Well Atlanta is coming to town next weekend. The Eels are not taking them lightly or for granted. The Eels teams are hardly complacent. The coaches have the boys working overtime in prep for the home opener vs. the Mad Hatters which is also our season opener. The Premier team plays first Saturday September 18th at 3:20 pm at the Fort Myers Skatium. Then the Elite squares off Saturday evening at 9:00 pm.  On Sunday there will be another double header. This time the Elite team has the first honors with a game at 10:30 am, followed by the Premier game at 1:00 pm.

Last season the Eels Premier team went 6-2 overall on the season against the Mad Hatters. They outgunned the Mad Hatters by a margin of 44-19. The Mad Hatters  did managed 2 wins over the Eels in February. Despite the sizable goal differential and the lopsided wins to looses, the two teams had some barn burner series. The games were much closer than what reflects on the scoresheet. Indeed, at the Premier level, the Mad Hatters had some incredibly talented players who played Tier I and II in Canada. They were men amongst boys. Very dominate and impactful. Almost every game was played like a playoff game. The atmosphere was incredible. We expect nothing short of this, this season.

The Elite team’s scorecard was 5-1-1 for the Eels. The Eels Elite team outscored Atlanta’s 30-23. But these are statics are from last season. And that cannot be overly emphasized.  The Eels coaches know the Mad Hatters  have added a considerable number of new faces to both of their teams. They too are anxious to take their teams to the Next Level. We have seen Atlanta’s coaches at Showcases and Combines and they have been hard at work to improve their lot.  Moreover, the Eels coaches know full well that Atlanta is well coached. A former NHLer.  So, we can expect some very competitive games next weekend.

As always, the Eels coaches had been very active in the off season as well. We advanced 20+ players to college and several others to Tier II Junior Hockey. We had at least one player who went to play pro hockey. So, the Eels had several spots to fill on both the Premier and Elite teams.

We will highlight some key returning players this upcoming week.

Please be sure to come by and join us at the Skatium next weekend. If not please tune in on HockeyTV for live streaming of games.