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Florida Eels forward Josh Belgrave came alive and exploded for 3 goals (hat trick( leading the Eels to a 6-1 win over the MJPD. While Eels net minder slayed the door shut letting in a stingy one goal backstopping his team to clear and convincing win in their first game of the Nationals.

The Eels are a difficult team to read.  They play a very unique style utilizing  a multitude of weapons in their arsenal to defeat teams. Today was a good example of this. In the first period the Eels sent out a high flying air attack with its high octane wingers attacking the offensive zone and center ice men first on the forecheck and puck retrieval. They have 4 lines deep of forwards and defense,  and they bring on a systematic and continuous onslaught that wears down its opponents.

Then if that doesn’t wear you down, the Eels coaches unleash the ground forces along the boards and in the corners to physically wear the opponents down. You can see the fatigue factor setting in.

This has been the dominant  presence in each game throughout the season. To say the boys play a high tempo intense game is the understatement fo the year. The players are dialed in and bought in what the coaches teach. It isn’t easy to play for the Eels. You have to be willing to have the selfless unwavering commitment to win and do what ever it takes  to do this , be it block shots, smothering and suffocating back checking  and a relentless  fore-check.

Today we were successful 6-1. Tomorrow we expect the same effort and determination.

Scoring for the Eels went as follows:

MJDP 1 at Florida Eels 6 – Status: Final
Thursday, March 18, 2021 – Chilled Ponds Sentara Healthcare Rink

MJDP 0 0 1 – 1
Florida Eels 2 1 3 – 6

1st Period-1, Florida Eels, Pinimyasov 1 (Roost), 6:01 (PP). 2, Florida Eels, Belgrave 1 (Patterson), 9:26. Penalties-Ieuter Mjdp (hooking), 2:00; Hartwell Mjdp (tripping), 5:34.

2nd Period-3, Florida Eels, Belgrave 2 (Stewart, Malakyan), 11:00. Penalties-Hartwell Mjdp (major -kneeing, game misconduct), 14:27.

3rd Period-4, Florida Eels, Goral 1 (Haddon- Harris), 4:04. 5, Florida Eels, Belgrave 3 (Goral), 4:43. 6, MJDP, Mocnik 1 (Hellman, Washburn), 9:29 (PP). 7, Florida Eels, Moore 1 11:15. Penalties-Stewart Eel (elbowing), 8:41; Gerstein Eel (tripping), 18:36.

Shots on Goal-MJDP 5-9-15-29. Florida Eels 10-13-9-32.
Power Play Opportunities-MJDP 1 / 2; Florida Eels 1 / 4.
Goalies-MJDP, Fisher (32 shots-26 saves). Florida Eels, Caron (29 shots-28 saves).

Florida Eels Forward Tristan Roost Commits to NCAA Division III Lebanon Valley Men’s Ice Hockey team for the 2021-22 Season.

 

Congratulations is in order for Florida Eels forward Tristan Roost as he lays out his academic and athletic plans for the next 4 years with NCAA Division III Lebanon Valley  This is very exciting indeed. Tristan a Fort Myers native is 5’8” 160 lbs. shoots right and has one of the most lethal and accurate wrist shots in junior hockey.  He has played in the USPHL for the last 4 seasons. Tristan has played in 166 games where he accumulated 53 goals and notched 94 assists. This season he joined the Florida Eels Premier team where he blossomed as a player and amassed an impressive 24 goals and garnered 31 helpers. Roost is a highly skilled forward who grew immensely under the Eels program. He developed an insatiable appetite to score evidencing half his goals in 4 years were garnered this season. Tristan has strong skill set. He handles the puck very well. He has excellent vision and plays with a high compete level. Roost played top minutes with the Eels including a key ingredient on the power play and penalty kill.

 

Tristan is very excited about becoming a LVC Dutchmen. He got to know LVC head coach Don Parsons over the past several years. He knows Coach Parsons is all business. Tristan has thrived under the Eels with such a coaching philosophy and is looking forward to playing for a proven and respected coach like Coach Parsons. And the accolades run both ways. What impressed LVU head coach Don Parsons was Roost’s unwavering commitment to win. He gives 100% from the drop of the puck to the final buzzer.  He wears determination on his sleeve.  What is equally impressive to Coach Parsons is that in 4 seasons playing juniors in the USPHL Roost is almost devoid of any penalty minutes. In fact, this season alone he does not have one infraction. Despite his high tempo game in the four seasons played in the USPHL, he only has 34 minutes in penalties in total.

 

Premier Coach Frankie Scarpaci echoes that Tristan is an impact player. He believes Roost will step into the LVC NCAA Division III men’s ice hockey  team and have an immediate impact. He will buy into any system thrown at him. He has great work ethic and will do whatever is necessary to help his team compete and win games. GM Scarpaci notes, that Roost was selected to the USPHL Hub City All Star team this winter and he shined there as well. He was very noticeable even amongst the league All Stars. This is a high character young man who will do very well in college. We are very proud of Tristan and know he will excel in college and on the hockey program. We wish Tristan the best.

 

USPHL Premier 2021 National Championships Preview: Florida Eels 

 

By Joshua Boyd / USPHL.com

 

The Florida Eels are a regular at the USPHL Premier National Championships tournament and they enter the event this season with a formidable squad that got a bit of a jump on the playoff mentality.

The Eels battled Tampa for supremacy in the Florida Division and that quest didn’t end until the buzzer sounded for the final time on the season and playing a lot of important games down the stretch might have been beneficial when they headed into playoffs last weekend.

The Eels finished the season 25-points in front of the Atlanta Mad Hatters, but Head Coach Frank Scarpaci III knew that meant little going into a best-of-three set against a team that had already proven it could stick with the Eels in a 60-minute contest.

“The Hatters came a long way since the beginning of the season and brought in some key pieces that made them very competitive,” said Scarpaci, in an email interview. “We felt our depth would eventually overwhelm them as long as we were playing the way we knew we were capable of.

“The weekend before, we had a three-game stretch in which we could overtake first place and get the Mad Hatters (as a playoff opponent) and we felt that match-up could lean in our favor.”

Scarpaci feels good about the way his team is playing now, having regrouped from a season that saw them at times look inconsistent.

“For a bit, we were struggling to play consistent hockey,” said Scarpaci. “You’d see us go through stretches of playing really well for two games and then just not even close to our capability.

“We had a three-game series against Charleston that we really didn’t like and the following week we had a Showcase that was just not to our standards. We had a meeting to right the ship and played a really strong game, beating Hampton and we have been really building since then. To me, it’s a night and day difference from where our team was a month ago, and where we’re at right now.

“Our team identity is a group that is focused on defending together as a whole and attacking in waves, line-by-line.” said Scarpaci. “We have a deep, offensively gifted group that can be relentless on the attack.”

Wrapping up the berth on the first weekend gave the Eels a chance to prepare specifically for Nationals now, but Scarpaci looked forward to knowing his opponents as this weekend’s playoff series finish up.

“The uncertainty of who we play is going to be a challenge for our team and coaching staff, but a challenge everyone will be going through,” said Scarpaci. “Our focus from here out will be sharpening our game on what we do well and what we will be able to use against all opponents.

“Every team at Nationals will be a contender, so we want to make sure our strengths are our strengths.”

Florida Eels 2021 Nationals Schedule

(All games to be played at Chilled Ponds Ice Sports Complex, Chesapeake, Va.)

Thurs., March 18, 10:40 a.m., vs. Midwest East 1st Seed

Fri., March 19, 9:10 p.m. vs. Mid-Atlantic 2nd Seed

Sat., March 20, 3:50 p.m. vs. Midwest West 2nd Seed

 

The Florida Eels Win Over the Tampa Juniors  in the final game of the regular season clinched the USPHL Florida Division Championship in the Premier Division

It took 44 games to determined who finished in first place. What an incredible ru. The Eels and the Tampa Juniors were going back and forth in the standings. It all came down to the 44th game and that game was between no other than Tampa and the Eels.

The Eels won it cleanly and were crowned the Florida Division Champions and 1st seed over all in the USPHL Playoffs.

Congrats guys.

The Florida Eels defeated the Atlanta Madhatters in two straight games and now will represent the USPHL Florida Division as the Number One Seed in the USPHL Nationals. The Nationals will be held at the Hampton Road’s Rink in VA. The Nationals will run March 18-22, 2021. There are  16 teams  made up of 4 pools of 4 teams from around the USA representing all the Premier Divisions.

There will be a round robin set of games Thursday Friday and Saturday. Each team in the bracket will play one another. Then on Sunday the winners of each bracket will square off in a semi final set of games. The Final game will be on Monday for the Championship.

venue: 1416 Stephanie Way, Chesapeake, VA 23320

Congrats to the Florida Eels Premier Team. They defeated the Atlanta Madhatters in 2 straight games. As the number one seed in the playoffs that win earned them the number one seed from the Florida Division advancing to Nationals. This recognizes the Eels as the Playoff Champions in the USPHL Florida Division Champions. Very impressive guys.

This is the Eels 4th straight trip to Nationals at the Premier Division for Florida Eels Head Coach Frankie Scarpaci. This is a record for the Eels organization. In fact Coach Scarpaci has taken his Eels Premier team and previously the Eels Elite team to a record number as his tenure as a coach. He is a task master in coaching. He has enormous passion for the game and is one of the most dedicated coaches in Junior hockey.

The Eels Premier  team is heading to Nationals in Virginia March 18-22 2021 as the Number One Seed from the Florida Division.

1416 Stephanie Way, Chesapeake, VA 23320

All Elite players we will have our exit interviews at 9:00 am 2:00 pm Wednesday It will be on first come basis. We understand some players are in school so I will have a 2nd round of interviews Thursday starting at 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Players must bring all their equipment issued at these times, including:
Helmet, Gloves, shells, bags, practice socks, 2 pair of game socks, practice jerseys, 2 sets of game jerseys.
Thank You
Coach Frank

Florida Eels Premier Team Parents: Spectator Tickets For Nationals For those of you who are planning on attending the USPHL Nationals in Hampton VA i have the official link for you to purchase your passes to gain entry to the event. You must purchase them at the link listed below. The revised cost is $35.00 Please be sure to go to the link below and purchase your ticket(s). Listed below is the link for spectator tickets. https://whaler-nation.square.site/product/usphl-national-championships/138?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=false&fbclid=IwAR36ccsmHpGRkeL2B0CiDmHPaVi8f3bV4qH9sOOR8YRVhH2Up0_l5R6RGr8

The Eels Premier team swept the Atlanta Madhatters two straight at the USPHL Florida Division Playoffs. It was a great series and both teams laid everything on the ice. The players kept coming every shift and fighting for every inch of the ice. It was two hard fought battles. Both teams  played with class. The Eels players were glad to get it done in two games so now they can take a rest on Monday.

The Eels will head to Hampton VA for Nationals. Games are March 18-21st At the point we do not know who our opponents will be. Playoffs are still be held in the

MidWest – West, Midwest – East , The Great Lakes Division, the North East New England Mid-Atlantic, Rocky Mountain and Pacific Divisions.