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 ~ Catch of the Day

From the desk of:   THE COOLEST GUYS IN BROOKLYN






BROOKLYN AVIATORS:   Gone Fishing; The Skates of Flatbush Hook Two Wins Against the Blue Fins.



The A's showed no rust for being off eleven days since their last game against Akwesasne.  Finally back on ice, Brooklyn netted twelve goals against Cape Cod's eight over six plus periods of hockey  this week, and completed a two game sweep of the Blue Fins at The Hangar.



In THURSDAY NIGHT's contest the A's struck for six goals and were 3 for 5 on the power play. 



Just over five minutes into the game, newcomer Peter Drikos, put Brooklyn's Coolest on the board first.  Then Cape Cod equalled the score for a first period tie.



This game wasn't marred with some of the more exotic penalties these two teams have collected for brutishness or unsportsmanlike behavior like some of their previous encounters.  Instead, more wholesome penalties like Holding; Interference; and High Sticking; laid doom to Cape Cod's night.  The A's scored two power play goals in the second period.  At 3:14, Jordan Bernier scored off a big assist by goalie Josselin St. Pierre.  Six minutes later, Brendan Baumgartner cashed with a second power play goal for the A's.  Cape Cod picked up a power play goal of their own to end the second period with Brooklyn ahead by a 3-2 score.



To start the third period, Ken Trentowski put the A's in front 4-2 with Brooklyn's third consecutive power play goal.  Matt Atsoff added an unassisted goal.  Then Jesse Felton capped off the night with Flatbush's sixth goal of the night.  The Fins scored once in the third period to complete their end of a 6-3 final.




FRIDAY'S GAME was far more in line with the art of hockey.  With penalties held to a minimum, a really good back and forth contest took place.  And to the delight of the Flatbush Faithful, the game came replete with a dramatic comeback, and overtime win by the Coolest.



Jordan Bernier opened up the scoring.  After Cape Cod scored to tie (they scored twice in the period), Brooklyn rode the strength of two power play goals to a first period 3-2 lead.  Within a minute of each other, Cape Cod committed back-to-back cross checking penalties; their only two real mistakes of the night.  Brooklyn cashed in on each offense.  Jesse Felton netted his twelfth goal of the season off the first penalty.  Andrew Owsiak scored thirty-four seconds later with power play goal number two, making it a 3-2 Brooklyn lead.



The second period was almost all Cape Cod.  Brooklyn watched The Fins score three consecutive goals inside the first three minutes of the second period before they answered back with a goal at the 14:12 mark by Lucas Schott. 



The Skates of Flatbush went into the third period trailing 5-4 and it stayed that way for the first ten minutes until Brendan Baumgartner broke through for a game tying goal, and his second of the weekend. 



The rest of regulation time stayed goal and penalty free.  So into overtime they went.  The home town Flatbush Faithful crowd didn't have to sweat the free-hockey portion of the evening very long.  Thirty-nine seconds into the extra session, an Andrew Owsiak shot found net, and Brooklyn completed a weekend sweep of The Fish.  And off went the Fans happily into the Brooklyn night, free to start a very Merry Christmas weekend with two victories in hand.



Josselin St. Pierre picked up his fourth and fifth wins of the season since replacing Lee Thomas as the A's goalie.  He's now 5-3 with an overtime loss mixed in.  He faced fifty-two shots over the weekend and turned back forty-four Blue Fin shots.  The season series between Cape Cod and Flatbush is now tied at four games apiece. 



Two victories this weekend make ten wins on the season.  The A's upped their season point total to thirty-six which gets them out of the second division and anchored into a tie with Danbury for third place.  FHL games resume after the Holiday break on Dec. 27th.  The A's will be back on the ice Dec. 29th against the Outlaws in New Jersey.



Merry Christmas Guys.  Let's Go Brooklyn!

Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ Road Rage in Cape Cod; Danbury Tonight

From the desk of:  THE COOLEST GUYS IN BROOKLYN

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:  A Hockey Game Broke-Out During the Cape Cod Friday Night Fights.




After suffering two over-time losses in two meetings against the Cape Cod Blue Fins this season, the A's finally exacted a measure of road rage Friday night.  In meeting number three, Brooklyn won convincingly by a score of 6-1 up in Hyannis, Mass.  The win also snapped a two game losing streak and comes on the heals of an over-time loss to Vermont on Thursday.



After making a relief appearance in Thursday night's game, Coach Miller gave goalie Peter Dundovich the start in Cape Cod.  And he did not disappoint.  He faced fifty-one shots and stopped fifty to secure his first victory of the season.  The game was a much needed confidence builder for Brooklyn's back-up goalie that will no doubt earn him more starts in the coming weeks.



Vladimir Nikiforov scored in the first period.  KC Timmons and Jordan Bernier added goals in the second period.  Chris Ferazzoli took care of everything else.  He scored a goal in each period; two on the power play, and one at even strength for a hat trick.



That's the way the game turned out.  But this is what really happened. 



I guess after two previous hotly contested games against each other, the two teams may have already had enough of each other and perhaps wanted to express themselves a little bit because the game got chippy quite early.  The first period was an exchange of trips, roughing and slashes.  But by the second period, sportsmanship took a back seat as play really degenerated.  First period slashing and roughing turned into second period Fighting; Boarding; Instigating; Misconducts; and Third-Man-In majors.



All that good will towards each other carried over into the third period as they acted out this time with another Unsportsmanlike penalty, more trips and cross-checks too.



In total, Brooklyn was arraigned on sixteen counts of thuggery worth forty-nine minutes, while Cape Cod was charged with thirteen violations and fifty-one minutes of punk time. 



What a great win! 



So while Brooklyn's blood is still boiling, it seems like a perfect time to take on our chief rival; Danbury Whalers; tonight in The Hangar and see if we can finally secure our first home-ice win of the season. 






Yeah!

TONIGHT

Danbury Whalers

(2-3-0)

vs.

BROOKLYN AVIATORS

(3-1-3)

From

HANGAR FIVE off FLATBUSH AVENUE,

BROOKLYN

Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ WILD Weekend Starts Thursday

From the desk of:  THE COOLEST GUYS IN BROOKLYN

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:  The Coolest Will Try and Finally Skin The Fish Friday Night.   But First They Welcome FHL New-Comer, the Vermont Wild, to the Hangar on Thursday.



Those Fish did it again.  For the second time in as many meetings, the Cape Cod Blue Fins beat Brooklyn in over-time.  Last Saturday, they came to Flatbush Avenue to do it too.  But Brooklyn's Coolest will get another chance to see if they can finally turn the tables on Cape Cod in what will be their third meeting this season when Brooklyn travels to Hyannis Friday evening for their only road game of the up-coming weekend.



In last week's loss against the Fins, new-comer Vladimir Nikiforov continued his grand arrival on the team by notching his first hat-trick as an Aviator; coming in part on the strength of two short-handed goals.  Jordan Bernier was the other Brooklyn goal scorer.  After two weeks and five games, Chris Ferazzoli leads the team with nine points.  Vladimir quickly has found his way to second on the list with eight points.  And Jordan Bernier is the third leading point scorer for Brooklyn with six.  Goalie Thomas Lee suffered the hard-luck loss.  He made thirty-three saves on thirty-eight Blue Fin shots on goal.  He has started four of Brooklyn's first five games.

Week Three of the season picks up Thursday evening at Hangar Five.  Brooklyn will host one of the FHL's newest teams, the Vermont Wild, who are making their first ever trip into the Borough of Kings.  Vermont is having a rough start to their season and are still seeking their first victory.  Right Wing Jon Esposito is their leading scorer after four games with six points; all goals.




After their game in Cape Cod this Friday, the Aviators will return to Hangar Five for another scrum against the rival Danbury Whalers this Saturday to wrap up the weekend's action.  The A's put a hurting on them in last week's encounter up in Connecticut.



In the standings so far (prior to the Wednesday night game between Danville and Akwesasne), three teams were tied for the circuit lead with twelve points; 1000 Islands; Akwesasne; and New Jersey.  Then comes Brooklyn in fourth place with eight points after five games.

THURSDAY NIGHT

Vermont Wild

vs.

BROOKLYN AVIATORS

(2-1-2)

From

Hangar Five off Flatbush Avenue,

Brooklyn

 

Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ A's Harpoon Whalers; Blue Fins Are Next

From the desk of:  THE COOLEST GUYS IN BROOKLYN

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:  After Spearing the Danbury Whalers, the Kings County Coolest are Looking to Hook Some Blue Fins.



Mission accomplished.  The sortie over Danbury hit it's mark; eight times to be exact.  Return to base.



Brooklyn's Coolest quieted down the Friday night Danbury crowd with a three goal barrage in the first period, then sent the Whalers' faithful home gagged after Brooklyn dropped another five goals on them in the third.



Newest Aviator, Vladimir Nikiforov opened up the scoring midway through the first period with a power play goal; his first as an Aviator.  Brooklyn followed that up with two more goals before the first period expired.  Jordan Bernier scored at even strength at the 17:36 mark, assisted by Nikiforov, making the score 2-0.  Then just as the period expired, Chris Jones scored the A's second power play goal of the period, unassisted.



Danbury got one back in the second period when centerman Chris Siefert scored on A's starting goalie Lee Thomas.  Brooklyn's defense kept the Whalers' shots against their goalie limited to roughly ten per period.  Thomas faced thirty-one shots in total; stopping thirty while the A's finished the night with fifty-three shots.  Other than the lone Danbury goal, it was all Aviators this night.



Brooklyn scored at 3:10 into the third period on Jordan Bernier's second goal of the game; assisted again by Nikiforov.  Then over the next seven minutes, Brooklyn continued to lace Danbury with four more goals.



Chris Ferazolli and Vladimir Nikiforov joined Bernier as Brooklyn's multiple goal scorers of the evening.  Ferazolli cashed in after Bernier's earlier third period goal.  Then new blue-liner Ken Trentowski snuck in his first goal as an Aviator to make the game a 6-1 affair.



On a later power play, Chris Ferrazolli scored his second goal of the period at the 7:57 mark.  Then forward Vladimir Nikiforov capped off one hell of an Aviator debut for himself, in what was an overall formidable performance by Brooklyn, with his second goal and fifth point of the night, as he had three assists on the evening as well.



Tonight, a little pay-back is in order.  In game two of the season, the Cape Cod Blue Fins defeated Brooklyn 3-2 in overtime up in Hyannis, Mass.  Back home in the Hangar this evening, it's time for Brooklyn to even the score with those Fishy characters.

Saturday Night is Alright for Fighting...

Cape Cod  Blue Fins

vs.

BROOKLYN AVIATORS

From

HANGAR FIVE

off Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn

Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ Flyin' High; Win Game One

From the desk of:  THE COOLEST GUYS IN BROOKLYN

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:  Comeback Against Defending Champs In Season Opener With Disciplined Play and Composure.



For the Aviators, the memory of losing and watching the Warriors hoist the Championship Trophy on home ice to end Brooklyn's most previous season no doubt rushed back to their minds upon taking the ice Thursday night in Lewiston, Maine for a return engagement against Akwesasne.  But for a night, the Aviators displayed more discipline and composure than did the defending FHL champions.  And for Coach Miller, watching both characteristics play directly into their Opening night victory must have been especially satisfying considering many of his players are still learning how to play together.  For their efforts in the season's first game, they adhered to many key fundamental values.  The A's won Thursday night by grinding the game out a little longer than the Warriors did, and playing an increasingly cleaner and sharper game against the Warriors the longer the contest went on.



It seemed over the first two and one half periods, the A's carried the play; spent less time in the box; got more shots on net; and appeared to be the more disciplined team.  Yet Akwesasne and the scoreboard were unyielding, reflecting a 2-1 score in the Warriors' favor after fifty minutes of regulation time.



Over that span, Akwesasne even put Brooklyn on the man-advantage three times as many as the A's allowed the Warriors.  Both teams combined to go a woeful 0-12 on the PP to that point.  And frustratingly, the Aviators accounted for 0-9 of that.  Chris Ferazolli wound up scoring the first goal of the Aviators' season at even strength.  At the time, his score only served to cut a 2-0 Akwesasne lead in half.  But the defense and Thomas Lee set about ensuring Ferazolli's goal would factor into the outcome.



The Warriors opened the FHL's 2011-2012 scoring this season at 15:55 of the first period on a Miguel Delisle goal past A's starting net minder; Thomas Lee.  And that's how the initial period ended.  Brooklyn managed thirteen shots on goal in the period as Akwesasne unleashed seventeen with one finding net.  Penalties put Brooklyn on the PK three times but they held the Warriors scoreless during the man advantages.



Brooklyn clamped down and limited the Warriors to just four shots on goal the entire second period.  Yet one shot still managed to find net behind Thomas Lee.  At the 7:03 mark of the second session, Akwsasne's Pierre Dagenais scored to make it a 2-0 game. 



Then, just under four minutes later at the 10:50 mark, Chris Ferazzoli's first goal of the season finally put Brooklyn on the scoreboard.  He was assisted by Jordan Bernier and Chris Jones.  Brooklyn put fifteen shots on goal during the second period and behind their defense, the A's game started to gel.  But the second period ended with the A's still down by a 2-1 score.



While the teams traded second period goals, they traded second period punches as well.  Things began to get chippy back when Akwesasne's Carter Trevisani and Brooklyn's Jordan Bernier closed out the first period with roughing penalties.  Then tempers flared between Akwesasne's Ahmed Mahfouz and Brooklyn's Anthony Iaquinto when they dropped the gloves at the 10:58 mark of the second session.  Both received five for fighting.  And bad attitudes prevailed the rest of the period.



Midway through the third period and two power play opportunities later, the Aviators' tying goal still remained elusive.  Then, at 13:23 of the third, Brooklyn's patience was rewarded.  Their attention to detail finally paid off when Anthony Iaquinto scored for Brooklyn and tied the game at two apiece.  The assists came from Andrew Owsiak and Jarrett Rush.



At the 14:14 mark, Akwesasne's penchant for penalties this night opened the door to another Hangar-sized opportunity.  Brooklyn cashed in as the power play finally hit pay dirt when Jordan Bernier buried the go-ahead goal to make it a 3-2 game.  The goal was assisted by Andrew Scampoli.



After allowing seventeen shots on goal in the first period, the defense kept the number of shots against goalie Thomas Lee relatively low the rest of the way.  Four shots in the second period and eight in the third were all Akwesasne could muster.  Meanwhile, Brooklyn peppered Warriors' goalie David Plouffe with fourteen shots in the third period and forty-two overall.  Additionally, the Aviators did very well to stay out of the box.  And even though Brooklyn's power play was 1-10 Thursday night, they scored on the one opportunity that mattered most; their last.



And so Aviators' victory number one came in rather dramatic fashion Thursday night.  If this game is an indication, then it's going to be a fun Winter folks.



Game two of the new season will be Friday night in Cape Cod against the Blue Fins before the Coolest Guys In Brooklyn come home for their Saturday Night Showdown against their newest rival, the New Jersey Outlaws, who now feature former A's fan favorites, Matthew Puntureri and John Goffredo.

FRIDAY NIGHT

BROOKLYN AVIATORS

vs.

Cape Cod Bluefins

From

Somewhere in Massachusetts

Mike.BTB