The Florida Eels Premier and Elite squads square off against their newest Florida rivals the Palm Beach Typhoon. It has been 3 years since Palm Beach fielded a junior program. They were then known as the Palm Beach Hawks. The new program in Palm Beach – the Typhoon is an entirely new program under new ownership. We are, indeed, excited about them joining our Florida Division. It now consist of the Florida Eels, the Junior Blades, The Tampa Juniors, The Typhoon and the Atlanta Mad Hatters. There is also the dormant South Carolina team that will resurface next season.
The Typhoon owners have done a very good job in recruiting players. They have a full complement of players on each of its two teams: Premier and Elite. That was the significant flaw in the Palm Beach Hawks. Their coaches were not able to recruit full teams which caused it going defunct.
The Typhons are owned by a solid group the Flanagan’s. They are a very professional group and know how to recruit, train and advance players. They are the same owners as the Northern Cyclones in NH.
In the Standings Palm Beach sits in 3rd place in the Premier Division. They have played 9 games with 3 wins 5 losses and 1 OTL for 7 points. The Eels are in 2nd place having played only 6 games with 5 wins and 0 losses and 1 SOL for 11 points. The Eels are 4 points behind Tampa, but Tampa has played in 11 games. That is 25% of their season. This weekend games are indeed important to the Eels as they have a chance to tie Tampa and still have 3 games in hand. By the same token Palm Beach has a chance to gain some day light over their 4th place rivals the Jr Blades with 5 points and breathing down the Typhon’s neck. These are divisional games and very important in the standings.
On the Elite scoreboard, Tampa is also in 1st place having played 11 games with 7 wins and 4 losses for 14 points. The Eels are also in 2nd place with only 7 games played. They have 5 wins 2 losses for 10 points. Key 4 points out of 1st. In 3rd place are those pesky Blades who also have 5 wins but have 4 losses. So the Eels are looking to gain and edge here and tie Tampa. The Typhoon’s won just one game but it was a huge comeback win over the Jr Blades last Thursday. They came back for 4 goals. Palm Beach came storming back against the Mad Hatters a week earlier with 4 goals in the 3rd period but lost with only seconds remaining in regulation. They are not an easy team to play against. Just as the Blades who were stunned last Thursday.
This Friday both teams travel to Palm Beach Ice Zone for a double header. The Premier plays at 5:30 pm and the Elite immediately after around 7:40 pm. On Sunday the teams return home for a double header at the Skatium. Elite faces off at 10:30 am and the Premier squares off at 1:00 pm. Our guys are ready for action. Having been off last 2 weekends. We are very eager to get in some games. Our Eels teams are both ranked in the top 10 in the league. That is impressive. And the Premier team has been ranked number one in the Dan K Power Rankings.
That is all great but we need to focus our attention on the task at hand: The Palm Beach Typhoon. Four games are on the line. All hands-on deck so to speak. Our guys are very determined and hungry. Come join us for the upcoming weekend at the Skatium or on HockeyTV.
