers moved ahead of Brooklyn in the standings.  The Whalers now own third place with seventy-one points.  Brooklyn is in fourth place with sixty-four points.  The Warriors trail them with fifty-seven points.  For Brooklyn, a sweep of these two games will go along way towards keeping them in the first division and securing a playoff berth.  With two wins of their own, the Warriors can pull within a point of the A's.



Brooklyn will have their work cut out for them.  Akwesasne sports three of the top eight scorers in the League.  The Warriors' Pierre Dagenais is tops with 113 points.  Sylvain Deschatelets (87 points) joins two New Jersey skaters in the 80 point range.  And Nicolas Corbeil is third on the team and eighth in the League with 61 points.  For Flatbush, both Andrew Owsiak and Jesse Felten come into tonight's game with forty-one points apiece.



Flatbush is 3-1 in their last four games while Akwesasne comes into tonight's game 1-3 over the same stretch.  The Warriors however play very well at home and have a 11-2-1-4 record to show.  On the road, the A's have played to a disappointing 6-0-3-9 record.



This is the final push.  There are only ten games left in Brooklyn's regular season.  Lets Go Aviators!!





Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ Take Second Big Game From Danbury

From the desk of:   THE COOLEST GUYS IN BROOKLYN

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:   A's Finish Off Danbury in Two Straight.  Now Winners of Seven out of Last Eight Games.



How about that?  The latest goalie of the day; newly acquired Michael DiLorenzo; not only earned his first win in his first start as an Aviator, he won his first game of the season after seven previous games played for Delaware.  He faced 38 Danbury shots and stopped 36 of them to secure Brooklyn's second straight victory over the rival Whalers.

The two teams competed with far more civility in The Hangar than when compared to Thursday night's bar fight on Danbury's ice.  And for the most part both stayed in control of their tempers.  Minus a slash and some stick infractions, every one stayed cool.  Good guys or bad guys, neither tact worked for Danbury though.  And now they are the ones looking up at Brooklyn in the standings.  Two games; two wins for Brooklyn.  The late season surge is on indeed.  The Skates of Flatbush are now winners of seven of their last eight games.

With one game to go this weekend against New Jersey, the Aviators have so far landed ahead of Danbury in fourth place with sixty-one points.  Danbury slides back to fifth place with fifty-nine points.  Although the Akwesasne Warriors only have fifty-one points, they remain in third place by percentage points due to having played five less games than Brooklyn and Danbury.


It was retro-night of sorts in Hangar Five.  Many of the names we've come to expect led the way for Brooklyn Friday night.  Just keep in mind, Danbury was short players for their involvement in Thursday's exercise in belligerence.


Matt Atsoff was the lone goal scorer of the first period.  His fifteenth of the season came at 14:44; assisted by Andrew Scampoli and Michael Thomson.


At 5:49 of the second period, Brooklyn's Steve Koich got whistled for a slash.  But it was Jesse Felten who cashed in on a short-handed chance a minute later.  Several minutes later, a hooking penalty called against Danbury resulted in Jesse Felten's power play, and second consecutive goal of the period; good for a 3-0 Brooklyn lead.  However with less than a minute left in the period, Danbury got on the board on a James Sanford power play goal off a Michael Thomson hooking penalty to make it a 3-1 game.


Andrew Scampoli found his lost scoring touch again at 4:35 of the third period.  Then at the midway point of the period, Jesse Felten tallied another to complete the hat-trick.  It was his fifth goal in two nights against Danbury.  The Whalers answered that goal a short time later.  But Steve Koich pushed back again with another Brooklyn goal at the 18:00 mark, for a 6-2 lead and a final score.


After getting pummelled the night before, Peter Vetri did not start in goal for Danbury.  Instead Nick Niedert made the start, stopping 29 of 35 shots.


Next up; the first place New Jersey Outlaws.  Brooklyn finally broke through and defeated New Jersey 6-1 for the first time in their previous meeting.  Prior to that, New Jersey was 8-0 over Brooklyn this season and outscored them a combined 45-22 over that time.

SATURDAY

BROOKLYN AVIATORS
vs.

New Jersey Outlaws

From,

Other Side of NY Harbor

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