Wow. Says it all. Last night at Hertz Arena against the Jr. Blades, the Eels Premier team came out flying from the drop of the puck and never looked back. This may have been their best game of the season. The boys were darn right explosive. If it wasn’t the Jr Blades home rink, they might have asked for a surface check because there was no doubt it seemed like the entire ice surface was tilted toward their netminder.  The Eels brought out all the stops and weaponry. You can see the aerial attack was triggered. They kept flying in line after line after line. The Eels ground assault was equally lethal as they won all the key battles along the boards, in from of the opposing netminder and they were punishing in front of their own crease. Simply said, the Eels took ownership of all the real estate. The Eels breakout was unchecked. Not only were the forwards invading the Blades zone, the Eels defensemen were equally on the attack propelling the attack and garnering goal after goal.

You could see it in their faces as they were entering the rink. You could see it in their body language as they warmed up pregame outside. You could see again it in the actual 15 minutes warm up on the ice. These guys were and are in playoff mode. It is indicative in the way they train all year long and their physical and mental preparation over the past several weeks.  There is a reason why they are and have been in 1stplace in the Florida Division the entire season. Indeed, their lead in by double digits over their closest opponents: The Charleston Colonials.

This win was not the result of a few guys scoring. Oh no this was a total team effort. It was a precision performance like performing surgery. You could see every move was calculated. The attack was relentless. A systemamtic and continuous onslaught. A tent offensive. You could see the Eels had owned possession from the get-go. Possession of the puck and  with zone time. Looking at the game,  one would say  the Eels had possession of the puck and in the offensive zone by about a 70% margin. I don’t know if we have seen such a relentless fore-check all season. But what was equally impressive was the absolute denial of the Eels back-checking effort and performance. The word NO was used throughout  their game. “No you won’t stop us from scoring. No, you won’t shoot on our goalie. No, you won’t score on us. No, you wont garner any offense on us.”   Indeed, the Eels goalie was nothing short of outstanding. Jakub Kostelnyshowed why he is considered by many as the best goalie in the entire USPHL. He was so dialed in. Even when the Eels were short handed they mounted an attack. They had 3-4 short handed breakaways.

The Eels Premier and Elite play back at home on Sunday against their other west coast rivals the Tampa Juniors. The Elite play at 10:15 am while the Premier play at 1:00 pm.