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 ~ Regular Season Finale

From the desk of:   THE SKATES OF FLATBUSH

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:  Wins Against Danbury and New Jersey Lock Up Fourth Place and a Playoff Date With the Whalers.



FRIDAY FINALS:

Danbury   1
Brooklyn  7

1000 Islands   15
Akwesasne      8




With wins Friday and  Saturday evening, that should be a wrap.  The A's have secured fourth place.



Friday night, the 1000 Island Privateers wrecked the Akwesasne Warriors 15-8, while Brooklyn made guppies out of the Danbury Whalers.  The night's results gave Brooklyn a ten point lead over the Warriors, on this, the final weekend of the regular season.



A game after Danbury goalie Peter Ventri stymied the A's on Wednesday, Flatbush stormed back in Friday night's return game to defeat the Whalers 7-1 at The Hangar.  Brooklyn jumped out to an early 2-0 first period lead on a power play goal by Nick Petriello, and a goal by Steve Koich.



In the second period, Flatbush again made the Whalers pay for their misplays.  First, Joe Dabkowski put the A's up 3-0 after eight minutes of play.  But it was Michael Thomson who did the damage with two power play goals, for a 5-0 Brooklyn lead.



The Aviators kept pressing matters in the third period with another two goals before Danbury could even score their first.  Michael Thomson completed his hat trick at the 1:40 mark.  And Brian Marks converted on yet another Brooklyn power play opportunity for their final goal of the game.



In all, the Aviators were 4 for 10 on the power play.  Josselin St. Pierre was back in net making his first start in four games.  He faced thirty-one shots while stopping all but one for the win.





SATURDAY FINALS:


New Jersey   3
Brooklyn      9

1000 Islands   8
Akwesasne   20  <   this is not a type-o!




Then Saturday; Wow!  After the drubbing they took from the Privateers Friday, Akwesasne went completely medieval on 1000 Islands and butchered them with twelve goals in the third period, and twenty-two goals overall.  The Warriors' Pierre Dagenais scored three hat-tricks!  Yes, he had ten goals in total all by himself.  For Akwesasne however, this was their last game of the regular season.  That's what you call going out with a bang though.  However, they will be falling short of fourth place and Brooklyn in the standings.  They will be the five seed, and will just picke-up where they left off against 1000 Islands once the second season start.



Meanwhile, Brooklyn was busy with their continuing recent success on the power play against the first place New Jersey Outlaws.  Over the last two games, they are now 7 for 17 with the man advantage.



New Jersey scored first when old friend Matthew Puntureri assisted on a Kevin Cooper goal just 0:17 into the game.  But Brooklyn answered back with a pair.  Chris Campanale's goal tied it inside the seventh minute.  Just over three minutes later, Andrew Owsiak scored and unassisted goal for a 2-1 Flatbush lead.



Kevin Cooper answered back for the Outlaws to make it a 2-2 game.  But Flatbush countered again making them pay on the power play.  Brett Liscomb was sent to the box after a hit from behind putting the A's on the power play.  Nick Petriello cashed in midway through the man-advantage for a 3-2 Flatbush lead.  Then Jason Dolgy scored Brooklyn's second power play goal of the period after the Outlaws were called for a high sticking penalty.  And so they took a 4-2 lead into the first intermission.



At 2:22 in, Flatbush opened up the second period with another power play goal on Nick Petriello's second of the game.  Chris Campanale also added his second goal of the game giving the A's a 6-2 lead.  But New Jersey's Anthony Battaglia got one back making this a 6-3 game after two periods of play.



The third period was all Flatbush.  Steve Koich made it 7-3 inside the fifth minute.  For two Aviators, he only thing left was a race for the hat trick.  Chris Campanale won.  He completed his when he scored his third goal of the game at the 15:17 mark.  Less than a minute later, Nick Petriello completed his to cap off a 9-3 Flatbush final.  Of note, that's three Brooklyn hat-tricks in their last two games.



Coach Miller decided to make Michael DiLorenzo responsible for guarding the pipes again.  He faced thirty-five Outlaw shots on goal and stopped thirty-two for the win.



By night's end, Brooklyn finished with seventy-nine points and have fourth place locked up.  Tomorrow, Sunday, the A's will wrap up their regular season with another game versus the New Jersey Outlaws over on their ice.  Saturday evening was the Warriors' last game.  Akwesasne ends the season with sixty-nine points.




***It wouldn't be right for me not to admit this, but all this time I was under the impression the top four teams made the playoffs.  Apparently, the top six teams participate.

SUNDAY

REGULAR SEASON FINALE

BROOKLYN AVIATORS

vs.

New Jersey Outlaws

From,

The Other Side of the Harbor

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 ~ Huge Game Looms vs. Akwesasne

From the desk of:   THE SKATES OF FLATBUSH

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:   Losing Altitude!



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


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


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


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


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

THURSDAY

Akwesasne Warriors

vs.

BROOKLYN AVIATORS

From,

Hangar Five, Flatbush Avenue

BROOKLYN

Mike.BTB

BKN Aviators ~ Warriors Deny Flatbush Again

From the desk of:   THE SKATES OF FLATBUSH

BROOKLYN AVIATORS:  Akwesasne Warriors Prove TWO Much for Flatbush.



And now..., Flatbush is in a bind.  A weekend sweep suffered against the Warriors was exactly what Brooklyn could least afford with just eight games remaining in the regular season.  But for this game at least, what more could they have done?  Brooklyn took sixty-four shots on goal.  Yet, what all their efforts got them was a 3-0 second period deficit.  Sure they messed up when they allowed the Warriors to score short-handed in the second.  But again, what more could they have done?  Brooklyn kept taking shots and Akwesasne's Alexandre Vincent kept stopping them.



What more could they have done?  Well, they needed to have their goalie situation straightened out by now.  At this point, Brooklyn should be riding Josselin St. Pierre from now until March 4th; the last game of the season versus New Jersey; and hope for the best.  After Coach Miller charged Michael DiLorenzo with Friday's game, Josselin St. Pierre started in net for Brooklyn on Saturday.  The A's limited Akwesasne to seven and nine shots in the first and third periods respectively.  In the second period however, the Warriors peppered St. Pierre with eighteen shots.  He faced thirty-four shots in all and stopped twenty-nine in taking the loss.



Stopping pucks and scoring; it's all about scoring now.  And with every goal, win, and point in the standings of paramount importance, perhaps they needed to be better than 2 for 11 on the power play Saturday as well?  Maybe.  But the affects of Coach Miller's early season roster tinkering are bearing out.  Very simply, the A's need more consistent scoring.



Joe Dabkowski finally broke through for Flatbush at 5:41 into the third period.  But by that time, the Warriors were already up by a 4-1 score.  Make that 4-2 after the Warriors scored again six minutes later.  For the Akwesasne Warriors, it was their usual suspects who did all the damage against Brooklyn.  Nicolas Corbeit, Sylvain Deschateles, and Pierre Dagenais all recorded points.  And Dan Tessier added two third period goals to put the game safely out of reach.  Michael Thompson closed out Brooklyn's offensive effort, first with a short-handed goal at the 12:42 mark, and then scoring again with less that two minutes left during an inconsequential Brooklyn power play.



Although Brooklyn still maintains an overall one point edge over the Warriors, the A's are now 0.30 percentage points behind Akwesasne in the standings due to total games played.  If the season ended today, the Warriors are in the playoffs and Brooklyn would be out.  Unless Danbury hits a big bump in the road, they can and should remain in third place.  But they too can very easily drop back into this rat race.  For the moment though, it seems as if the last playoff spot will come down to which team; Akwesasne or Brooklyn; plays better hockey down the stretch.



After meeting in last season's Federal Hockey League championship round, these two teams will now battle it out for a chance to play beyond March 4th.  Different season.  Different story.  The Aviators will travel home from Upstate and take on first place New Jersey, Monday night in The Hangar.  Then Thursday, the Warriors come into Brooklyn for the last head-to-head match up of the season between these two clubs.

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 ~ Doors to Hangar Five Open October 29th

From the desk of:  THE COOLEST GUYS IN BROOKLYN

BROOKLYN AVIATORS HOCKEY CLUB ~ 2011-2012:

Coach Miller Making Final Preparations Before Take-Off.

Back in July the organization officially dropped "New York" from their name and opted instead to more accurately represent the Borough of Kings and the local crowds who cheer for them inside Hangar Number Five off Flatbush Avenue.

As the start of the second Federal Hockey League season draws closer, Coach Rob Miller is busy scouting and finalizing his roster.  Many of the Coolest Guys from last season will be returning.  Unfortunately, two very popular players and key contributors from the previous season's success will not.  But all players starting this season forward; whether returning from last season or are new faces to the team, and any future club member, will now represent and play as:

THE  BROOKLYN  AVIATORS

This just reaffirms what I've been saying about them generally being regarded as,

The Coolest Guys in Brooklyn! 

To drop the puck on the 2011-2012 campaign, the Aviators and Akwesasne Warriors will pick up where left off last season, which is on Warriors home-ice where Akwesasne's home team defeated the A's three games to one to win the Federal Hockey League Inaugural Championship back in March. 

Brooklyn and Akwesasne will officially start the FHL season on Oct. 27th.  The A's will play a second road game on Oct. 28th against the Cape Cod Blue Fins.  Then, Brooklyn's home-ice opener will be on Saturday, October 29th, versus one of the three new additions to the League; the New Jersey Outlaws.

The Federal Hockey League is an eight team circuit now.  The returning member clubs from last season are Brooklyn; Akwesanse; 1000 Islands Privateers; and the Danbury Whalers.  Last year's Broome County Barons are now this year's Cape Cod Blue Fins.

The three new teams joining the League for the 2011-2012 season are the Danville Dashers; New Jersey Outlaws; and the Vermont Wild.

One of the most popular players not returning to the A's this season is the 5'10" little bull and (now former) crowd favorite; Matthew Puntureri.  He was traded to the New Jersey Outlaws back in May.  The transaction was an unfortunate situation Coach Miller admitted was made due to financial considerations.


You don't just seemingly and suddenly ignite like the A's did last season and roll off a 21-game winning streak and finish the regular season in first place only after playing at such a ferocious pace as they did to close out last season, without riding your Goalie like an old WWII Flying Tiger.  The Aviators did just that, and their goalie was Kevin Druce.  He also will not be returning this season.


But many familiar names to us locals are returning for another campaign at Hangar Five.  Forwards -Andrew Scampoli, Steve Obelnicki, Anthony Longo, Jesse Felton, Michael Thomson, Casey Magnone, John Goffredo, and Nick Vandenbeld are some of the returning skaters.


On Defense - The truth is, we're thin.  KC Timmons and Jarrett Rush will be back on the blue line.  Nicholas Kuqali makes three signed defenseman.  After that, this is perhaps the team's biggest issue and Coach Miller's toughest challenge ahead.  Coach hopes to solidify his blue line through scouting the southern circuit before the season's opener.


In goal tender Kevin Druce's absence, the Aviators will mostly likely go with a tandem of Peter Dundovich, and Ryan Scott in net this season.


We'll see what new players earn a Brooklyn jersey once Training Camp concludes.  Until then...



...Let's Go A's!




Mike.BTB

N.Y. AVIATORS ~ No Championship For The A's; Lose Game Four

UPDATED: SUNDAY 12:00 NOON

2010-2011

Federal Hockey League Champions

AKWESASNE WARRIORS

of Ontario, Canada

This photo of the "Winning Warriors" was taken by and provided to me

by Allison Papineau.

To my fellow Hockey Fan and neighbor in the Great White North,

I thank you very kindly.  And once again, congratulations to the

Akwesasne Warriors; 2010-2011 FHL Champions.

ORIGINAL POST
From the desk of:  The Coolest Guys In Brooklyn

NEW YORK AVIATORS:  Fall to Akwesasne in four games.

AKWESASNE WARRIORS

2010-2011

Inaugural Season

Federal Hockey League Champions

Warriors win series three games to one.

Don't let the scoreboard fool you.  This wasn't another third period barrage that did in the A's.  This was just one of those things.  You have to pull the goalie when the situation is dire.  A coach who doesn't gets fired for not coaching.  The problem is, the New York Aviators got burned twice by the move late in the third period while trying to come back from a 3-2 deficit. 

What the A's will probably rue most is giving up a power play goal at 5:01 of the third period after John Goffredo got whistled for hooking.  With only four seconds to go for a successful penalty kill, Akwesasne's Miguel Delisle scored a back breaking goal which is what really did the Aviators in last night.  Delisle's goal made the score 3-1 in favor of the Warriors with one second short of fifteen minutes left remaining in regulation time. 

Now down by two, Michael Thomson scored (assisted by Matthew Puntureri; Nick Vandenbeld) to get the Aviators within a goal again.  They still had over half of the third period left to try and muster one more goal for a tie.  They peppered Warrior's goalie, David Plouffe, with 18 of their 38 shots on goal in the third period.  But then it started getting a little too late for the A's and trying to score the conventional way.  At 18:55, Akwesasne scored the first of two goals after New York pulled goalie Kevin Druce in favor of the extra skater.  Two empty net goals made the final score 5-2 in favor of the team from Canada.

These two teams finished one and two in the regular season.  The Aviators needed a ferocious finish to place first in the standings and ended the season with a 32-13-3 record and 66 points.  Akwesasne finished in second place with a 30-16-1 record and 61 points.

During the playoffs, the Akwesasne Warriors played perfect hockey on the road skating their way to a 4-0 record as visitors.   Today, they are the Federal Hockey League's inaugural season champions.  They win the series in convincing fashion; three games to one.

Congratulations!

The winning team's celebratory photo and the FHL Commissioner's Cup can be seen on the Federal Hockey League's website:  Federal Hockey League

LINKS TO:
New York Aviators
Akwesasne Warriors




To the New York Aviators, thank you for a great season! 

And you're still The Coolest Guys In Brooklyn.







Mike.BTB