It was a sweet win for the Eels Elite team as they upended the Tampa Juniors Sunday in front of its home crowd. The Eels Elite team was stunned on Friday after taking a 4-1 lead only to be shellshocked by Tampa as they delivered a jolting loss 6-5. No doubt it was a long ride home and not a pleasant one at that. On Saturday the team re-grouped, and changes were made to the line up to shake things up.

 

On Sunday we saw an entirely different attitude on the ice. One that stressed our determination, discipline and fortitude. The boys had wandered a bit from their defensive responsibilities, and they were re-set and charged up. They are young and developing and it was good to feel the pain of a loss, and one that their win was right there but was allowed to slip right from their fingers. It was humbling but the loss raised their will to win. They also saw that wanting to win and the will to win was not enough. They had to do the things that make you win.

 

This was an all-out effort on Sunday, and we were indeed very proud of the guys. Not just the 4 players who scored or the netminder who slammed the door shut. It was the entire team who brought home the win and it was very satisfying.

 

Scoring was a s follows:

 

Tampa Bay Juniors 1 at Florida Eels 4 – Status: Final
Sunday, December 4, 2022 – Fort Myers Skatium

Tampa Bay Juniors 1 0 0 – 1
Florida Eels 0 4 0 – 4

1st Period-1, Tampa Bay Juniors, Sheets 11 (Blatt, Johnston-Ferris), 15:01. Penalties-Trussler Tbj (hooking), 15:12; Wilkey Tbj (cross-checking), 17:46.

2nd Period-2, Florida Eels, ClIngerman 7 (Duden, Marchetta), 3:28. 3, Florida Eels, Valpeteris 4 (Di Re, Engles), 9:21. 4, Florida Eels, Berak 2 (ClIngerman, Marchetta), 11:30. 5, Florida Eels, Cermak 8 (Burke, Gagnon), 18:08. Penalties-Corbett Eel (boarding), 15:49.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Corbett Eel (roughing), 7:39.

Shots on Goal-Tampa Bay Juniors 12-13-14-39. Florida Eels 12-14-11-37.
Power Play Opportunities-Tampa Bay Juniors 0 / 1; Florida Eels 0 / 3.
Goalies-Tampa Bay Juniors, Bruce 6-4-0-1 (37 shots-33 saves). Florida Eels, Spinella 5-1-0-0 (39 shots-38 saves).

For the second straight game the Eels unleashed 9 goals on the Tampa Juniors. In game one the Eels had 8 different goal scores and in game two it was 7 different shooters who   buried the biscuit.  The Eels Premier team execution was indeed quite impressive.  They are at the top of the standings in the tough Florida Division and are looking to broaden the lead and with these wins over 2nd place Tampa, gives them a little more day light. You could clearly see the conditioning of the Eels on Friday where they outgunned the Juniors 5-1 in the 1st period. The Eels swarmed all over Tampa. The forecheck completely suffocated the Juniors and   continuously created a lose puck turnover.  Infeed, the puck retrieval was   magnetic.

 

The success continued at home on Sunday when the Eels throttled another 9 goals against the Juniors. In this game as on Friday the Eels also denied the Juniors of any sustainable offense. The back checking suffocated the Juniors as well. No doubt we know our guys were on execution mode. The 4+ hours of daily training simply has paid off. The boys are confident in their skills and systems but not arrogant. The difference is exuding confidence, buying in and willing to pay the price. It is not all about offense. Just look at the numbers. Look at the last 3 games. A 6-0 win over the Blades, 9-3 over Tampa and 9-2 over Tampa. That is 5 goals against in 3 game. Now that is execution in the D-Zone as much as it is in the O-Zone. 

 

Great job guys

 

Tampa Bay Juniors 2 at Florida Eels 9 – Status: Final
Sunday, December 4, 2022 – Fort Myers Skatium

Tampa Bay Juniors 1 1 0 – 2
Florida Eels 2 1 6 – 9

1st Period-1, Florida Eels, Patterson 14 (Godbout, Moore), 0:16. 2, Tampa Bay Juniors, Studebaker 1 (Nelson, Courneya), 7:59 (PP). 3, Florida Eels, Salminen 5 (Phillips, Zebley), 12:59. Penalties-Goddard Eel (unsportsmanlike conduct), 5:56; Hambling Eel (slashing), 7:20.

2nd Period-4, Tampa Bay Juniors, Walsh 4 (Studebaker, Cullen), 1:44 (PP). 5, Florida Eels, Ziemba 2   11:13. Penalties-Hambling Eel (roughing), 0:48.

3rd Period-6, Florida Eels, Budgell 4 (Ziemba, Bzovey), 2:12. 7, Florida Eels, Crupi 7 (Hambling, Budgell), 7:10 (PP). 8, Florida Eels, Patterson 15 (Trathen, Goddard), 10:03 (PP). 9, Florida Eels, Patterson 16 (Trathen, Goddard), 10:50 (PP). 10, Florida Eels, Trathen 9 (Phillips), 12:28. 11, Florida Eels, Zebley 2 (Deshaies, Goddard), 12:57. Penalties-Weisjahn Tbj (tripping), 5:57; Kamliuk Tbj (tripping), 9:20; Ostankovics Tbj (slashing), 10:40; Hambling Eel (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:42; Hambling Eel (misconduct-unsportsmanlike), 20:00.

Shots on Goal-Tampa Bay Juniors 15-13-7-35. Florida Eels 18-17-13-48.
Power Play Opportunities-Tampa Bay Juniors 2 / 6; Florida Eels 3 / 6.
Goalies-Tampa Bay Juniors, Taskila 7-3-1-0 (48 shots-39 saves). Florida Eels, Rolleman 8-0-1-1 (35 shots-33 saves).

The Eels Premier and Elite teams take on the Palm Beach Typhoon for this weeks Home and Away Series. On Wed  both teams head to Palm Beach for their away games and Sunday back home at the Skatium.

The Eels Premier team is coming off three big wins and are looking to extend their winning streak. The Premier guys are on a hot streak scoring 24 goals in their last 3 games and only allowing 5 against. That is very impressive.

groundThe Elite guys are looking to continue their winning ways coming off a huge win over 1st place Tampa. The Eels Elite are looking to regain control of 1st place and they need a win vs the Typhoon to establish ground The Elite team is just 2 points below Tampa in the standings but the Juniors have played 4 more games. So a win here is essential to gain ground.

Join us live or on hockeyTV

The Eels Elite complete the weekend home and away pair of games at the Skatium. Game time 11:00 am. On Friday the Eels went out to a 4-1 lead only to be pushed back by the Tampa Juniors in the 3rd period thus stumbling 6-5 in a very disappointing loss. Things looked really good for the Eels through the 1st ½ half of the match but Tampa crept back inching and inching along. Tampa used their fly by offense sneaking behind the Eels defense and with a surprise attack stunned the Eels to gain victory. The Boys left Tampa in a fog wondering what happen and how? The truth and reality is you have to play the game for 60 minutes. The guys got caught in the euphoria of blowing things wide open 4-1 in the 1st ½ that they forgot to play our systems and allowed Tampa to wake up and rebound for the win.  The bottom line was a hard lesson learned: You win games defensively. That is so true when you go up 4-1 on Tampa. There is no excuse for their play.

 

On a positive note, you learn twice as much from your losses than your wins. This was a hard and fast lesson. The loss stung badly. They knew it and paid the ultimate price. GM Scarpaci and Coach Mitch plan to shake things up for Sunday’s game. We expect our guys to return to action with more fire in their belly and a mission to slam shut the door to garner a win here. These are young men who are developing and if this loss can help in their player development, then we are willing to take it as a learning vehicle. They are a very talented group of guys and we trust they will be ready to avenge their loss of Friday evening.

 

Sunday’s Elite game kicks off at 11:00 am at the Skatium

The Eels Premier team traveled to Tampa on Friday and to say they were ready for battle is the understatement of the year. You could see the fire in their eyes as they set foot at Advent Ice. In fact , you could see the determination and focus all week long at training and when they boarded the bus. We could feel it during warmups.  They had the step in the strides, the power in their shots, the hunger in their faces. These two squads always give the league great games, but this was all out tent offensive put on by the Eels.

 

Well, the Eels exploded for 5 goals in the 1st period. And then added 4 more to completely dismantled the Tampa Juniors. This was a very well-balanced attack by the Eels. Indeed, the Eels had 8 different scorers in Friday’s game. Moreover, 2 goals came from our blueliners. There were 13 different players who garnered points on the night. Toby Bell was solid in net turning away 33 of 36 shots. Scoring summary below:

 

Florida Eels 9 at Tampa Bay Juniors 3 – Status: Final
Friday, December 2, 2022 – Advent Health Center Ice Rink D

Florida Eels 5 2 2 – 9
Tampa Bay Juniors 1 2 0 – 3

1st Period-1, Florida Eels, Zebley 1 (Deshaies, Phillips), 1:29. 2, Florida Eels, Hennessy 10 (Carpenter), 4:43. 3, Florida Eels, Hennessy 11 (Moore, Trathen), 6:23 (PP). 4, Florida Eels, Patterson 13 (Moore, Hambling), 8:46. 5, Florida Eels, Budgell 3 (Maltais, Kiyawasew), 10:23. 6, Tampa Bay Juniors, Ostankovics 9 (Cullen, Weisjahn), 14:40. Penalties-Oliverio Tbj (tripping), 6:01; Crupi Eel (roughing), 12:22; Hambling Eel (interference), 18:35.

2nd Period-7, Florida Eels, Trathen 8 (Ziemba, Bzovey), 6:16. 8, Tampa Bay Juniors, Walsh 3 (Ostankovics, Cullen), 6:44 (PP). 9, Florida Eels, Moore 6 (Goddard, Hennessy), 11:56 (PP). 10, Tampa Bay Juniors, Neckar 3 (Cullen, Duhaime), 15:06 (PP). Penalties-Salminen Eel (holding the stick), 6:34; Beugen Tbj (interference), 8:32; Bailey Tbj (holding), 11:31; Crupi Eel (tripping), 13:31; Kiyawasew Eel (tripping), 13:54.

3rd Period-11, Florida Eels, Phillips 1 (Salminen, Zebley), 7:59. 12, Florida Eels, Bzovey 4 (Zebley, Deshaies), 8:28 (PP). Penalties-Bailey Tbj (charging), 8:23; Deshaies Eel (roughing), 11:33.

Shots on Goal-Florida Eels 16-13-10-39. Tampa Bay Juniors 8-15-13-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Florida Eels 3 / 0; Tampa Bay Juniors 2 / 0.
Goalies-Florida Eels, Bell 3-2-0-0 (36 shots-33 saves). Tampa Bay Juniors, Mons 4-7-0-0 (13 shots-8 saves); Miller 0-0-0-0 (26 shots-22 saves).

 

On Sunday the two teams square off once again to complete the Home -and -Away homestands. Game time is 1:30 pm. We can expect Tampa to come on red hot to avenge its loss. They are a proud group of guys in their own right and they felt the indelible sting of a lop sided game. But take it to the bank the Eels have no intentions of letting up or taking their foot off the pedal. The Eels feel good but not overconfident. They are moving in the right direction holding down first place and exuding confidence. They are taking nothing for granted and are anything but complacent.

 

Please join us live at the Skatium or on HockeyTV 1:30 pm

USPHL Elite Players Of The Week: South Region

November 23, 2022

 

Games of Nov. 15-22

 

Southeast 

Forward: Nathan Clark, Potomac Patriots 

A homegrown product, Clark (‘05/Haymarket, Va.) has come up through the Patriots’ past USPHL 16U teams to now stand as a second-year contributor at the Elite level. He posted three goals and one assist over a weekend sweep against the Hampton Roads Whalers. He improved his points total to 11 in 12 games this year.

 

Defense: Hudson Hinich, Hampton Roads Whalers 

Hinich (‘03/Ancaster, Ont.) has been a great addition for the Whalers, as he put up a goal and an assist during a weekend series against the Potomac Patriots to give himself four points in eight games. He was the shifts leader for the Whalers over the weekend, averaging 27 board-jumps per game, and he also registered two hits and two blocked shots.

 

Goaltender: Evan Crawford, Charlotte Rush

Crawford put up two wins this past weekend, including the Carolina Cup Outdoor Game, in which he made 27 saves in a 3-0 victory at Truist Field in Charlotte. The next day, indoors, he stopped 28 of 30 for a total of 55 saves on 57 shots for a .965 save percentage over the weekend. He has an 8-1-0-1 record with a 1.17 goals against average and a .951 save percentage – first in wins and goals against average and second in save percentage league-wide.

 

Florida Division 

Forward: Ari Blatt, Tampa Bay Juniors 

A graduate of the local Steinbrenner High School in the community of Lutz, Blatt (‘04/Tampa, Fla.) was huge for his hometown squad this past weekend against the Atlanta MadHatters, putting up three goals and three assists in a 3-0 series. He also posted two game-winners along the way. With a 3-5-8 run in his last five games, Blatt now has 16 points in 19 games as a Juniors rookie.

 

Defense: Richard Biszant, Tampa Bay Juniors 

Another homegrown player for the Juniors, Biszant is an ‘03 native of Clearwater who attended and played for Palm Harbor University High School before joining the Juniors last season. Recently, he posted a goal and three assists in the Juniors’ three-game sweep over Atlanta. He improved to 11 points in 15 games, and recently switched to D from forward.

 

Goaltender: Evan Spinella, Florida Eels 

Spinella (‘03/Farmingville, N.Y.) is enjoying his fourth USPHL season, all spent in Florida. In this, his first year with the Eels, he’s helped them by picking up four wins this year. Most recently, he stopped 22 of 23 shots against the Florida Jr. Blades.

The Eels players are all back in town and ready to get going again. This week we take on the Tampa Juniors in a home and away series. Friday our Elite and Premier teams travel to Tampa whereas on Sunday we have our home-stand at the Skatium

The Tampa Juniors are neck on neck with the Eels. Only a few points separate the two organizations> These will be some pretty lively games this weekend.

The Eels coaches Echoed:  Have fun before heading home for the break. And that is what the boys did. The squads were broken up and the boys had some good old fashion pond type hockey. There was a lot of scoring and high octane energy as the players went into high gear enjoying a couple of hours of fun hockey. This is just what they needed coming off of strong convincing wins and an extremely hard week of practice. Moreover we wanted to have the boys leave on a positive note. Moreover, it is so important to get the feel of the puck. Work on the scoring. So it was a great send off.