Aston, PA -- Fresh off of three wins at the Eastern Hockey Leagues Hudson Showcase the Little Flyers had three days to prepare for a tough weekend.  Defending EHL playoff champions, New Hampshire Monarchs were in town for a Friday afternoon game followed by a two game weekend series with the always tough Hartford Jr. Wolfpack.  The stretch of games had the Little Flyers playing six games in nine days, a true test physically and mentality for Head Coach Rocky Russo’s team.  “We had a short turnaround after playing Monday in the showcase so it was important to focus on some of the small mistakes we were making throughout the weekend. We focused on watching a lot of video and keeping practice relatively light from a physicality stand point.  Six games in nine days is a demanding stretch for any team so we have to be mindful of our players conditioning and ability to recover” said Russo on the short week of preparation. 

                Friday afternoon’s game was a rematch of the Eastern Hockey League Championship series from last season between the Little Flyers and New Hampshire Monarchs; Joe Giacobbo would get the start in net for the Little Flyers.  If the Little Flyers were going into the game looking for a quick start that’s exactly what they got, as co-captain Peter Hatton put the team up 1-0 just 55 seconds into the game.   Little Flyers forward Alex Peterson got in on the forecheck to poke the puck off of a Monarchs defenseman to Hatton in front of the net.  The Monarchs would answer back midway through the period to tie the game on a power play goal off of a deflection at the 8:22 mark of the first period.  Just over a minute and a half later Brett Abdelnour, would give the Little Flyers the lead for good as he took a pass from Chris Franzen into the Monarchs zone, made a move around a defender and chipped the puck past the Monarchs goaltender on the near side to take a 2-1 lead.  Jamie Bucell put the Little Flyers up by two just 47 seconds after Abdelnour’s goal.  Evan Heldt passed the puck to Bucell who curled to the slot with the puck and unleashed a wrister that beat the Monarchs goaltender over the shoulder.  The Little Flyers outshot the Monarchs 14-6 in the first period.  The only scoring in the second period came from first year Little Flyers defenseman Zikmund Mroz who scored a power play goal at the 8:42 mark of the period on a wrist shot from the top of the circle, Jamie Bucell and Alex Ochterbeck assisted on the play.  The defense and Giacobbo were solid throughout the game limiting the Monarchs to just 17 shots on goal.  “I thought that we stuck to our game plan, which was coming out with a great start.  Our defense did a great job keeping their gaps tight and our forwards did a great job back checking, limiting them to very few odd man rushes” said Giacobbo after the game.  The Little Flyers offense would add three more goals in the third period including Peter Hatton and Brett Abdelnour each scoring their second of the game and Oliver Arnberg added his first goal of the year to close out the game.  The 7-1 final score extended the Little Flyers winning streak to eight straight games.  After the game Coach Russo was happy with the overall defensive play of his team “I thought we were very sound in our defensive zone. We gave up only 9 Grade-A chances but more importantly we did a good job of limiting their sustained offensive possession time.  Our defensive core did a great job of moving pucks clean out of the zone and creating offensive chances on transition”.

                After coming off of a big win Friday the Little Flyers were back on the ice Saturday against the Hartford Jr. Wolfpack.  Saturday’s starting goaltender Sam Kany, knew his team would be up to the challenge “On Friday we played a full 60 minutes from start to finish.  We knew going in that whoever worked harder was going to be rewarded with a win.  The message was that nobody outworks us especially on our home ice.”  The hard work paid off early as the line of Alex Ochterbeck, Konsta Jaakola and Joey Savel created offensive pressure getting the puck towards the net.  A shot by Jaakola was saved by the Jr. Wolfpack goaltender; Ochterbeck tracking the puck got the rebound and back handed it high over the goalies glove for the early 1-0 lead.  The Wolfpack would try to answer back with some sustained pressure in the in the Little Flyers zone but couldn’t get the puck past Kany and the defense.  Both teams would have power play opportunities in the first period but neither could capitalize.  For the second straight day Jamie Bucell would score the Little Flyers second goal of the day to extend the lead to 2-0.  Oliver Arnberg passed the puck up to Nate Rogers who carried into the offensive zone on a 2on1 with Bucell, Rogers shot was fought off by the Wolfpack goalie and onto the stick of Bucell who shot the puck into the back of the net for his third goal of the season.  Two minutes later Rogers, Arnberg and Bucell were back at it, keeping the puck in the Wolfpack zone and getting several shots on net.  An Arnberg shot that missed high and wide was picked up by Rogers who came up the boards; drug the puck around a defender avoided a check and fired a shot past the Jr.Wolfpack goalie to go up 3-0.  The Jr. Wolfpack would cut the lead to 3-1 on an even strength goal by Jarrett Slear just three minutes into the second period.  The period belonged to the Jr. Wolfpack as they outshot the Little Flyers 16-8 while keeping possession in the Little Flyers zone for a substantial amount of time.  The Little Flyers penalty killing units were tested, as the team was shorthanded for six minutes in the second.  Kany would stand tall making 15 saves in the period to start the third period still leading 3-1.   Once again, Nate Rogers would strike, his second goal of the day extended the lead back to three just under four minutes into the third period.  The intensity grew in the third period as nine penalties were called; giving both teams the chance to go on the power play.  The Little Flyers power play would capitalize at the 6:34 mark of the third with a Joey Savel goal that was assisted by Alex Ochterbeck.  The Jr. Wolfpack power play would respond with a goal of its own just two minutes later to cut the Little Flyers lead back down to three.  The Jr. Wolfpack would not go away as they outshot the Little Flyers 12-11 in the period.  Little Flyers veteran Sam Kany finished the game with 33 saves while picking up his 5th win of the season.  “Hockey is a game of momentum. We had the momentum in the first, and then it shifted to the Wolfpack in the second. That's the type of team they are, they don't go down without a fight, but neither do we. The second period was a fun challenge, I'm sure Coach Russo wouldn't say the same thing but it was a good test for our defensive core.  In the game there were a handful of great plays by individuals, but we play as a team, and we win as a team” said Kany following the 5-2 victory Saturday. 

                Sunday’s game saw Joe Giacobbo in net for the Little Flyers and Kyle Carducci get the start for the Jr. Wolfpack, both goalies were tested early and often.  Back and forth would be the best way to describe the game as we saw nine goals scored with neither team scoring two goals in a row.  Jamie Bucell opened the scoring on a Little Flyers power play as he attempted to put back a rebound to Carducci’s left, after failing on the first attempt Bucell carried the puck behind the net to the other side and tucked it home for the 1-0 lead.  The Jr. Wolfpack answered back just over a minute later with a power play goal of their own.  Giacobbo saved a shot from the point but two Jr. Wolfpack players were poking away at the puck infront of the net, A.J. Przystawski was able to find the puck and put it in the net.  An Evan Heldt blast from the point would give the Little Flyers a 2-1 lead on their second power play goal of the day, Heldt’s 3rd goal of the season was assisted by Zikmund Mroz and Joey Savel.  Hartford’s Kevin Murphy tied the game back up off of a rebound put back mid-way through the second period.  The Little Flyers would retake the lead on Joey Savel’s first goal of the game as he deflected an Evan Heldt shot past the Jr. Wolfpack’s net minder with less than eight minutes remaining in the period.  As they did all day Hartford would answer back and in a hurry with Shane Visnick scoring the Jr. Wolfpacks third goal of the day on a tip in play to the left of the Little Flyers Giacobbo.  The Little Flyers power play unit was back on the ice a minute and a half later and they were attacking.   Zikmund Mroz took a shot that went wide, Joey Savel got the puck and shot it on net which got behind the Jr. Wolfpack goalie but didn’t cross the goal line, Savel continued to poke at it before it ended up in the back of the net for the 4-3 Little Flyers lead.  The third period would start with the Little Flyers leading 4-3.  For the last time of the day the Jr. Wolfpack would tie the game up just less than five minutes into the final period of play.  Neither team could break the tie with the action going back and forth until the 10:54 mark when Alex Ochterbeck dished a backhand pass from behind the Jr. Wolfpack net to Christian Karbler who shot the puck in for the eventual game winning goal.  Joe Giacobbo earned his 5th win of the season and the Little flyers extended their winning streak to ten games.  “That was a big win for us today, we had two tough teams this weekend and I thought we did a good job creating offense.  I think our line got some good chances and it feels good to contribute to the win today” said Little Flyers forward Joey Savel following the game. 

Bucell Named to League’s Three Stars of the Week, Little Flyers Named Team of the Week 

Forward Jamie Bucell has been named to the Eastern Hockey League’s Three Stars of the Week for his performance this weekend.  The 5’11” Garfield Heights, OH native lead the offensive charge for the Little Flyers with 7 points (3G, 4A).  “Jamie has been a huge part of our early season success.  He is playing the game at a very high pace and winning puck races and 1 on 1 battles.  Nate (Nate Rogers) and Arney (Oliver Arnberg) have done a good job on his line and together they have created a great spark for us offensively” said Coach Russo after the league announced the weekly awards.  Bucell knows hard work and communication has played a major role in the success of his line thus far “Our line has been working well together; the big thing for us is communication we are constantly talking to each other out there.  We want to be the first to every puck, get in there win the battles and create offense.”  For the second straight week the Little Flyers were named Eastern Hockey League’s Team of the week extending their winning streak to 10 games including 6 wins in just 9 days.