Aston, PA --  The Little Flyers looked to capture their 3rd straight Eastern Hockey League Regular Season Championship this past weekend, the team needed just one point in the standings to capture the cup.  The weekend presented two tough opponents in the Walpole Express and division rival Philadelphia Revolution.  Coming off of three straight games that ended in either a shootout or overtime loss the Little Flyers wanted to get back into the win column before the final three games of the year.         

                Sam Kany, the league leader in wins got the start in net for the Little Flyers.  The game was back and forth early with both teams trying to get on the scoreboard first.  A little over midway through the first period Little Flyers forward Brett Abdelnour carried the puck into the Express zone in a 2-on-2 situation, cutting across the slot Abdelnour backhanded the puck off the post.  Chris Bracco, following the play got the puck over to a wide open Konsta Jaakola who buried the puck in the back of the net for his 5th goal of the season.  The Jaakola goal was the only scoring of the first period.

                The Little Flyers dominated play in the second period, out shooting the Express 21-10.  Even with the wide shot disparity in favor of the Little Flyers, the game remained a close 1-0 contest.  With less than four minutes remaining, Alex Peterson was able to capitalize for the Little Flyers to extend the lead to 2-0.  Peterson took a cross ice pass from linemate Christian Karbler and deposited the puck in the net for his 15th goal of the season, Peter Hatton also assisted on the play.  The third period started with the Little Flyers on the power play looking to add to the lead.  Just 44 seconds into the period Chris Best took a pass from Ziki Mroz and one timed it past the Express goaltender for his first goal of the season,  Best’s power play goal was also assisted by Alex Ochterbeck.  The final scoring of the day for the Little Flyers came just a minute and a half later when Nate Rogers was looking for a line change and shot the puck on net from the red line.  The Walpole goalie deflected the puck straight up in the air and lost sight of it, the puck came down and landed behind the goalie and in the net.  Kany maintained strong in net, stopping all 11 shots he faced in the third period.  The 29 save shutout was Kany’s 19th win of the season.  The victory gave the Little Flyers their 3rd straight Eastern Hockey League Regular Season Championship and locked up the #1 overall seed in the playoffs.  “Winning the regular season title is a fantastic accomplishment for this group but, winning three consecutive league titles is an even more impressive feat.  It is a testament to the organization as a whole and the commitment to the culture we try to build here” said Little Flyers General Manager and Head Coach Rocky Russo following the game. 

                Less than 24 hours after capturing the league’s regular season title, the Little Flyers were back at it on Sunday with Mid-Atlantic division rival Philadelphia Revolution making a visit to IceWorks for the two teams final matchup of the season.   Joe Giacobbo got the start for the Little Flyers, looking for his 18th win of the season.  Four days prior the Revolution beat the Little Flyers 1-0 in overtime.  Just 1:19 into the game the Revolution opened the scoring on a goal by Collin Appleton.  The Little Flyers had to chance to respond almost immediately as they went on the power play but were unable to capitalize.  A few minutes later the Revolution extended their lead to 2-0 when Haytham Oeid scored on an odd man rush into the Little Flyers zone.  The Little Flyers fought back when they were able to cut the lead in half with a power play goal from leading goal scorer Jamie Bucell.  Penalty Killing units of the Little Flyers successfully stopped a Revolution power play that included a 5-on-3 chance.  Just five seconds after the power play expired, Revolution forward Guy Roby put a puck past Giacobbo from the slot to take a 3-1 lead.  The first period would end with the Revolution leading 3-1 and outshooting the Little Flyers 16-13. 

                To begin the second period the Little Flyers made a goalie change, inserting Sam Kany into the lineup.  A Revolution elbowing penalty just 33 seconds into the second period gave the Little Flyers a chance to get cut into the Revolution lead.  The Little Flyers power play unit was able to get the job done with a goal from Oliver Arnberg, his 18th of the season.  Peter Hatton passed the puck to Cameron Bartkoski at the point; Bartkoski fired a puck towards the net that was deflected by Arnberg.  The game tying goal came just over two and a half minutes later, courtesy of Joey Savel.  Ian Kwant passed the puck through the middle to a cutting Savel, who tapped the puck ahead to Alex Peterson, Peterson gave the puck back to Savel, and cutting in on net the puck was deflected by the Revolution goaltender off of Savel and into the net to tie the game at 3-3.  The Little Flyers would take the lead later in the third period when the line of Brett Abdelnour, Joey Savel and Alex Peterson sustained pressure in the Revolution zone with strong work along the boards.  Peterson got the puck moving towards the net and unleashed a backhander that went five hole and into the net.  The goal, Peterson’s 16th of the season was assisted by both Abdelnour and Savel.  In a period dominated by the Little Flyers offense, Kany and the defense did their job only allowing ten shots on goal with no goals against. 

                The third period was another strong defensive effort by the Little Flyers, only allowing seven shots on goal.  In the final minutes of the period the Revolution pulled their goaltender in favor of an extra attacker.  Looking to hold on for the victory, all five players on the ice for the Little Flyers went into full defensive mode, selling out to make defensive plays and blocking shots.  Bucell opened the scoring for the Little Flyers and he closed it as well.  Gaining possession of the puck with less than eight seconds left, Peter Hatton passed the puck up to Bucell who was all alone and deposited the puck in the net with two seconds remaining.  The win is the teams 37th of the season, tying the win total of the 2014-15 Little Flyers, which is most all time in a season for an EHL team. 

Kany Named to EHL’s Thee Stars of the Week

Little Flyers 1996 born goaltender, Sam Kany received his 3rd Star of the Week honor of the season.  Kany, was in net for the game Saturday when the Little Flyers won their 3rd straight EHL Regular Season Championship, recording his 5th shutout of the season.  The next day Kany entered the game in relief after the first period, made 15 saves and picked up the win in the Little Flyers 5-3 come from behind victory.  Kany, currently ranks near the top of the EHL’s goaltender statistical categories including the league leader in both wins (20) and Save Percentage (.946), and ranks second behind teammate Joe Giacobbo in Goals Against Average (1.32).  The Phoenix, Az native is in his second full season with the Little Flyers and has amassed an impressive 38-10-2 record.