Aces top Mulligans 2-1 on the back of a beauty by 'The Brick'

The Flying Aces gave a half hearted Mulligan home crowd little to cheer about Sunday night. The Aces came in shorthanded, missing key players Mike Gianetti, Bill Marcolini and Josh Lovering. Unable to run the 'Black Powder' and the 'Grind' line, Captain Darren Jones mixed and matched players for maximum offensive output. With six defensemen, assistant captain Ryan Bleck, aside from the usual defensive lines was able to set up a 'Shock and Awe' D line consisting of Mike Petersen and hot handed Ace newcomer Kevin Brown.

 

…And so the puck was dropped and the music stopped.

The Flying Aces, in attack formation, crossed the red line into enemy territory. They flew toward what many consider the best net minder in the Federal C League. The Aces peppered him with shots as they searched for signs of weakness. On the other side of the pond, the Mulligans' attack was equally intense. But Minarik stood tall and denied all of their opportunities. Midway through the first, Kevin Smith, who can't seem to figure out teamsnap, figured out the Mulligan goalie. Smith grabbed a pass from 'Juvy' Lou Johnson and buried it, to give the Aces the first goal of the game. Shortly thereafter, Ryan Warn and Smith had an impromptu meeting in the penalty box, giving the Mulligans a huge 5 on 3 power play opportunity. But 'The Brick' and the Aces' D successfully killed it and kept the Mulligans of the board. But with mere seconds left in the first, the Mulligans managed to sneak one by Minarik to tie the game.

 

The second period was a sloppy one. Both clubs were unable to capitalize on power plays as the game became a bit rougher. But when young Ace, Ryan Warn, hit Kevin Brown with a sharp pass, Brown barrel rolled behind the net and went for a sweet wraparound goal. It went in. Brown had his second goal in as many games. And the Flying Aces regained the lead. Toward the end of the second the Mulligans rushed the net in a two on one situation. The Mulligan crowd roared to life as a shot was blasted toward Minarik. But the silence returned when Nick 'The Brick' opened his glove and gave the captured puck to the ref. The third period saw the Mulligans get some great looks and several shots on goal. But to no avail. And as time ran out, the Mulligan net empty, The Flying Aces were victorious with a 2 and 0 record.

 

First Star Patch honors went to Nick Minarik for an outstanding performance against a powerhouse team. Minarik's fourth patch tied him up with team leader, Mike Petersen. Critics of the big offseason trade are beginning to see the light on Kevin Brown. And they will get their first look at Kyle Turner next Sunday when the Aces battle CBK.  After the game the Aces migrated to the Aspen Clubhouse to take in some Ranger/Canadian playoff hockey and converse with Dad Minarik. But due to a 'soft' Ace Case and tired rink management, the Aces were forced to take their party on the road. They ended up at Cryans in Annandale. The Jones brothers, Bleck, 'Donny', 'The Brick' and Ace super fan, Rebecca Brendler, watched the Rangers OT win and drank with the locals amongst 'GO ACES' chants and a delicious pizza compliments of Craig Jones. As the amazing night came to an end, Rebecca Brendler's dreams came true. She was asked to step up and drive the Ace Eurovan(2-0-1) safely home.

Aces start season 5 on a high note with 9 goal performance against 'instant rival' The Regulars

The time off gave Melick's Flying Aces of Flemington some space to get over a painful and questionable finals, overtime loss. But the Aces GM was quite busy in the offseason with a fan shocking, landmark, four player trade that sent Brian Herzhauser, Mark Herzhauser, Chris Anderson and Kevin Breuer to the new Federal C League club, The Regulars. In return, the Aces acquired defenseman Kevin Brown, Kyle Turner and two players to be named later. And leave it up to the mighty AIAHL to set the schedule with a season opening battle between the two clubs.

 

The contest started off a defensive battle with both goalies stopping all attempts. But the Aces quickly let the packed house know that this was their night. With a hat trick from Kevin Smith, 2 goals from 'Juvy' Lou Johnson and goals from Darren Jones, 'Donny' Donahue, Ryan Warn and new Ace, Kevin Brown, the AIAHL South Conference champs took off and did not look back. 'Shock and Awe', 'Black Powder' and the 'Grind Line' each played to their powers. Assist contributions came from Ryan Warn, Mike Petersen, Matt Stockwell, Bill Marcolini, Josh Lovering and 2 from Captain Jones. The Aces D Force played hard and angry hockey. Assists came from Ryan Bleck and Eric Kuszinier. And Nick 'The Brick' Minarik had quite an assortment of tremendous saves including a sweet stop on a penalty shot in the 2nd. It was a powerful C league, season opening statement. The Regulars played well in their first game, lighting the lamp 4 times. Including a late goal from X Ace Mark Herzhauser.

 

First Star honors went to Flying Ace Captain Darren Jones for his 3 point performance. 'Dream Weaver' Jr, Tray Weaver received the Fan of the Night award for his Flying Ace shirt, poster and game time chant, herd by the entire Ace bench. The Ace EuroVan(1-0-1) was loaded with a record 5 Flying Aces responsible for 4 of the teams 17 points. And finally, Saturday, Flying Ace Bill Marcolini, held true to his promise that an Ace playoff win was the only way he would show his 1 hour Flying Ace documentary WE BEAT WHACK-A-MOLE to the squad. The build up was classic. Aces were not permitted to drink until scoring 3 goals on Marcolini's son, who was suited up and was making some great saves. Bill made the boys burgers, pulled pork and hosted a fine party that went to midnight. Other highlights included a high stakes horse race with winnings going to Josh Lovering and Ryan Bleck handing out his folk LP 'One From Home' to his teammates. There are rumors of the two having a little post game jam session later in the season. Mike Petersen honored his responsibility as a hockey coach and left the party early to run a full house at Aspen Ice Hockey Skills.

Our next game is Sunday, May 25th against cup champs the Shamrock/Muligans. We're going gray boys.

-#19 Bleck

Aces amazing 2 goal comeback in the closing minutes of regulation can't keep Shamrocks from the cup

 With under two minutes left in game 3 and down 3-5, the Aces took advantage of two shamrock penalties and pulled goalie Nick Minarik, for a 6 on 3 situation. It wasn't just the 'Shock and Awe' line though. It was the 'turbo charged, Super Shock and Awe line. You had the usual lethal combo of Mike Petersen, Kevin Smith and Ryan Warn. And then, elite defenseman, Derek 'Dream' Weaver, slap shot blaster, Mike Gianetti and Aces' team captain, Darren Jones. And the result was a tie game at the end of regulation. Two amazing goals that I will never forget. And from that point on it was up to the hockey gods. And on that cool night in May, the gods smiled on the Shamrocks.




Thanks to Bill Melick for picking up the tab on our away grays.  On to Season 5


(Article abbreviated due to stalkers from other c league teams)

Shamrocks take game two and force a third

It was a hard loss for the Flying Aces as the Shamrocks put an end to their 5 game winning streak. The CUP was in house and the Aces battled like warriors for it. The Shamrocks scored first on a powerplay goal, sneaking the puck past Minarik's left pad. Josh Lovering scored for the Aces on a sweet breakaway in the second. The game would remain tied at 1 until half way through the third period when the Shamrocks took the lead. Another Shamrock goal with under four to play gave them the 3-1 lead.



Game 3, for the cup, will be played Wednesday, May 7 at 8:30. Matt Stockwell is a healthy scratch. 'Juvy' Lou Johnson is going to try to postpone his education a few days for another shot at C league glory and Craig Jones will be arriving on time. This will be the Aces' 51st game. Several Flying Aces will take the official Aces Euro Van to the game. The van is forest green and seats seven. It is available to Aces living in the Clinton, High Bridge and Califon area. And it is said that 'Sky Pilot', (The Animals psychedelic offering that charted at #14 in 1967) the Aces theme song will be played in route to the big game. Go get them boys!!

-Bleck #19

The Flying Aces Take Game One in Shocking Fashion

The Shamrocks are a powerhouse team. And they came to game one heavily undermanned. But this is the AIAHL finals. If you are going to miss a game, this isn't the one to miss. And the Melick Flying Aces of Flemington knew this to be true. The full 16 man roster showed. Complete with game faces, pregame jitters, child like excitement and and Federal C league pride, the Aces took the ice. It was time to take advantage of a solid but shorthanded hockey club. The Aces, happy to have Matt Stockwell and Bill Marcolini back on the 'grind line', yet knowing they would not have 'Juvy' Lou Johnson for the remainder of the series were up for the call to battle. When the Shamrocks took advantage of a 5 on 3 situation and scored, the Aces knew they had to strike back quickly. They did, keeping pace with their clover clad foes. When the Shamrocks scored again, Nick 'the brick' Minarik slammed his stick against the crossbar in anger. Filled with passion and frustration, he slammed it again on the ice. The Aces looked on knowing a 2-1 deficit in the first period wasn't the worst situation to be in. And also, maybe wondered if Nick could regane his composure. And it was at that very moment that this reporter saw a change in Minariks play. Nick 'the brick', seemingly overdosed with confidence, cleared his head, and then stood on it for the rest of the game. The young netminder stopped any and all shots on goal with poise, presence and cat like agility. Minarik shut down the Shamrocks, holding them at two goals until the final minutes of the third period when they broke their offensive silence. But by then it was far too late, as the Aces' aerial attack squadron had already lit the lamp seven times. The 'Shock and Awe' line was relentless. The 'Grind line' played smart and fast. Captain Jone's line was lethal. All six defensemen blocked shots, broke up plays and made the Shamrocks battle for every inch of ice they could get. As time ran out and the buzzer roared, the Flying Aces had an 8-3 game one victory. And as the Aces surrounded their goalie, they knew this job was far from over. The Shamrock team they will face Tuesday night at Aspen Ice will be stronger and very angry. But in the meantime the Flying Aces will enjoy what could be their greatest win in franchise history.

Nick Minarik grabbed the first ever Finals First Star Patch on unanimous votes. It's his second patch of the season and third of his Aces career. Game 2 will be played on Tuesday, May 6 at 8:30.
Guys, it's the finals so we don't keep stats. The game is to important to keep track of who did what. So if you scored, assisted or spent time in the box, please let me know by 6:00 PM Monday when I update the stats.  
-Bleck #19

Aces Take Out Preds and Head to the Finals, Guns a Blazing

It was a clash of the Federal C league titans prime time Thursday night. The Flying Aces welcomed The Predators to the Aspen Ice Arena for the AIAHL Confrence Finals. The 8 seeded predators came in with confidence, boasting a 6-0 lifetime record against the 4 seeded Aces. Aspen Ice staff were out early cleaning the fogged glass as the dehumidafier went down shortly before game time. The Preds came out slugging, sneaking one past Minarik's left pad early in the first. The charged Aces' crowd were still finding their way to their seats. But by the time they found them, Flying Ace defenseman, Eric Kuszinier, introduced the puck to the back of the Predators net. With the game tied it was the Predators turn to strike and take the the lead. But their low key celebration was cut short when Josh Lovering scored his first of the night. A short time later Lovering put in his second to take the lead and possibly to pay homage to Matt 'Donny' Donahue's two goal performance in the first round of the playoffs. The Predators bouced back and tied the game at 3 late in the first. And then with only a couple precious minutes left in the period, Mike Petersen fed Derek 'Dream' Weaver a perfect pass, and Weaver one-timed it home to give his Aces a 4-3 lead.

The Predators play became choppy in the second. But the Aces could not take advantage of several powerplay oppertunities or a penalty shot. They seemed to be happy though, not giving up any shorthanded goals. Nick 'The Brick Wall' Minarik, back from tourney play in Montreal on a rival squad, stood tall in net and shut out the Preds in the second. And by the end of the period, goals by Brian Herzhauser and Mike Gianetti gave the Aces a very comfortable 6-3 lead.

The third period started with strong Flying Aces defense and ended with near fatal, mental breakdowns. There was under five minutes left in the game when Kevin Smith, apparently jealous of Dream Weaver's collection of penalty minutes, realized a double minor would tie them both at 20 minutes for the season. Brian Herzhauser was also sent to the box, and this reporter still isn't sure why. The Predators took advantage of the situation and scored their fourth of the night. Then defenseman Ryan Bleck must have thought he was playing goalie for the High Rollers again. Bleck went 'turtle' and covered the puck behind the net drawing a two minute delay of game penalty. With three Aces in the box, the Preds pulled their goalie and scored again. There was just over a minute to play, the Aces sent out their finest to kill a 4 on 6 situation... And they did!
The Melick Flying Aces of Flemington are going to the AIAHL Finals for a best of 3 matchup against The Shamrocks. Josh Lovering's two goal and one assist performance earned him his first ever First Star Patch. Darren Jones and Louie Johnson also had assists in Thursday's game. Bill Marcolini and Matt Stockwell were healthy scratches, but both will be on the ice for the finals. Game 1 is Sunday, May 4 at 9:00 PM.
-Bleck #19