Florida Ice Hockey

I just came across a great article  on  “How Young is Too Young for Serious Travel Hockey”  If you have a few minutes and you are a parent of a youth hockey player you should take the time to read it.  Also leave a comment and tell us what you think.  I have been a hockey parent for the last 5 seasons and my outlook on where my son was going to where he could go have changed.  I really think that if he can push himself on the ice and more importantly in the class room, he just might be able to get himself into a good college someday.

Here is the link to the article and please let me know what you think on the topic in a comment.

How young is too young for serious travel hockey?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Ice Dreams (timesunion.com)
• It’s A Hockey Thang (endoftheworld-signtopia.blogspot.com)

The Florida Eels Junior C team was undefeated this past weekend against the Tampa Bay Bolts, putting the Eels in first place position in the Southeast Junior Hockey League.  This comes on the heels of last weeks SEJHL Showcase where the Eels went 2-2.  The Eels got off to a rough start losing the first 2 games at the showcase 6-0 to Palm Beach and 5-0 to Tampa Bay.  They rebounded in their final two games of that weekend by defeating the Space Coast Hurricanes 4-3 in both games.

The Eels started off the first game of this weekend down 1-0 against Tampa Bay in the first.  Ben Wetmiller of the Eels took the puck end-to-end assisted by goalie Corry Johnson to tie the score.  With only one minute left in the 2^nd period Tampa scored and again moved into the lead.  KJ Bell of the Eels responded only 38 seconds20later, assisted by Taylor Barnett and Wetmiller – making it an even game going into the 3^rd.  The Eels were not to be outdone again by Tampa and put two more unanswered pucks into Tampa’s n! et.  Jordan unassisted,  and the 2^nd by Michael Scalisi assisted by Jordan to finish the game with a 4-2 victory.

Sunday, the Eels came out strong scoring 4 unanswered goals in the first.  Bell scored the first goal assisted by Rajen Mukherjee and Lincoln Green-Vamos.  Dion Pipia was next with an assist from Cody Peakman and Richey Boyd.  Peakman then picked up a rebound by Pipia and Wetmiller making the score 3-0.  Less than a minute later Boyd took the puck end-to-end and put one in top shelf.  Michael Scalisi, assisted by Boyd had the Eels next and final goal of this game in the 2^nd period.  Tampa put two in the Eels net in the 3^rd period against goa! lie Yussup Amirkhanov making the score 5-2 Eels.

The Florida Eels Junior B team is fire on ice this season.  They defeated the Tampa Bay Bolts last week in their opening weekend series 2-1 and 4-2.  They continued this effort in this last weekend’s Metropolitan Hockey League’s Showcase in Philadelphia.

The Eels Junior B team came out solid this weekend defeating the Charleston Wolverines twice over the weekend  4-2 and 5-2.  Zack Buckland led the team with 4 goals in the 2 games, while Wehebe Darge had a hat trick in the second game against the Wolverines. Nathan Makler shut down  the Wolverines offensively between the pipes only allowing 2 goals in the 2 games.

The Eels first loss of the season was to the Long Island Royals.  Down 3-1 at the end of the first, the Eels fought back with two goals in the final period.  The Royals slipped one by Martinez to make the final score 4-3. 

Despite the loss to Long Island, the Eels are leading the MET league in wins and points.  In addition the Eels have three of their forwards amongst the leading scorers in the MET League – Joey Giambalvo (8p), Zach Buckland (7p), and Cody Boyd (5 p).

The Florida Eels will be hosting a SEJHL Junior Tournament on Labor Day Weekend, starting saturday September 5, 2009 – Sunday September 6th, 2009

Next weekend marks the opening weekend for the Florida Eels Junior C team. The Eels are fileding two teams this year. the Junior C and Junior B squads.  The 4 Junior C teams from the Florida Division will battle it out for the Showcase Championship.  These will  be very exciting games. Come and meet and support the many new faces of the Florida Eels. We have added 14 new players this year to our program and we look forward to you and your family being in attendance and supporting our local teams.  Below are the dates and times of our games.

Leave a comment on this blog post if you would like.  Thanks

An Alliance is Forged…

The Florida Eels and the Tampa Black Bears will joining forces in the 09/10 youth ice hockey season here is Florida.  The two teams will be coming together to form a Bantam A team.  This joint venture came to be this past Saturday night as the Bantam age players for the eels were holding a skills clinic.  Coach Frank Scarpaci and Coach Chris Frontiero of the Black Bears put there heads together while at the Fort Myers Skatium to bring the teams together.  In the upcoming season the Bantam A team will be wearing both the Florida Eels jerseys and the Tampa Black Bear jerseys throughout.

“With this agreement comes the ability to expose youth hockey players, in the Tampa Bay area, to what I believe is the finest hockey program in the southeast” said Coach Frontiero.  “We are very happy to have the Florida Eels as our sister affiliate.”

Coach Scarpaci said,”The black bears are well run and this is an opportunity to open some doors for the and for us.  Having the bears as our sister affiliate just makes our program here that much more accessible.  Our goals are the same, to get as many of these kids to college as we can.  And perhaps even some day see the first Florida born player in the NHL.”

If you would like more information on the Florida Eels youth hockey teams or this article you can check out the
Florida Eels website.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Should I pay less because my son is a bench warmer?
• GTHL says exorbitant ice fees are bleeding league of annual funds
• Respect training eyed for hockey
• Summer hockey: Do kids really need it?

I am proud to announce that another one our Florida Eels Elite player has reached his lifelong  dream of playing NCAA Div. 3 College Hockey.  Andrew Haber, who played for the Eels Bantam AAA team and the Midget U-16 AAA Team and most recently our Junior Team, has been accepted to Skidmore College in New York. It is extremely exciting for Andrew and his family. Andrew has been a solid defense-man for the Eels for years. He is an extremely smart player who goalies love to have protecting the defensive zone. Andrew can also rack up the points as well. He is a constant threat offensively. The past 2 years Andrew has also played for the Elite Prep School Lawrence Academy in Massachusetts.

At Lawrence, Andrew was one of several former Eels on their squad. We all look forward to Andrew playing NCAA Hockey for Skidmore. We are all very proud to see another member of our Eels progress to this elite level. A warm note also goes to Andrew’s dad, “Doc Haber” who generously demoted so much of his time and efforts to our Eels.  Thank you and congratulations.

Florida Eels Junior Teams Tryout This Sunday
June 14, 2009

Come Join the most Exciting Junior Program in Florida.

Six Players making the MJHL All Star Team
Six Players in the Top  20 in League Scoring
36 Alumni20off playing in Div 1 and 3 College Hockey
2 Alumni this year on NHL Central Scouting Expected to go in this year’s NHL Draft
1 Alumni Already Drafted to the NHL
1 Alumni former Captain of the NTDP
400 Hours of on Ice Practice-2 hours a day 5 days a week 40 weeks a year
250 Hours of off-ice conditioning
New England College Tour 12-15 schools
3 College Showcases
Minimum of 3 hours per week of SAT/ACT Educational Training
College Advising and Counseling
Game and Practice Video Analysis

The Florida Eels will be fielding two teams this year. One in the MJHL (Junior B) and one in the SEJHL ( Junior C) The Florida Eels will be hosting a joint tryouts to provide all of its prospects and opportunity to be evaluated by coaches from the Junior B and C Teams.
The Tryout for the Florida Eels Junior teams are as follows:
 
June 14th 2009 Sunday 9am- 1pm
They will be held at the Fort Myers Skatium 2250 Broadway Fort Myers Florida 33901
Cost for players who are attending the Tryouts for the First Time is $50.00

For more information please contact Frank Scarpaci e-mail scarpacif@aol.com or 941-400-9023
Take a look at our web www.floridaeels.org

The Florida Eels Jr Team has an incredible showing at the New England NHL Pre Draft Showcase winning 2 games and losing one to the Nationally renowned Bean Town Bullies.

The Eels fought a hard battle against the Beantown Bullies Friday morning at 7:00 am. In the stands watching the Eels were 11 Div I and 3 Colleges including BU BC Northeastern, Holy Cross and others. Moreover, also in attendance were the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers. 

Despite the loss, the Eels played phenomenal. The average size of the Beantown and New Jersey and the Hitman players was over 6’0 tall. The Beantown Bullies had over 16 players who played Major Junior, Prep School or Junior A Elite and the Hitman had an equally potent group of boys. 

Eels Sniper Marcus Marion Schools Walpole Top Goalie in Pre Draft

At the Hitman game and Walpole game the arena was packed with at least 30 scouts from the New England Colleges in observance of those games.
The Walpole Express fell to the Eels in a 5-2 old fashion barnburner. The Walpole Team had many of their Junior A and B players in that game

Over all the Eels had a fantastic weekend. The weekend was filled with enormous exposure opportunities and visibility unlike never before.

Florida Eel player Chad Darcy is off to UNH

     Chad Darcy commits to UNH. Chad Darcy has been with the Eels for Five years. It is extremely exciting that he will be going off to UNH this fall. Chad is a defenseman/forward who size no doubt has been imposing at 6’5” 210 pounds

     Chad Darcy has been with the Eels for Five years. It is extremely exciting that he will be going off to UNH this fall. Chad is a defenseman/forward who size no doubt has been imposing on his opponents, at 6’5” 210 pounds.

     Chad has been with the Eels for the last 5 years. He started with the Eels playing Bantam AAA, Midget AAA and with the Junior team. He attended Stephen Husmann Prep at JP Igloo and Edison Academic Center. Chad is definitely a by product of our intense training program. He came to the Eels from South Boston Mass as a young recruit and has excelled as one of our Elite players. There was never any doubt that he would reach his goals. He never sat back and took things for granted. Hard work on and off the ice. In school and out. As a player he reminds many scouts of Hale Gill.  We are very proud of this young man.

Related articles by Zemanta

• NCAA men’s division 1 ice hockey tournament: New Hampshire-North Dakota, who wins? (hubdub.com)

Iain Guzinski, former Eel’s Junior player has joined the US Marines. Iain is the second member of the 2007-08 Eels Junior Team to join the Armed Services. We all remember, Josh Marion joined the Army last year. Josh is currently serving his tour of duty in Iraq.
 
Iain played 2 years for the Eels Junior team. He graduated from Edison Academic Center last Spring. He is 6’4″ tall weighing 220 pounds and all muscle. His physical presence was well known amongst the SEJHL opponents and the many teams we played up north in the dozens of tournaments we played in New England and Michigan. Iain was a specimen for physical fitness and training. He spent at least 1 ½ hours each day at the Ft Myers Skatium fitness center.
 
Although Iain had several opportunities to attend colleges up north, including Daniel Webster University and Bridgewater State College, he chose to defer college while he served his country. I was not the least bit surprised when Iain announced he was going to defer his plans on attending college. He was a patriot from the words get go. He is so proud of being an American. He believes in the virtues of our great Nation, of Freedom, Independence and Democracy. He often spoke often about joining the Marines.
 
We all know Iain by his imposing size. But as his coach, teacher and mentor, I knew an other side of him: A kinder, softer and caring young man. He was a strong believer in god, attended church twice a week. Not too many people knew this but when others were talking about who their favorite NHL player was, Iain would often speak to me about issues of right and wrong, morality and justice… Iain was a champion of the underdog. He never liked anyone taking advantage of another person or was sensitive to the guy who stood alone or newcomers. He would be first to volunteer to help out as well. He showed absolute respect for adults and authority.
 
We here at the Eels are indeed extremely proud of Iain. Just like his teammates who have gone on to seek their quest in college, Iain too has sought to reach his dreams as a Marine. It is boys like Iain who sacrifice their time and lives to represent and defend the interest of the USA. We thank you Iain from the bottom of our hearts. Good Luck and God Bless.