Eagles Fall in Championship

After a dramatic 3-2 win over Darien to get into the championship, the Eagles had to face a Darien team looking for revenge. The Eagles had many great chances in the first period but were unable to bead a Darien goalie who was on top of her game. In what turned out to be a very physical game with Darien players taking runs at some of the Eagles, Darien was able to find the back of the net 5 times over the second and third periods while their goalie shut down the Eagles attack. In a game where the Eagles out shot Darien, it came down to the Darien goalie stopping everything the Eagles could put on net. In the end a 5-0 loss ended the Eagles hopes of the Championship, but it was still a good showing for a team who still has many other goals in sight for the season.

Next up for myself is a flight to Albany and a trip up to Lake Placid this Thursday with the Bantam team.

Eagles Beat Darien to Advance to Finals

The Eagles faced off against the undefeated Darien team Sunday morning in an effort to advance to the championship game of the Columbus Day AAA Classic in Marlborough Mass. The Eagles came out a little sluggish just as they did against Green Machine, but were able to get through the first period tied 0-0. The second period started with trouble and the Eagles struggled to get out of their own end and gave up two early goals to go down 2-0. Justin Hall, who had many chances in the first, was finally able to break through with a short side goal to give the Eagles some life with just over 3 minutes left in the second. With that momentum, Justin Hall was able to net his second of the game early in the third with a great top corner shot that everyone on both teams was impressed by. The rest of the period was a battle back and fourth as each goalie was making some great saves. With the Eagles needing a win to advance to the championship game, the last line went out on the ice looking to create some offence and take the game. With some great passing in the neutral zone, Austin Bell got into the Darien zone with a little space and was able to find an opening short side and ripped one past the goalie with 20 seconds left in the game to seal the win for the Eagles. With the 3-2 win, the Eagles locked up the #1 seed in the tournament and will be in the Championship game Monday morning.

Eagles Win and Tie first two games in Mass.

The Eagles came into the Columbus Day AAA Classic looking to put themselves up against some of the best squirt teams in the country. First up for the Eagles was the Montclair Blues. The squirts looked a little rusty after all the travel and needed to get some of the first game jitters out of their system. Even though the team had a sub-par game, they were able to come away with a 6-2 win against an over matched Blues team. The second game looked to be a much better battle as the Green Machine Icecats were one of the top teams in the tournament. The Eagles started slow and really seemed taken aback having the game taken to them in the first period. The team was on their heels for the first period and it showed on the scoreboard as the Icecats took a 2-0 lead after one period. The Eagles needed something to rally around and got it from Matt Doudnikoff as he broke down the right wing as was able to put a puck through the Icecats goalie and close the gap to 2-1. From that point on the Eagles controlled the play and were able to create a bunch of chances. After some great play, Sean Traynor was able to find a rebound and tie the game at 2 before the end of the second. The third was a lot like the second with the Eagles taking the game to the Icecats. A goal by Cooper Rogers during a delayed penalty gave the Eagles a 3-2 lead. One defensive breakdown allowed the Icecats to put in a puck during a scramble in front of the net to tie the game. While the Eagles had many other chances they were not able to beat the Icecats netminder and the game ended in a 3-3 tie. So far the team really has yet to be able to put together a full 3 periods and will need that against the undefeated and top team in the tournament Sunday morning. If the Eagles are able to win the game in the morning they will lock up the number one seed and qualify for the championship game on Monday.

East Coast Eagles Squirts Ranked 13th

The East Coast Eagles were ranked 13th in the country by myhockeyrankings.com in their initial rankings which came out October 1st. This marks the highest ranking the team has had in the last two season. The Eagles will look to improve on their rankings next weekend in a AAA tournament in Marlborough Mass at the New England Sports Center Columbus Day Classic. The Eagles will be in the same division as the #1 ranked Minutemen Flames who top the national AAA rankings. In order to keep up their ranking the Eagles are going to have to play some real good hockey next weekend. Check back for updates next weekend while I blog from the tournament.

Squirts Sweep Weekend, Bantams beat Storm

The Eagles squirt team finished off the weekend with two wins over the Montgomery Blue Devils (6-0, 7-1) and a win over the Prince William Panthers (10-0). The weekend came as a little revenge for two real bad losses last season for the Eagles against the Blue Devils. Ryan Graham played strong in net when tested and the offense was very strong on special teams with a couple power play and shorthanded goals. The dilemma I see for the squirt team now is finding the competition to really push these kids as they have really walked over almost all their opponents. With the schedule really already set for most teams it looks like it may be difficult to get extra games schedule with higher end AA or even AAA teams. The Squirts will have a big test coming up in two weeks up in Boston in a AAA tournament. It should really challenge the kids and we will get a chance to see what they are made of.

The Bantams played one of the Storm teams while I was up in Md and earned a hard fought 7-5 victory. The Bantams will be traveling to Ashburn to take on the Xtreme and the Prince William Panthers. That will be the last tune-up before they take a trip up to Lake Placid for the first tournament of the season. I only hope a couple players can step up as team leaders here over the next week or two as it has really made a difference with the Squirts to have a captain and assistant captains who really command respect.

Eagles Take Game 1

The Eagles Squirt team took game one from Montgomery 6-0. The score was not indicative of the play though as the game was back and forth between the two teams. The Blue Devils had some great chances but missed the net a couple times and when on net, Ryan Graham came up with some big saves. Justin Hall led the way for the Eagles with 2 goals. Sean Gelband picked up a shorthanded goal and Cord Roberts put in his first of the season on the power play to start the scoring. Cooper Rogers and Austin Bell also had goals in the 6-0 win over Montgomery.

While I am happy with the way the kids played against a very good opponent, we were very sloppy in our own end of the ice and our passing could have been much better. We are going to need to sure that up in order to not only win the game tomorrow, but also be ready for AAA hockey up in Boston in two weeks.

Long Time, No Blog

Well it has been a crazy couple of weeks between hockey and work. With the whole AIG mess ( I used to be an agent with AIG American General) and a crazy hockey schedule, I haven't had much time to update the blog. Since I last posted, the Squirts suffered their first loss of the season to the Charlotte Checkers 4-3. It was nice to see them bounce back in the next game with a convincing 6-2 win in the second game of the weekend. The Bantams played Richmond and recorded their first tie and followed that up with the first win of the season. The team is showing progress, but it will take a much better dedication in practice for the team to truly get to where we want to be. My biggest disappointment so far with the bantams is that I really haven't see anyone step up and assume some sort of leadership roll. Maybe someone will step up soon, but that will be up to the individual.

The following weekend both teams traveled to Greensboro to play the Stars. The bantams had two games on Saturday. In the first game the team showed little emotion and effort. The Stars had their way with us in all ends of the ice and really controlled the game. After a little heart to heart (well at least i hope some of the kids took it to heart) before the second game, the team came out much better with a lot more jump and was able to earn a split of the two games by taking the second game from Greensboro. The Squirts on the other hand had no trouble with the Stars. The first game the Eagles let up maybe 1 shot on goal in a 10-0 win. The second game was much closer thanks to some great goaltending by the Stars goalie. It took a period and a half before we were finally able to start putting pucks past the Stars netminders and ended up with a 8-0 victory.

Over the next couple weeks both the Squirts and Bantams will have trips up to DC as well as each teams first big tournament of the year. The Squirts will be going up to Boston for a AAA tournament over Columbus Day Weekend while the Bantams will be going to Lake Placid the following weekend for a Can/Am tournament. Should be a busy couple weeks for myself.

Lastly, on top of all that is going on with hockey, I left my position with AIG in order to start my own independent insurance agency. I will be representing many of the top insurance companies in the world in order to provide my customers the right policies at the best price. It is a tough transition which requires a lot of time and effort, but one that I feel will be much better in the long run. Please, if you or anyone you know is either looking for some Life or Health insurance or would like a free insurance review please don't hesitate to referr me to them.

See everyone at the rink!

Home Opener

This weekend is the kick-off for the Eagles youth teams with everyone playing home games up at the Factory Ice House. My squirt team is going to be taking on the Charlotte Checkers who we beat twice in the Labor Day tournament up in Chesapeake, Va. The Checkers were a very challenging team to play against and should be a very tough opponent this weekend as they look for some payback. The Bantams will be looking to rebound from some tough losses down in Charlotte last weekend when they take on the Richmond Royals. Hopefully the lessons learned last weekend will help the Bantams come out with some more intensity and play with more pride while they look for the first win of the season. Should be a good weekend of hockey coming up.

Time to Get Things in Full Swing

The bantams (well at least the ones that can make it) will travel on late notice down to Charlotte this weekend to take on the Checkers AA team. This will give me a great chance to take a look at the players who will be making the trip and see how they play in game situations and speed. Being away from the Bantam level for as long as I have, this weekend will also give me a chance to see another Bantam level team and start to get a feel for where the team should truly be. While this will not be our first game as an entire team, it will give me a little bit better basis for my practices going forward and helping prepare this team for the following weekend when we kick off our season at home.

Squirts Win Labor Day Tournament

The Eagles squirt team started off it's season in Chesapeake, Va taking part in the Labor Day Primer at the Chilled Ponds. Team team came in with some confidence coming off of two wins previously against the Hampton Whalers and was looking to continue their dominate play with the first tournament of the season.

The tournament started off on Friday night with a game against the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Huskies. The Huskies were over matched from the get go and the Eagles were off to a soaring start to the tournament with a 14-0 win. Saturday welcomed another challenge from the Hampton Whalers. This was a game where we could secure a spot in the finals if we were able to win all three periods just like we did against the Huskies. The kids came out strong with 4 goals in the first and never looked back taking the game 11-1.

Sunday was going to be a long day for everyone as we had games at 6:40am, 10:40am, and a championship at 3:50pm. Our early game was against the Charlotte Checkers who were going to be our biggest test as they are a very good AA team. We came out very tired and sluggish with the early start and went down 0-2 after the first period. That was a big wake-up call to the kids and really helped get into top gear. Led by a hat trick by Matthew Doudnikoff, the Eagles stormed back to score 6 unanswered goals and take the game 6-2 setting up the rematch in the championship game between the two NC foes. Before the championship game, the Eagles had to finish up pool play with a game against the Peninsula Prowl. The kids spent the game working on passing plays and played a conservative game to help rest up for a championship game. Beating the Prowl 7-1 gave the eagles a perfect 5-0 record in pool play and only lost 1 period the entire time. The kids went for some food and rest to get ready for a Charlotte team that would be looking to return the favor of the early morning and steal the title from under the Eagles wings.

The Championship game was as exciting as they get. The Eagles made sure to come out with some fire after letting the Checkers get up early in the game before. With goals by Matt Cwikla and Sean Traynor the Eagles finished the first period up 2-0 and after a scoreless second peirod, set up an exciting final period of hockey for the Championship. The teams traded scoring chances early in the period with Charlotte looking to close the gap and the Eagles looking for a bigger cushion. Half way through the third period a defensive break-down lead to a Charlotte goal and a 2-1 lead for the Eagles. Charlotte followed their goal with some great scoring chances in which Eagles goalie Ryan Graham needed to be on his game to stop along some help from the post. With about 3 minutes remaining in the game, Skyler Hendriks picked up a puck at his own blue line and turned in the jets and went around the entire Checkers team to put a sweet deak on the Checkers goalie and extend the lead back to 2 for the Eagles. Matt Doudnikoff finished off the scoring with about a minute left on the power play and secured the Championship for the Eagles. Overall the Eagles outscored their opponents 42-5 and really left Chesapeake with a lot of confidence on the strength of the team. With some hard work in the coming months the Eagle look to continue their winning streak and get ready for a AAA tournament in Marlborough, Mass.