Our neighbors to the south took a Saturday morning drive up the turnpike this morning as the NJ Dare Devils hosted the Philadelphia Freeze for an exciting matchup.
A large contingent of Dare Devils attended the game, so we lent 2 of our veteran leaders to the squad from Philadelphia as Captain Ryan Griffin and Will Trampota suited up in white to help the Freeze take on the Dare Devils who were clad in their black “Jersey” Jerseys.
Dare Devil goaltender Matty Brighton was spectacular all game long making numerous grade A saves. Griffin and Trampota in particular were both robbed of potential goals on multiple occasions by the stellar play of Brighton. They both eventually got on the score sheet for the Freeze with Griffin scoring 2 goals while Trampota has 2 goals and an assist.
The teams played two 30 minute periods with most of the scoring taking place in the first period. Patrick Law opened the scoring with an unassisted goal, followed by James McTernan’s first goal on an assist from Ayden Duran to put the Dare Devils up 2-0.
Griffin put the Freeze on the board with an end-to-end rush goal. The Dare Devils answered back when Patrick Hung took a rebound of a McTernan shot and scored a wraparound goal.
Alphonso “Fonzie” Mosca was then stopped on a breakaway chance by the Freeze goalie who also played a great game. Fonzie though was able to score by knocking in his own rebound.
Will Trampota returned the favor after he was also stopped by Brighton on a breakaway but was able to score on his follow-up shot. McTernan then got his second of the game bringing the score to 5-2. Trampota then fed a nice pass into the slot to the Philly Freeze Captain and big #9 buried it for the 5-3 goal. Griffin closed out the first period scoring with an unassisted goal making it 5-4.
The second period was more of a defensive battle as the Dare Devils defenseman Kory Wadleigh locked it down in the defensive zone. Each team added another goal in the second period. Brighton made 3 saves before Trampota got his second of the game on the 4th attempt to tie the game 5-5. Kory Wadleigh then made a great breakout pass from below the goal line to spring Lindell Lu for a breakaway goal beating the goalie to the glove side and giving the Dare Devils the 6-5 win.
School might be on holiday but the Dare Devils are not. Deviating from historical tradition, the Dare Devils held a winter break practice this morning. We weren't sure how many players would show up, but we figured it would be a good opportunity for the team to get in some conditioning work prior to the schedule picking up in the new year. Much to our surprise, 22 team members and a handful of coaches made the trek to Codey for practice today.
Given the heavy attendance, Coach Myles took the opportunity to run the players through power skating, stick handling, passing and shooting drills. In fact, Coach Myles did such an excellent job in introducing new practice schemes, the players and coaches on the PWHL's NY Sirens were seen taking copious notes from the stands. Hopefully Coach Myles receives some residual checks if the Sirens beat the Ottawa Charge tomorrow in their game at the Prudential Center.
In addition to his contributions on the ice, esteemed equipment manager, Coach Terence, was back at it in the equipment closet and he was able to resuscitate an old helmet that was previously deemed inoperable. Great job, Coach T! You are earning your keep.
Next week, Saturday, 1/4, we have a learn-to-skate practice from 9:00am to 9:30am immediately followed by a home game against the Philadelphia Freeze from 9:30am to 10:30am. More details to follow on the roster structure for our game against the Freeze.
It's a Holiday miracle! It's always a good omen when you wake up to a blanket of snow on the ground on the day of the Dare Devils annual Holiday Party! All signs were pointing to a great day and it was confirmed when we arrived at the arena and saw all of the NJ State Troopers in uniform (both hockey and official dress) and ready to hop on the ice with the squad.
Practice commenced with the normal free skate and Coach Myles let the players mingle and pass the puck around with the police officers for the first third of the practice. A special thank you goes out to the NJ State Troopers for taking time out of their busy days to skate with the team this morning. Thank you for your support today and thank you for your efforts to protect and serve on a daily basis!
After the opening free skate, the coaches divided the Dare Devils into two teams and we played a spirited scrimmage. All of the players performed extremely well during the game but it was really a battle between star netminder Matty Brighton and the Tutor Shooter. There were a few goals scored (highlighted by a Micayla Shields snipe through a Tutor Shooter opening) but the goalies stole the show and kept the game a low scoring affair.
Just as practice was about to conclude, the sound of sleigh bells could be heard from the locker room area, and then Santa Claus emerged and made his way onto the ice, along with a couple of his deputy elves. As usual, Santa was gracious with the team and agreed to pose for a group picture at center ice with the Dare Devils and the NJ State Troopers.
After practice, the players and coaches retreated to the locker rooms and quickly changed out of their gear and headed to the party room for the festivities. There was plenty of good breakfast food, strong coffee, a wide selection of desserts, and photo opportunities with Santa. Lastly, all of the players were given Dare Devils branded skate guards and toiletry bags. One of our unsung heroes, Coach Terence, put in a lot of work in securing the holiday gifts. In addition to being our Associate Head Coach, Coach T is also our official equipment manager and he puts in countless hours throughout the year ensuring that all of our players are properly outfitted. Thank you, Coach T - your efforts do not go unnoticed! In addition, we also owe a special thank you to Rich McDermott and NJ Lenders Corp for once again making our Holiday Party such a special event for our players by organizing the visit with Santa and providing us with goodies and medals to give to the players!
An additional heartfelt thank you goes out to Ms. Grace and her gang of helpers for organizing the party, decorating, cleaning up and making sure order was maintained throughout. The party was awesome and your efforts made this a memorable day for all of the players and families!
Frank (and friends) captured all of today's events and the full gallery will eventually be found here (Frank Ingrams gallery). Thank you, Frank and friends!
Next week (Saturday, 12/28), we will have a special holiday break practice 9am to 10:30am. It will be more of a free skate but we will have several coaches on hand to assist any players in need of extra help.
We were supposed to have a game this morning against our fierce rivals, the Brick Stars. Unfortunately, the holiday season and a rash of illness caused the Stars to cancel on us. Get well soon, Brick - we are looking forward to playing you again.
But never fear, we made the best of it with an intense practice. Coach Myles did double duty today - not only did he run the team through drills, he also attempted to assist the Codey crew in replacing the glass behind the eastern net of Rink 2. We were all envisioning Myles parlaying this opportunity into a rewarding ice maintenance career but the Codey crew quickly realized Myles limitations and politely asked him to step aside while the grown folks completed the repairs. At least Myles still has his lucrative coaching career to fall back on.
Practice was well attended and everyone put in a great effort today. Coach Eric once again jumped right into assisting our learn-to-skate players - thank you Coach Eric, you are a miracle worker and we are lucky to have you. Coach Myles led the advanced players through the normal power skating drills, with superstar Danny Giger being the lead demonstrator for the blue line jumps. After power skating, Coach Myles split the ice into three sections, with Coach Eric running skating, passing and shooting drills; Coach Myles leading stick handling and shooting practice; and Coach Steve Toledo handling another passing and shooting session, where the players tried their luck at besting superstar goalie Matty Brighton. Great practice, team!
Next week, Saturday, 12/21, we have practice from 9:00am to 10:30am immediately followed by our annual Holiday Party in the Codey lobby and party rooms. There will be special guests and some surprises for the players. We would like to thank Ms. Grace and her band of volunteers for planning this event - it is sure to be a great time.
The Dare Devils get around and we've played in plenty of rinks that can be called "ice boxes" - we've experienced Buffalo cold, Rochester cold, Binghamton Farm Rink cold and even Minnesota cold. However, we've never experienced cold that is colder than the Tarken Rec Center Ice Rink in Northeast Philadelphia.
If the Philadelphia Freeze were trying to psych out the Dare Devils with the freezing temperatures, it backfired. The Dare Devils were in need of the cold air wake up call after stepping off the Codey practice rink at 10:30pm last night. The crisp Tarken air gave the NJ squad a burst of energy and the boys came out flying on the first shift. Owen Silverstein opened the scoring, taking a clean breakout pass from Will Milazzo, followed by Liam Smith burying a breakaway off an assist from Shea Passikoff and Shea Passikoff closing out the shift by putting home a wraparound. The flood gates opened at this point as both teams played a wide-open game that ultimately went to a shootout. In addition to the first shift fireworks, a few of the regulation highlights include Connor Hung making a beautiful neutral zone poke check and taking the puck back up ice to bury a breakaway, Will Milazzo rushing up the left side and making a perfect drop pass to Shea Passikoff at the blue line that Shea was able to sneak past the Freeze goalie, and Owen Silverstein taking a Patrick Hung pass up the middle and besting the Freeze goaltender on the high glove side.
After regulation ended, the game went to a shootout. Will Milazzo opened the scoring for the Dare Devils and his teammates followed suit with Liam Smith, Shea Passikoff, James Cooney, Patrick Hung (off an unbelievable spin-a-rama move), Owen Silverstein and Connor Hung all converting their shootout chances. After the first round, the game was still tied and Coach T summoned our shootout specialist, Liam Smith, to take the extra shot. Liam channeled his inner TJ Oshie and beat the goalie 5 hole to seal the victory for the Dare Devils.
All of the Dare Devils made the regulation scoresheet led by Shea Passikoff with 9 goals and 1 assist, Owen Silverstein with 5 goals and 1 assist, Patrick Hung with 2 goals and 2 assists, James Cooney with 3 goals and 1 assist, Connor Hung with 2 goals and 1 assist, Will Milazzo with 3 assists, Liam Smith with 1 goal and Ayden Duran with 1 assist. Solid defensive contributions were put in by Will Milazzo (acting as ad interim captain), Patrick Hung, Connor Hung, Owen Silverstein, James Cooney and Ayden Duran.
Lastly, we would like to thank the Philadelphia Freeze for treating us with brotherly love. There's always a fear of heading into Philadelphia, especially in December. We had visions of angry fans throwing snowballs at us as if we were Santa Claus at an Eagles game. But our fears were unwarranted as everyone associated with the Freeze could not have treated us better. They welcomed us with open arms, lent us a pair of skates after our esteemed team manager forgot to pack both of his kid's skates, shared one their goalies with us, and treated us to a feast of Philadelphia pretzels, donuts, fruit and other snacks after the game. Thank you Freeze - you are one of our favorites! We can't wait to play you again!
A couple of weeks ago the Dare Devils impersonated an NHL team when they played under the bright lights during the 1st intermission of the Devils game at the Prudential Center. A lot has changed in two weeks. Tonight, the Dare Devils did their best impression of a beer league team with a practice that ran from 9 pm to 10:30pm. The NY Sirens, the women's professional team in the PWHL, needed our normal 9am time slot to hold a practice. The Dare Devils are a progressive bunch, and we are hopeful that the PWHL continues to gain traction, so we were happy to exchange our normal ice time for the late night session.
Despite the late start, we had a lot of players in attendance tonight. We started with a free skate and then Coach Myles ran the players through a series of drills to ensure the players are able to maintain their top notch skills. Newcomers Victoria Garay, Matthew Amato and Charlie Alterman took advantage of the open ice to work on their skating and hockey skills - all are continuing to make significant progression in their 1st year with the team - keep up the great work.
We concluded practice with a spirited 30 minute scrimmage. There was a lot of back and forth action and a lot of goals. The highlight of the game was the great teamwork displayed by Will Trampota and Jimmy McTernan as they both scored numerous goals for the red squad.
In addition to having a lot of players tonight, Frank also graced us with his presence. Apparently, the 9pm start works better with his retirement schedule. Here is the link to the gallery of photos. Thanks, Frank. It was great seeing you!
Tomorrow, the team heads to Philadelphia for a 10am game against the Philadelphia Freeze. As they say, there is no rest for the weary - keep on keeping on team!
There was a lot going against the Dare Devils in today's contest against our fierce rival, The Brick Stars: 1. The game started at 7:50am on Thanksgiving Weekend; 2. Most of the players ate way too much food on Thursday; 3. The team hasn't had a practice in close to three weeks due to scheduling issues at Codey; and 4. Only 11 skaters could make the trip down south to the Jersey Shore for today's game. Despite all of these excusable reasons, the Dare Devils still showed up ready to play and they had to be on their "A game" to keep up with the talented Stars squad.
Brick has one of the best A lines in Special Hockey and the Dare Devils were up to the challenge of trying to match-up with them. Led by a 1st line consisting of Will Milazzo, Jimmy McTernan, Owen Silverstein, Micayla Shields and Ayden Duran, the Dare Devils did their best to neutralize the top line of the Stars, led by their Captain, Sully Sullivan. The Stars A line definitely got on the score sheet but the Dare Devils held their own in keeping up with them. Strong defensive contributions were put in by Will Milazzo, Owen Silverstein, James Cooney, Jimmy McTernan, Connor Hung, Micayla Shields, Kevin Plunkett and Ayden Duran.
Brick got out to an early lead but the Dare Devils stayed within striking distance throughout the contest. Connor Hung netted the first Dare Devils score followed by a greasy goal from Shea Passikoff when he banged in a rebound, with assists going to Connor Hung and Liam Smith. After Brick went back up by a few goals, Jimmy McTernan buried a breakaway and Shea Passikoff got behind the defense and deked one past the goalie, off a brilliant pass from Liam Smith.
Shea Passikoff completed his hat trick, scoring an unassisted goal, to put the Northern NJ team within a goal. Superstar in the making, Sean Glassett, continued his progression by taking a perfect breakout pass from James Cooney, and besting the Brick netminder to tie the score up at 6.
After the Stars went back up by two goals, Liam Smith was the beneficiary of another beautiful helper from James Cooney, burying a breakaway. The Dare Devils appeared to tie the score when Connor Hung scored one from close in but the hometown refs called it off due to goalie interference. The Dare Devils kept the pressure on as the clock wound down but the comeback kids ultimately fell short and lost the game by a goal.
It was a great effort and the Dare Devils do not have to wait long to try to exact revenge as we host the Stars at Codey, on December 14th. We can't wait for the rematch. We would also like to express our gratitude to the Stars for once again hosting us for the game and for lending us your talented goalie - he definitely kept us in the game today!
Next Saturday, 12/7, there is another conflict at Codey and our practice time has been altered. We will be having practice from 9pm-10:30pm (yes, you read that right, our practice begins a 9 o'clock in the evening). We also have a game in Philadelphia at 10am on Sunday, 12/8, against the Philadelphia Freeze.
What a night! Approximately 130 Dare Devils players, coaches, family and friends came out to the Prudential Center tonight to watch the Devils take on the Nashville Predators. The Devils didn't disappoint as they came away with a hard fought victory but the highlight of the night was the 10 Dare Devils players (and three coaches) that took the ice for a game during the first intermission.
The Dare Devils were treated like a professional outfit, suiting up in the Seton Hall locker room and looking sharp, as always, in their crisp uniforms. Ever the tactician, Coach Myles split the teams up evenly with Micayla Shields, Owen Silverstein, Shea Passikoff, James Cooney, Bahad Worley and Coach Terence (goalie) suiting up for the Dare Devils white squad while Connor Hung, Patrick Hung, Liam Smith, Will Trampota, Ayden Duran and Coach Brendon (goalie) wore the Dare Devils red uniforms.
All of the players came out of the gates flying; it took about 30 seconds for the players to get situated to the big stage before Connor Hung took the puck from behind his own net and hit Will Trampota with a beautiful breakout pass that Will buried past Coach Terence to give the red squad the early lead (I think Coach T will have nightmares tonight thinking about that shot almost hitting him in the breadbasket). Owen Silverstein quickly answered by taking the puck end-to-end and bested Coach Brendon to tie up the score. As play ensued, James Cooney made a great defensive play and quickly passed the puck up ice to Shea Passikoff who buried one past the human pylon (Coach Brendon). The white team kept the pressure on as Shea Passikoff netted two more goals, maybe getting some familial aid from the goalie. Not to be outdone, the red squad tried to get back in the game, showing great puck movement, but the frantic comeback ultimately fell short as Coach T took one off the shin to stifle the red's attempt at equalizing the score.
After the final buzzer, Shea Passikoff was named as a star of the game and gave an interview on the big board where he talked about the game, his favorite Devil (Jack Hughes) and how long he's been playing hockey.
The night ended with the Dare Devils walking onto the ice and taking a group picture on the logo shortly after the final buzzer. Way to go Dare Devils - you really represented the organization well tonight. Lastly, a special thank you goes out to our Devils representative, Adam Spitz, who showed a lot of patience with us and treated us to an awesome experience!
The rival Long Island Blues were gracious enough to invite the NJ Dare Devils to join forces with them in this year's Special Hockey National Tournament in Blaine, Minnesota. James Cooney and Shea Passikoff decided to take the Blues up on their offer and travelled out to Minneapolis for the weekend. However, some last minute schedule changes and a ground stop at Newark airport caused the NJ boys to miss the first game of the tournament as the Blues took on our good friends, the Brick Stars. While they may have missed the game, the Dare Devil representatives took over the Captain's Club at Newark airport and may or may not have interrupted a few business meetings. Back in Minnesota, the Blues managed without James and Shea and were still able to best the Stars in the Friday evening game behind stellar goaltending from our sometimes goalie, Taylor Esposito. The Dare Devil boys made it in time to play two games on Saturday and one game on Sunday with the talented Blues team. The Blues are a well oiled machine and it was a great learning experience for Shea and James to see how well the Blues moved the puck around throughout the games. There were D to D passes, strong breakouts and offensive zone structure that Shea and James will hopefully share when they get home and join back up with the Dare Devils. The excellent teamwork allowed the Blues to go undefeated in the tournament as they beat a team from Chicago on Saturday morning, a team from Minnesota on Saturday evening and another team from Minnesota on Sunday morning. The Dare Devils contributed to the wins with strong play and 2 goals/2 assists from Shea Passikoff and 1 assist/hardworking defense from James Cooney. Taylor Esposito continued his unbelievable goaltending by recording 4 victories and even contributing 1 assist in the final game of the tourney.
A special thank you goes out to the Blues for allowing our boys to play with them this weekend. Coach Skip, Coach Rob, Coach Jim, the players and families all welcomed us and made us feel like we were part of the team. It was nice to see the Blues being so unselfish and playing a team first game in all of the contests. Coach Skip even offered to apprentice Coach Myles so we can translate some of the Blues structure to the Dare Devils. Blues players Vincent Markowski and Jack Tricarico really went out of their way to help James and Shea with positioning and get them up to speed with the Blues on-ice structure. Thank you Blues - we loved playing with you this weekend!
Back in NJ, the coaching staff battled the brush fires on Route 280 and made it to practice to lead the team through a session on Saturday night. Coaches Myles, T, Steve Toledo and Eric led the players through the typical drills and made sure the players are staying in great shape. As a reminder, there is no practice next Saturday, November 23rd. We have group night at the Prudential Center on Monday, November 25th. Tickets will be distributed via text message or email at some point this week.
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