Twelve Dare Devils made the trek up to Buffalo for the annual Coach Mike Steffan Invitational Tournament. Despite the long drive, the weekend started off great when several members of the team watched the Buffalo Sabres take on the New York Islanders at KeyBank Center in Downtown Buffalo. The game featured a little bit of everything (big hits, fights and goals) and to the delight of Captain Ryan Griffin, the Fish Sticks narrowly escaped with a win. The Dare Devils had three games over the course of the weekend and were victorious in all contests, backed by steady goaltending from Taylor Esposito and great teamwork from the skaters. A special thank you goes out to the Buffalo Sabres Thunder for hosting such a first class event. We had a great time at the tournament and enjoyed the luncheon at the ballpark. Similar to last year, the coaching staff awarded stars of the game after each game. In addition to the game stars, the following Dare Devils were chosen as Stars of the Tournament: 3rd Star: James Cooney with 2 goals, 2 assists and great defense; 2nd Star: Shea Passikoff with 8 goals and 3 assists; Co 1st Stars: Captain Ryan Griffin with 2 goals, 13 assists and great defense and Superstar goalie Taylor Esposito with 3 victories while playing like his hero, Dominik Hasek. Below is a chronicle of each contest.
Dare Devils vs. The Buffalo Sabres Thunder Blue, 11/2/24 @ 9am:
The Dare Devils played a thriller against the host team in the opening game of the tournament. The game started as a goalie battle, with Dare Devils netminder Taylor Esposito making countless high danger saves. The teams traded chances in the early stages of the contest and Owen Silverstein netted the Dare Devils first score of the tournament off an assist from Captain Ryan Griffin. The game stayed close with the teams trading goals as the match progressed. Shea Passikoff scored the second NJ goal off an assist from Liam Smith, Captain Ryan Griffin blasted a snap shot into the upper corner following beautiful passing (assists going to Reese Citro and Aaron Quintana) and Patrick Law put the Dare Devils up by a score of 4 to 3 when he converted a beautiful goal assisted by Captain Ryan Griffin and Ayden Duran. However, the Sabres looked like they had the game wrapped up after they took a two goal lead with about 7 minutes left until the final buzzer. But the Dare Devils didn't drive all the way to Buffalo to give up and the team mounted a big comeback as the game wound down. Shea Passikoff buried a breakaway (assisted by Will Milazzo) to get the NJ squad within one and Liam Smith tied the score shortly thereafter by burying a wrist shot on the low blocker side of the talented Buffalo goalie. The game seemed like it would end in a tie until Will Milazzo gathered the puck on his own blue line and worked his way towards the Buffalo goal where he was able to seal the victory with a wrister into the corner of the net with about 17 seconds left on the scoreboard. In addition to the offensive heroics, James Cooney, Riley Chiselko Seickel, Reese Citro, Owen Silverstein and Captain Ryan Griffin all played spirited defensive games.
Stars of the game: 1st Star: Will Milazzo (game winning goal); 2nd Star: Taylor Esposito (unbelievable goal tending); 3rd Star: Owen Silverstein (goal and several great defensive plays)
Dare Devils vs. The Steel City Icebergs, 11/2/24 @ 2:30pm:
While the morning game was a defensive battle, our afternoon tilt against our friends from Pittsburgh was a wide-open contest with both teams trading chances throughout. Superstar goalie Taylor Esposito once again had to stand on his head to allow the Dare Devils to prevail in this contest. In addition to his stellar puck blocking, Esposito also contributed to the offense with an assist on NJ's opening goal. Even though the team didn't have their greatest defensive effort, they displayed great teamwork and were passing the puck to each other throughout the game. Following the lead of Captain Ryan Griffin, many of the Dare Devil players had great passing plays including beautiful assists from Reese Citro, Ayden Duran, James Cooney, Shea Passikoff, Aaron Quintana and Will Milazzo. The Dare Devils on the score sheet included Shea Passikoff with 5 goals and 2 assists, Patrick Law with 6 goals, Captain Ryan Griffin with 1 goal and 5 assists, Reese Citro with 2 goals and 4 assists, Owen Silverstein with 4 goals and 1 assist, Riley Chiselko Seickel with 4 goals, Liam Smith with 1 goal and 3 assists, Will Milazzo with 1 goal and 2 assists, James Cooney with 1 goal and 1 assist, Taylor Esposito with 1 assist, Ayden Duran with 1 assist and Aaron Quintana with 1 assist.
Stars of the game: 1st Star: Riley Chiselko Seickel; 2nd Star: Liam Smith; 3rd Star: Reese Citro
Dare Devils vs. The Albany Cougars, 11/3/24 @ 10am:
The Dare Devils continued to display great teamwork in their last game of the tournament while taking on the talented Cougar squad based out of New York's Capital Region. Following the lead of Captain Ryan Griffin, all of the Dare Devils players caught the sharing bug and went out of their way to make the extra pass throughout the game. Our heroes from NJ were once again led by the acrobatic goaltending of Taylor Esposito. Esposito flashed his cat-like glove on several occasions and showed great lateral movement in tracking the puck well all morning. The balanced performance of the team allowed them to narrowly squeak out a victory against the Cougars. James Cooney opened the scoring off an assist from Captain Ryan Griffin and New Jersey continued to keep the pressure on the strong Albany goaltender. Some highlights included a strong shift mid-game by rising star, Liam Smith. Liam took a crisp pass from Captain Ryan Griffin and flung a shot low blocker side to best the Cougar goalie, sprung Owen Silverstein with a beautiful red-line to blue-line pass and started a breakout that ultimately led to an Owen Silverstein goal - keep up the great work, Liam. Will Milazzo concluded his outstanding tournament by going from defense to offense by poke-checking the puck from a Cougar, turning up ice and snapping a shot into the upper corner of the net for one of the best goals of the weekend. The Dare Devils on the stat sheet were Captain Ryan Griffin with 1 goal and 5 assists, Patrick Law with 3 goals, Owen Silverstein with 1 goal and 2 assists, Shea Passikoff with 1 goal and 2 assists, Will Milazzo with 2 goals, James Cooney with 1 goal and 1 assist, Liam Smith with 1 goal and 1 assist, Aaron Quintana with 1 goal and Ayden Duran with 1 assist.
Stars of the game: 1st Star: Patrick Law; 2nd Star: Aaron Quintana; 3rd Star: Ayden Duran
As per usual with our contests against our foes from the Jersey Shore, Brick scheduled today's game bright and early at 7:50am. Most of the Dare Devils left home before sunrise to allow themselves ample time to get ready for the early morning start. Coach Brendon, on the other hand, got a late start and didn't arrive until the closing minutes of the game (perhaps he had a bite of the notorious "bad ham sandwich"). But as they say, everything happens for a reason. Taking advantage of Shea Passikoff's fresh legs, Coach Myles paired Shea with the "Paisano Line" (Andrew Piccirillo, Vincent Racamato and Andrew DePiero) for the last shift of the game to match up against Brick's vaunted "A Line". The boys went to work and took it to Brick as the the clock wound down. Their relentlessness paid off and Shea Passikoff buried an Andrew DePiero rebound in the final seconds of the game to tie the score, with the aid of some fuzzy scorekeeping. The game went to a shootout and Madison Mitchell, James Cooney and Andrew DePiero all converted their penalty shot chances, but the contest still ended in a tie.
Prior to the end-of-game drama, the match was a back and forth affair with the teams trading chances throughout. Owen Silverstein led the way with 3 goals, Patrick Hung had a goal and an assist and James Cooney had an assist. Sean Glassett continued to play inspired hockey and had several great chances throughout the game. Liam Smith and Ayden Duran also chipped in with several great defensive plays.
A heartfelt thank you goes out to the Brick Stars for hosting us today. We greatly appreciate the hospitality you displayed by lending us a goalie, giving us opportunities stay in the game and by treating us to breakfast in the party room after the final buzzer. We can't wait for our future match-ups with you guys!
Next week, we have the Buffalo tournament on 11/2-11/3. For the players not traveling to Buffalo next week, we will have our normal split practice on Saturday, 11/2, with the learn-to-skate session going from 9 to 9:45 and the advanced/intermediate practice running from 9:30 to 10:30.
* Contributions to this article provided by John Smith
The season is starting to pick up and Coach Myles is structuring practice to make sure all of the players are in game shape for the upcoming slate of contests. After a brief learn-to-skate session, practice kicked off in earnest. Captain Ryan Griffin led the players through warm-ups and then it was all work with power-skating, puck work, passing practice, shooting drills and conditioning. I guess it wasn't all work - Coach Eric concluded practice with sharks and minnows and net races. Great practice, Dare Devils!
Tomorrow, Sunday (10/27), there is a game at 7:50am at Brick and the Dare Devils will be wearing their white uniforms. As a reminder, you must be registered with USA Hockey to play in the game. Please send your registration form to Bernard if you plan on playing at Brick.
Next week, we have the Buffalo tournament on 11/2-11/3. For the players not traveling to Buffalo next week, we will have our normal split practice on Saturday, 11/2, with the learn-to-skate session going from 9 to 9:45 and the advanced/intermediate practice running from 9:30 to 10:30.
Riding the Frankenfest high, the Dare Devils were flying at practice today. There was a tremendous turnout of players and coaches and it led to a focused, hard-working session. As per usual, practice started with a learn-to-skate clinic and our coaches once again gave our new skaters the attention required to continue progressing. Coach Myles, Coach Erin, Coach Eric and the Junior Coaches showed true leadership by working closely with our newcomers to get them comfortable on their skates. Thank you, coaches!
Speaking of leadership, Captain Ryan Griffin took on a coaching role and coordinated the power skating drills and had the team working on hockey stops, c-cuts, endurance skating and super-mans. Cap also posted a new Captain's Corner article that can be found here. Thank you, Cap!
Practice continued with rotating stations led by Coach Eric (working on passing, skating and shooting), Coach Myles (teaching the players to stick-handle in tight spaces) and Coaches Terence/Steve Toledo (working on edge work and shooting). Keeping his foot on the gas, Coach Myles concluded practice by having the team do herbies to ensure they are in tip-top shape as the schedule starts picking up in the coming weeks. Great work today Dare Devils!
Next week (Saturday, 10/26), we will have our normal split practice with the learn-to-skate session going from 9 to 9:45 and the advanced/intermediate practice running from 9:30 to 10:30. Additionally, we have an away game at Brick on Sunday, 10/27, at 7:50am. As a reminder, you must be registered with USA Hockey to play in the game. Please send your registration form to Bernard if you plan on playing at Brick.
What a weekend! The 2024-2025 ASHA tournament season officially kicked off this weekend with our annual Frankenfest Tournament. Thank you to all of the players, coaches, junior coaches, volunteers, arena staff, zoo staff, families and visiting teams for making the tournament and party a successful endeavor. This event couldn't have happened without the dedicated support from the team managers, coaches and all of the parent volunteers. This tournament takes a ton of work to pull off and we are extremely grateful to everyone who donated their time - from the planning, setting up on Friday night, keeping the schedule on track, running the scoreboard, coaching multiple games, securing referees, planning the party, manning the welcome desk to helping in the hospitality room - thank you for your help - you know who you are!
Frank (taking a break from retirement) and his gaggle of photographers graciously documented everything that occurred over the course of the weekend. All of the galleries will be posted under the Resources/Photo Gallery tab on this website and they can also be found on Frank's website. A special thank you goes out to Dare Devils player and resident artist, Jonah Barnes, for designing the art work on this year's tournament t-shirt and official puck.
Next week (Saturday, 10/19), we will have our normal split practice with the learn-to-skate session going from 9 to 9:45 and the advanced/intermediate practice running from 9:30 to 10:30. We encourage all advanced/intermediate players to be on the ice by 9:30 to get some extra ice-time.
The Dare Devils were represented by Captain Ryan Griffin, Will Milazzo, Kory Wadeigh, Reese Citro and Patrick Hung, who all suited up for the Red Team for the Sunday morning A game. Similar to yesterday’s A contest, the Red Squad could not solve the talented team wearing the black jerseys. The Reds scored four goals in the game with Captain Ryan Griffin netting two and assisting on another. All of the Dare Devil participants played extremely well.
Sunday - 10/13 - CT Storm/Happy Valley/Richmond vs. NY Raptors 9am:
Several Dare Devil players volunteered to suit up for mixed team against the NY Raptors on Sunday morning. Vinny Racamato scored 4 goals, Owen Silverstein, Will Trampota, and Alfonso Mosca each recorded one goal. Patrick Law also played a strong game and contributed to the winning effort. Great sportsmanship boys!
Sunday - 10/13 - Dare Devils Red vs. Philadelphia Flyers Youth 9:45am:
The Dare Devils Red squad played a spirited game against our rivals from Philly. Playing without a goalie, the Dare Devils took advantage of the talented tutor shooter and rode their brick wall to avenge the victory. The offense was paced by Jimmy McTernan with 4 goals and 2 assists, Kory Wadleigh with 3 goals, Will Milazzo with 3 assists, Vinny Racamato with 1 goal and 1 assist, Patrick Hung with 1 goal and 1 assist, and Patrick Law with one goal. Captain Ryan Griffin showed great sportsmanship and played with Philly as they were a bit short handed. Cap developed great chemistry with his new teammates and netted a goal and an assist.
Sunday - 10/13 - Dare Devils Black vs. Binghamton/Mercer/Hudson Valley 12:15pm:
The Dare Devils Black team were back at it for this early afternoon tilt against the joint team from Binghamton/Mercer County/Hudson Valley. You'd be hard-pressed to find a hockey game with this much action. It was a back and forth contest but the Dare Devils ultimately prevailed. Players making the scorecard were Shea Passikoff with 4 goals, James Cooney with 3 goals, Alfonso Mosca with two goals, Danny Giger with one goal and Ayden Duran with a goal.
Sunday - 10/13 - Dare Devils White vs. NY Raptors 1pm:
The Dare Devils wrapped up their official tournament play when our White squad took on our good friends from Westchester County. The Dare Devils gave it their all but it wasn't enough to overcome the well-rested Raptors. The game was close throughout but the Raptors pulled away in the final 10 minutes. Shea Passikoff sacrificed his body to net the Dare Devils 1st goal while cutting up the right side of the ice on a partial breakaway. Theodore Howard continued his progression while demonstrating deft stick handling to bury two goals on the opposition. After taking an early blind side hit from Coach Myles skating aimlessly across the ice with his head down, James Cooney shook off the cobwebs and was able to convert two scoring chances. The final Dare Devils goal was netted by John Giblin (home for the weekend from his studies at Adelphi) off of beautiful passes from Connor Hung and James Cooney. Henry Barrios, Bahad Worley, Liam Smith, Ayden Duran, Ryan Scorsune, Andrew Katz, Joel Gooblar, Kevin Plunkett and Sean Glassett all played solid games for the Dare Devils.
Sunday - 10/13 - Dare Devils Mixed Squad vs. Coaches/Venom Hockey 2pm:
Sticking to the Frankenfest tradition, the tournament concluded with a group of A, B & C Dare Devils players facing off against a collection of coaches, parents and Venom Hockey Beer League players. Perhaps it was because Coaches Matt and Brendon snuck out of the rink early, but the adults were no match for the talented Dare Devils squad. Led by Captain Ryan Griffin, the Dare Devils jumped out to an early lead and never took their feet off the gas. The highlight of the game was the battle of the Hung Dynasty: children Patrick and Connor both bested their father, Terence, and buried beautiful goals that have Coach T contemplating retirement. The Venom tried hard but they couldn't keep up with the the younger Dare Devils. Better luck next year, Venom.
Saturday - 10/12 - NJ Dare Devils Black vs. Philadelphia Flyers Youth:
Frankenfest 2024 opened with the NJ Dare Devils Black team taking on the talented Philadelphia Flyers Youth team. Unfortunately, the Dare Devils fell behind early and could not mount a comeback and ultimately lost by a score of 5-2. Shea Passikoff and Alfonso Mosca scored the Dare Devil goals and James Cooney assisted on Shea’s goal. Goalie Matty Brighton played an excellent game and solid defensive efforts were put in by Jonah Barnes, Connor Hung, James Cooney and Samantha Ciemiecki.
Saturday - 10/12 - Mixed Squad A Game 10:45am:
Superstar Dare Devil players Ryan Griffin, Will Trampota, Kory Wadeigh, McKayla Shields, Alex Anson, Reese Citro and Patrick Hung played for the Red Team in the Saturday morning A game. Unfortunately, the Red Squad lost a hard fought battle against the Black Team. Captain Ryan Griffin sniped a beautiful goal and Will Trampota and Kory Wadleigh each recorded assists in the loss.
Saturday - 10/12 - NJ Dare Devils Red vs. Woodbridge Warriors/Central Park North Stars 11:30am:
The Dare Devils Red team came out strong and recorded our organization’s 1st win of this year’s Frankenfest Tournament. Anchored by star goalie Matty Brighton’s shutout and solid defensive efforts by Captain Ryan Griffin, Will Milazzo and Kory Wadleigh, the Dare Devils jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Scoring for the Dare Devils were Jimmy McTernan with 2 goals and 2 assists, Patrick Law with 2 goals and 1 assist, Alex Anson with 2 goals, McKayla Shields with 1 goal and 1 assist, Andrew DePiero with the game winning goal, Andrew Piccirillo with 1 assist and Patrick Hung with 1 assist.
Saturday - 10/12 - NJ Dare Devils Red vs. Lehigh Valley Polar Bears 2pm:
The Dare Devils Red Team once again came away victorious in their afternoon game against the Lehigh Valley Polar Bears. It was a back and forth affair but star goalie Matty Brighton was the difference in this game. The offense was paced by Mason Po with 3 goals, Jimmy McTernan with 1 goal and 1 assist, Andrew DePiero with 1 goal and 1 assist, Will Trampota with 1 goal and 1 assist, Vinny Racamato, Kory Wadleigh, Reese Citro and Patrick Hung with 1 goal each and Alfonso Mosca with an assist. The offensive highlight was the 50 foot knuckle-puck shot scored by Reese Citro. The defense was led by Will Milazzo, Captain Ryan Griffin, Nick Ritter, Danny Giger and Kory Wadleigh.
Saturday - 10/12 - NJ Dare Devils Black vs. South Ct Storm/Happy Valley/Richmond 2:45pm:
The Dare Devils Black team performed on the big stage (Rink 1 at Codey) in the afternoon tilt against the split squad consisting of Connecticut, Happy Valley and Richmond. The NJDD Black Squad brought their A game to this contest en route to a comfortable win. Shea Passikoff led the way with 4 goals, James Cooney netted two goals, Connor Hung scored 1 goal and Owen Silverstein buried 1 goal. Star goalie Matty Brighton once again led the charge on the defensive end making countless point-blank saves to preserve the win for the Dare Devils. As the visiting team was short-handed, several Dare Devils players showed great sportsmanship by volunteering to play for the visiting consortium. John Giblin, Orion Lee, Kevin Plunkett, Aaron Quintana and Alfonso Mosca all answered the call of duty and dressed in white to assist the opposing team. Aaron Quintana and Alfonso Mosca both buried goals against Matty Brighton in the losing effort.
Saturday - 10/12 - NJ Dare Devils White vs. Binghamton/Mercer and NJ Dare Devils White vs. South Ct Storm/Happy Valley/Richmond at 4:30pm and 5:15pm:
The Dare Devils White Squad opened their day with back-to-back games on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, the NJDD White Team had a tough time keeping up with the opposition and dropped both afternoon contests. Despite losing both games, all of the Dare Devil players showed tremendous poise and played great games. James Cooney scored 5 goals on the afternoon, Ryan Scorsune buried two greasy goals in front of the net, Liam Smith converted one of his many breakaway chances, Theodore Howard scored the last goal of the night, and Sean Glassett continued his tremendous progression by burying a goal off a beautiful assist from Henry Barrios. Austin Hom, Bahad Worley, Richie Sherman, Andrew Katz and Kevin Plunkett all played strong games and contributed to the Dare Devils efforts.
We are one week from Frankenfest. You know it's serious when we are graced by the presence of Coach Ritter and Andy. In addition to the old school Board Leaders, today also marked the return of several veteran superstars. It was great to see Danny Giger, Ryan Kientz, Andrew Piccirillo, Nick Ritter and Ryan Scorsune back at practice. Their presence definitely inspired the rest of the team to put in the work to get ready for next weekend. Coach Myles once again pushed the team and concluded practice with a Herbie contest between the players and the junior coaches. The junior coaches skated hard but they couldn't keep up with the talented Dare Devil skaters.
Captain Ryan Griffin has posted an updated Captains Corner write-up where he highlights today's action and puts the spotlight on #54, Shea Passikoff. You can find it here. Thanks for everything you do, Cap!
There will be no practice next weekend because we are hosting our annual Frankenfest tournament.
Frankenfest Info:
Our Annual Frankenfest tournament is almost here - we have an action packed schedule for next Saturday, October 12th & Sunday, October 13th. The current game schedule can be found under the Frankenfest tab (or here). Locker room assignments are on the schedule. Please note that these are subject to change over the course of the weekend. We recommend keeping an eye on our welcome desk for any changes related to locker room assignments.
All players are welcome to attend the tournament and will be assigned to a Dare Devils team (A, Black, Red or White) based on their skill level. Black, Red & White team assignments will be communicated to the players/families via email (they are also listed on the Frankenfest tab.) Coach Myles will be in contact with the players assigned to the A games. We will have coaches available to skate with learn-to-skate players during the games, if necessary. Junior coaches are encouraged to attend, as your schedule permits, as we can use your help throughout the weekend.
We will once again be holding our Costume Party at the Turtle Back Zoo on Saturday, October 12th. The festivities will kick off around 5:30pm. There will be dinner, trick or treating, a DJ and dancing, access to the carousel/special exhibits and much more! We can't wait to see everyone having a good time in their costumes! All players/families, coaches and junior coaches are encouraged to attend - even if you aren't skating during the weekend.
A special thank you goes out to Allison Silverstein and Grace for heading up the party planning. Thanks to everyone else who has agreed to help out. If any other folks would like to volunteer to help with the party during the weekend, please contact Allison or Grace.
Group night is scheduled for Monday, November 25th (the Devils are hosting the Nashville Predators). All player and junior coach tickets will be covered by the Dare Devils (Please note that senior coaches are responsible for their own tickets). All other attendees tickets are $35 each. Please register for this event via the website indicating the number of tickets needed. Payments can be made via the website, the team Venmo account or by check. We have a limited number of seats in the lower level (section 3, Rows 19 and 20) available on a first-come basis or for individuals with mobility issues. All other seats are located in the upper level (section 120, rows 7-9 and section 121, rows 8-9). The cutoff for orders is November 10th. Please reach out to Coach Brendon (brendon.passikoff@gmail.com) with any questions.
