Aston, PA – After enjoying 13 days off for the Christmas break the Eastern Hockey League’s Little Flyers returned to their home rink, IceWorks in Aston, PA to practice for a week before their first game of the new year “We wanted to get back to basics in a sense.  We touched on all aspects of our systems throughout the week in practice and made a point pf trying to do the little things that help us win” said Head Coach Rocky Russo.   Russo’s team, winners of 27 straight games will kick off the second half of the season on the road for their first eight games, three of which were played earlier in the week. 

                The first stop on the three game road trip was in Bridgewater, Massachusetts against the Boston Bandits, leaders in the EHL’s Boston division.  The Bandits put pressure on the Little Flyers early as they were able to create a turnover in the offensive zone, Bandits forward Scott Donahue was all alone with Little Flyers goaltender Sam Kany and was able to put a backhand shot behind the goaltender for a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.  Trailing 1-0 the Little Flyers would dominate the next 55 minutes of game play as they outshot the Bandits 45-18 in the game but as time winded down in the first period they still trailed on the scoreboard.  That changed with three seconds left in the period as Trevor Coykendall one timed a pass from Peter Hatton into the back of the net to tie the game right before the end of the period.  In may have been 19 degrees in Bridgewater but Coykendall and the Little Flyers offense would heat up after that goal.  Coykendall, a 1997 forward from Detroit would strike again early in the second period as he took a pass from Alex Peterson and put it past the Bandits goaltender to give the Little Flyers a 2-1 lead.  Coykendall would extend the lead just under three minutes later as Hatton won a faceoff that was passed back to defenseman Cameron Bartkoski by Oliver Arnberg.  Bartkoski shot the puck from the blue line that Coykendall got a piece of and ended up in the back of the net.  Coykendall’s natural hat trick all came on the power play and happened in less than six and a half minutes of gameplay.  “Trevor was a great addition to our program both on the ice and in the locker room.  He is an intelligent player that has proven himself capable of playing in all situations.  He has a knack for scoring big goals for us since he has been here and Sunday was no exception” said Head Coach Rocky Russo when asked about the addition of Coykendall to the Little Flyers midway through the first half of the season.    Oliver Arnberg who already had two assists in the game got in on the scoring as he took a pass from Alex Ochterbeck, spun around and fired a wrist shot past the Bandits net minder.  Christian Karbler capped the explosive offensive period for the Little Flyers as he scored his 13th goal of the season off of a backhanded pass from Joey Savel, Evan Heldt also assisted on the play.  Four of the Little Flyers 17 shots ended up in the net during the second period.  The third period was much of the same as goals from Peter Hatton, Cameron Bartkoski (power play), Chris Franzen and Brett Abdelnour added to the Little Flyers commanding lead.  When the final buzzer sounded the Little Flyers won the game 9-1, the win was Sam Kany’s 14th of the season.  Hatton (1 Goals & 3 assists) and Coykendall (3 Goals & 1 assist) both scored four points on the day. 

                After winning their 28th straight game the Little Flyers were back at it with an 8:30AM game against the East Coast Wizards.  The EHL’s leader in wins, save percentage, and goals against average Joe Giacobbo would get the start in net for the Little Flyers.  Both starting goalies kept the game scoreless through the first 17 minutes of play in the first period.  Little Flyers forward Oliver Arnberg scored the only goal of the period has he took a drop back pass from Peter Hatton, wound up and fired a slap shot past the Wizards goalie to take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.  Defenseman Ziki Mroz added to the lead less than a minute into the second period when he shot a wrister through traffic and into the back of the net, Christian Karbler assisted on the play.  Just over two minutes later a power play goal from Hatton on a pass from Coykendall gave the Little Flyers a 3-0 lead early in the second period.  Mroz would add to the lead again as he took a cross ice pass from Alex Ochterbeck and one timed for his second goal of the game.  The Little Flyers penalty kill would be key in the game as the Little Flyers were called for five penalties in the second half of the period.  It was a total team effort as the Little Flyers successfully killed off all five Wizard’s power plays.  The Wizard’s would score their only goal of the game at the 13:13 mark of the second period at even strength to cut the Little Flyers lead to 4-1.  Holding a three goal lead in the third period Giacobbo would come up big in net as he sprawled out and made a pad save on a Wizard’s breakaway to maintain his team’s 4-1 lead.  The lone goal of the third period would come courtesy of Jamie Bucell on the power play.  The Little Flyers won by a final score of 5-1, the win was Giacobbo’s 15th of the season.  Along with Ziki Mroz’s two goals, Oliver Arnberg led the way offensively totaling three points (1 Goal & 2 Assists)

                The third game of the road trip brought the Little Flyers to Vermont to play the Lumberjacks on Tuesday afternoon.  The Little Flyers goalie rotation was back to Sam Kany as he started the game in net for the black and orange.  The Little Flyers were on the power play just 57 seconds into the first period but were unable to capitalize.  Down the other end of the ice Kany was on his game as he made 14 saves in the first period.  The first goal of the game didn’t come until the 15:45 mark of the game on a similar play to the game winner against the JR. Flyers as Joey Savel won a faceoff by going around his man and dishing the puck across to his winger, in this case Trevor Coykendall who put the puck past the Lumberjacks goaltender.  The Lumberjacks would respond quickly as the Little Flyers lead lasted just 15 seconds, when the Lumberjacks were able to beat Kany off of a rebound opportunity.  The two teams would finish the first period locked at 1-1.  A Lumberjacks cross-checking minor gave the Little Flyers a chance to regain the lead but were unable to do so via the power play.  Six seconds after the man advantage expired Alex Peterson backhanded a puck towards the net that was deflect out to Peter Hatton in the circle, Hatton’s wrist shot found the back of the net to regain the lead for the Little Flyers.  Similar to the day before the Little Flyers penalty kill would be heavily relied on in the second period as the team was shorthanded three times in the period.  With less than five minutes remaining in the period and the Little Flyers shorthanded, a hardworking shift by Christ Best, Ziki Mroz, Jamie Bucell and Brett Abdelnour would turn to offense.  Abdelnour would take a clearing attempt the length of the ice on a breakaway and beat the Lumberjacks goalie for his first shorthanded goal of the season.  The effort by Abdelnour did not go unnoticed by his head coach “Brett has been such an important part of our team this year.  He has been one of our top penalty killers all season and makes big plays in big moments.  That goal was a huge momentum change for our team and helped to push us to a big win on the end of a very tough road trip” said Little Flyers Head Coach Rocky Russo following the road trip.  The Abdelnour goal was the final scoring of the game.  Kany’s 30 save performance resulted in his 15th win of the season, which ties his with teammate Joe Giacobbo for most in the EHL.  The win was the team’s 30th straight victory.      

WEEKEND WRAP UP
In the three games the Little Flyers outscored their opponents 17-3…. Peter Hatton (3 Goals & 4 Assists), Trevor Coykendall (4 Goals & 3 Assists) and Oliver Arnberg (2 Goals & 4 Assists) led the way offensively for the Little Flyers…. Sam Kany and Joe Giacobbo are currently tops in most EHL goaltending categories including tied for the league lead in Wins (15), Goals Against Average Giacobbo 1st  (1.04)  Kany 2nd  (1.31) and save percentage Giacobbo 1st (.951) Kany 2nd (.945)

WHAT’S NEXT
The EHL’s final showcase of the season, the Hooksett Showcase located in New Hapshire.  The Little Flyers will face the New England Wolves on Sunday with a rematch of the 2015-16 EHL Finals against the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs on Sunday, and wrap up the showcase against the Valley Jr. Warriors on Tuesday.  All games can be seen on HockeyTV.com