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 ~ Flatbush Strikes Back!

From the desk of:   THE SKATES OF FLATBUSH

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:   Math Proving to be a Tougher Foe to Combat than the Akwesasne Warriors.



Flatbush is clearly against the ropes.  Thursday evening, they landed a tremendous counter-punch against the team they needed to defeat most, in order to give themselves a chance to not just survive these last few games, but win them, and gain that elusive last playoff spot.  There are now six games left in the season in which to get that done.



There's a problem however.  An unequal number of games played this season among Brooklyn and Akwesasne is giving the A's a problem punching through into fourth place.  The A's have played forty-four games this season, while the Warriors have only played forty-one.  Flatbush has sixty-seven points heading into Saturday's action.  The Warriors are four behind Flatbush with sixty-three points.  Yet, due to less games played, the Akwesasne Warriors sit in fourth place with a .512 win percentage, versus Brooklyn's .508 mark.



So with a little voodoo math working against them, Flatbush finds themselves on the outside looking in.  And the A's have no doubt been reeling lately.  Even before dropping two straight to the Warriors, Brooklyn had already played, and let Danbury slip past them in the standings the weekend prior.  The Whalers now have a firm grip on third place.  Then.., came Akwesasne and Brooklyn's exit from the first division; with a loss against New Jersey to boot.



Alas, this past Thursday, Flatbush struck back with a retaliatory blow against the defending FHL Champs, defeating the Akwesasne Warriors 7-1 inside Hangar Five.  After a couple of recent rough starts, Coach Miller turned back to Michael DiLorenzo to man the pipes again.  The Brooklyn back-up to goalie Josselin St. Pierre responded to his Coach's wishes by stopping thirty-three of thirty-four shots on goal.



Brooklyn posted five unanswered goals over the first two periods before the Warriors managed to break the shut-out a little over thirteen minutes into the second period.  Then Brooklyn eliminated any notion of a Warriors' comeback by netting two more goals for good measure.



Seven minutes into the first period, Brooklyn assumed control of this game and never looked back.  Jason Dolgy got the A's started with the first of his two goals of the evening.  Michael Thompson then followed with what would also by his first of two goals of the evening.  Matt Atsoff capped off the first period scoring with his 17th goal of the season.



The Aviators added two more goals before the Warriors answered back with their first.  Joe Dabkowski scored in the first 0:33 seconds of the second period for a 4-0 Brooklyn lead.  Then Michael Thompson made it 5-0 with his second goal of the game.



The third period was all Flatbush again.  Nick Petriello picked up a goal inside the seventh minute.  Then Jason Dolgy finished off the Warriors with his second of the game, to make this a 7-1 final.



Just maybe, the schedule makers may have found favor with the A's this weekend.  While the A's spent Friday travelling to Illinois, the Warriors dropped a 7-3 affair to the third place Danbury Whalers which is good news for Aviator fans.  Brooklyn is off to Danville where the Dashers will host the A's for a pair.  Danville has struggled mightily this season, winning just four games all season.  If the A's are to make a move on fourth place, I'd say this is the weekend to do it.  Akwesasne will have their hands full playing against the run away first place New Jersey Outlaws Saturday and will be idle Sunday.  If the A's can take two in Danville Saturday and Sunday, they'll have a tremendous opportunity to upend the Warriors in the standings.  Both Akwesasne and Brooklyn will be in action again Wednesday, with Brooklyn playing in Danbury, and the Warriors hosting the Dashers.  By the time next Wednesday night is through, there will be three games remaining in the season.



Where will the Brooklyn Aviators be then?  We'll see.  Gotta drop the pucks first.

SATURDAY NIGHT PUCKS

Game One of Two

BROOKLYN AVIATORS
vs.

Danville Dashers

From,

Some ice rink in far-off Illinois

Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ Crash Landing in Akwesasne; Game Two Tonight

From the desk of:   THE SKATES OF FLATBUSH

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:   Akwesasne Gives Flatbush a Third Period Scalping as Coach Loses Cool Against the Warriors.



Pre-Game Post



This game was most frustrating.  As in Coach Miller watching his team melt down over the final ten minutes of the game.  As in leading 3-1 and giving up three goals in the third period to lose.  As in Coach Rob Miller blowing off a lot of steam.  As in ending the game at the sixtieth minute with an Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty called against him.  As when the A's can least afford losses like this, then going out and suffering a loss just like this. 

Or, was Coach incensed over his own decision to give Michael DiLorenzo his second start in net as an Aviator over his regular goalie, Josselin St. Pierre?  On that one, who knows?  But it's worth asking.  To his credit however, Michael DiLorenzo was very good over the first two periods; stopping twenty-four of twenty-five shots.  Then midway through the third period, the bottom dropped out on the Aviators' night.

It's probably safe to say the third period Unsportsmanlike Conduct Bench Minor called against Lucas Schott at 9:45 had something to do with Coach Miller's frustration.  Because at 10:16, Akwesasne scored on the power play making the score 3-2 A's, but more importantly, ignited the Warriors' greater comeback.

Three Brooklyn goals over the first forty minutes by Nick Petriello, Steve Koich, and Matt Atsoff went for not as the Warriors made the third period a very one sided affair.  Akwesasne's comeback caused a shift in the standings as well.  The Warriors moved up to fourth place based on win percentage while the Aviators slide down to fifth and for the moment, out of the first division.

They'll drop the puck on the second of this two game series Saturday evening.  Nine games remain in the Aviators' season.  So wins and points are of the essence.

Let's Go Aviators!

SATURDAY NIGHT HOCKEY

BROOKLYN AVIATORS

vs.

Akwesasne Warriors

From

The Frozen Tundra

of Upstate New York

Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ Danbury Quiets Flatbush Again

From the desk of:   THE SKATES OF FLATBUSH

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:  Flatbush Skates Off Quietly into the Night.   Both Teams Running Even in Race to Stay in First Division.


Coming into Friday night's game at The Hangar, the Aviators were winners of three in a row and victorious in eight out of their last nine games.  It was the rival Whalers who last beat the A's and handed Brooklyn it's only defeat over that stretch.  And Friday night, they did it to us again.

Danbury Whalers Goalie, Peter Vetri

The Whalers came to Brooklyn and defeated the A's 3-1 to even the season series at four games apiece.  And Danbury goalie Peter Vetri's performance was even better than that.  For it wasn't until 2:30 left in the game that Matt Atsoff finally scored to put Flatbush on the scoreboard.  In all, Vetri faced forty-three Brooklyn shots on goal and stopped forty-two of them for the win.  For their part, the The Whalers made the most of their twenty-three shots against Josselin St. Pierre scoring a goal in each period.

As of this afternoon, Brooklyn leads Danbury by mere percentage points in the standings.  While still in third place the A's have sixty-four points.  With Friday night's win, Danbury passes Brooklyn in points however with sixty-five.  And that can change after Saturday night however.  Danbury is scheduled to host the 1000 Islands Privateers this evening.  Unfortunately, the Aviators will be idle the rest of the weekend.  Today's (Saturday) game was cancelled due to the Vermont Wild shutting down operations earlier this season.  And so the Whalers can wrestle third place back from the A's with a win at home tonight.

Game Shots from Friday Night:

Danbury   3

Flatbush   1

Final

Singing of the National Anthem

Aviators' Goalie, Josselin St. Pierre

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 ~ 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 ~ 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