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.
Frankenfest is only two weeks away so Coach Myles continued to up the intensity at today's practice. I've never seen the team skate so hard. Coach Myles had the players doing "Herbies" (blue line, red line, blue line, goal line), multiple end-to-end sprints, and all of the normal power skating drills. Even the players in the best of shape were breathing heavy after the conditioning drills. One of the team leaders, Kory Wadleigh, noticed that the players were in need of some oxygen so he led several of his teammates through a deep breathing meditation break to get the heart rates down.
The cardio skate was followed by skills training. Coach Eric led one station focusing on forward-to-backward skating transitions, puck handling, passing and shooting. Leading the way were Captain Ryan Griffin, Reese Citro, Kory Wadleigh and superstar goalie Matty Brighton. Coach Myles led the other station focusing on edge work and passing.
We'd also like to give a shout out to several of our new players who have been putting in strong efforts during the first few weeks of practice. Matthew Amato, Jordan Rosen and Jesse Lanzkowsky have all made significant progression through the first month of the season. Keep up the hard work boys! Special thank you to Coach Eric and the other coaches for the patience and dedication in giving the new players one-to-one training to get them up to speed.
After practice, Captain Ryan Griffin expressed his gratitude to his squad for giving it their all and shared cookies and drinks with everyone. Thanks Cap - way to take care of the team!
Lastly, thank you to Ms. Grace for setting up the workstation to get players registered on the website and to Coach Terence for once again working with new team members to get properly outfitted in their hockey gear. Coach T also broke out the fire engine red coaching suit today - thanks for acquiescing to the requests of your fan(s).
Next week (Saturday, 10/5), 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.
Ever the tactician, Coach Myles decided to switch things up at practice today. Frankenfest is three weeks away so Coach Myles is doing everything in his power to get the team ready for the loaded schedule. After a half hour of free skate, Coach Myles split the ice into three zones and had the learn-to-skate players in one end (led by Coach Eric, Coach Kristin and Coach Jordan) and the A/B players in the other zones getting in an extra fifteen minutes of skills training. After the extra training, the normal advanced/intermediate practice commenced. Coach Myles started everyone off with power skating and conditioning, followed by split zones of edge work/power cuts, puck work and shooting drills. Coach Myles put in work with the players explaining the importance of chipping pucks off the boards to avoid defenders while maintaining speed while breaking out of the zone. All of the players listened intently and did their best to add this newly learned skill to their repertoire - Will Trampota, Will Milazzo and Reese Citro did an exceptional job of leading the team through these drills and star goalie, Matty Brighton made numerous acrobatic saves. Coach Kristin and Coach Eric led the other stations and all of the Junior Coaches did a great job in demonstrating and assisting the players.
After Macyvering Coach Ray's skate blade back into place in the equipment closet, Coach Terence made his season debut on the ice today. While he donned his black coaching suit (instead of the fire-engine red), Coach T made his presence felt seconds after stepping onto the ice by firing a wrist shot wide of the net and barely missing an unsuspecting Junior Coach skating in the corner. Welcome back, Coach T!
Next week (Saturday, 9/28), 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 did an awesome job at practice today. We had an even bigger crowd than last week. It was nice to see Alfonso Mosca, star goalie Matty Brighton and Will Milazzo back on the ice. They all looked like they put in some intense offseason training and it showed in their performance during the drills. We had excellent representation from the senior coaches/junior coaches and they all did their part to ensure the players had support and an understanding of the drills. Special shout out to Coaches Eric, Jordan and Mason Po for their one-on-one work with our new players - your dedication goes a long way in getting the players and parents comfortable as they learn how to skate and play hockey.
As usual, Coach Myles led the team through some intense power skating drills that got everyone's hearts pumping. After the conditioning session, Coach Myles split the team into three groups and had them rotating through stations to focus on different parts of the game. Coach Steve Toledo and Coach Jordan led some skating and shooting drills, Coach Eric and the junior coaches led cross-over drills, skating drills and puck work and Coach Myles and Coach Ray had the players focusing on edge work and quick stop/starts. All in all it was a great day at the rink.
Coach Terence once again manned the equipment closet and did yeoman's work in making sure all of the new players (and some veterans) were properly fitted in their gear. Maybe next week we will finally see Coach T on the ice in his fire engine red coaching suit firing pucks everywhere but on goal.
Next week (Saturday, 9/21), 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.
Today marked the 1st practice of the 2024-2025 Dare Devils season. It's hard to believe that another season is upon us as it feels like just yesterday that we wrapped up our final 2023-2024 games in Rochester. But alas, seeing some of the players 6 inches taller and rocking full beards was affirmation that the Rochester tournament occurred over 5 months ago. However, the extended time off did not impact the effort the players were able to put into practice today. Coach Myles, Coach Kristin, Coach Eric and the other coaches/junior coaches led the Dare Devils through power skating, puck possession, skills training and some fun stuff during the 1.5 hour practice. Coach Jordan (welcome back) took the lead with the learn-to-skate players and did an excellent job working with our new team members. Holding down the fort as the de facto welcome committee were Coach Terence, Coach Bernard and Grace, ensuring that all of the players were fully outfitted for today's practice and all parents could get answers to their questions. It was so nice to see everyone - there were many familiar faces and several new families attending practice today. It was a great start and we are looking forward to another successful season.
Next week (Saturday, 9/14), 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 9:45 to 10:30.
Captain Ryan Griffin put together a new post documenting today in the Captains Corner section of the website. Thank you, Cap!
A special thank you goes out to the Howard family for graciously hosting the team for a season kickoff party at their estate in West Orange immediately after practice. The weather cooperated and we were treated to a beautiful pool day, excellent food (the ribs, macaroni salad and potato salad were top notch) and great company. Thanks again TJ and family - it was an excellent opportunity for the team to build camaraderie as we kick off another season.
We would also like to congratulate our esteemed team photographer, Frank Ingram, on his partial retirement from being our full-time photo journalist. He will still cover several of our games and events (for instance, he was at today's party at the Howard's house), but he is taking a much deserved break from attending most of our Saturday morning practices. Frank's dedication to the team over the years has been exponentially gracious and his photos are cherished memories for everyone that has ever been involved with our organization. Thank you Frank - words can't adequately express what your generosity has meant to our team!
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