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