*2/7/26 - Saturday, 9am-10:30am - Practice - Codey Arena
*2/7/26 - Saturday, 11:15am - Game - @ Woodbridge Warriors (Woodbridge Community Center)
*2/14/26 - Saturday - NO PRACTICE this weekend - Enjoy your Valentine(s)!
*2/14/26 - 2/16/26: Saturday, Sunday, Monday (Presidents Day Weekend) - Binghamton Tournament - The Farm Rink in Vestal, NY (all games will be outdoors and weather dependent)
*2/21/26 - Saturday, 9am-10:30am - Practice - Codey Arena
*2/21/26 - 2/22/26: Saturday & Sunday - Rochester Tournament - Tim Hortons Ice Plex. Details to follow.
*2/28/26 - Saturday, 9am-10:30am - Practice - Codey Arena
Northern New Jersey is facing the coldest stretch it has experienced in over 20 years, so it is only natural that the Dare Devils would seek out a tournament in a beach location. The Dare Devils travelled from snowy, 10 degree NJ to a snowy, windy, 11 degree beach destination. While not much of a reprieve, it was a great opportunity for the team to seek out competition and camaraderie. Ten Dare Devils players travelled down to Ocean City Maryland for the annual Special Hockey Beach Bash 3 vs. 3 tournament, held at the historic Carousel Resort. Below is a summary of the events:
Friday, 1/30/26 @ 1:40pm vs. North Carolina Cat Canes:
In one of the earliest slates of the tournament, the Dare Devils squared off against the talented Carolina Canes. Friday was a school day, so only a portion of the Dare Devils roster made it down to Maryland in time for the opening matchup. Despite being short-handed, the Dare Devils still muscled out a victory against a team they were facing for the first time. There was a lot of action throughout the contest but the Dare Devils were led by superstar goalie, Matty Brighton, who made countless high-danger saves all afternoon. Patrick Hung opened the scoring for the Dare Devils and the team kept the pressure on the entire game. The game was back and forth throughout, but the Dare Devils narrowly escaped with a victory behind stellar goaltending and strong defense from Connor Hung, Kieran O'Malley and Danny Giger. The Dare Devils making the box score were Patrick Hung (4 goals), James Cooney (2 goals), Liam Smith (1 goal) and Ayden Duran (1 goal). Way to get a victory in honor of Captain Ryan Griffin's birthday!
Saturday, 1/31/26 @ 9:20am vs. Cape Cod Great Blizz:
After an epic pizza and dance party on Friday night, the tournament hosts were kind to the Dare Devils, scheduling our Saturday morning contest against our Cape Cod, Massachusetts rivals at a reasonable 9:20am. Similar to Friday's game, both teams matched up well and played an exciting, back-and-forth battle. Once again led by otherworldly goaltending from Matty Brighton, the Dare Devils had a well balanced attack and ultimately prevailed, squeezing out a narrow victory. With a full squad, the Dare Devils were able to roll three lines to match-up with the strong Blizz squad. There was the Finesse Line (Danny Giger, Shea Passikoff and Kieran O'Malley), The Chuckle Head Line (James Cooney, Ayden Duran and Owen Silverstein) and the Hanson Brothers Line (Patrick Hung, Connor Hung and Liam Smith). All of the Dare Devils lines contributed to the win with strong defense and scoring. The box score is as follows: Patrick Hung (5 goals), Connor Hung (2 assists), Shea Passikoff (1 goal), Owen Silverstein (1 goal), Liam Smith (1 assist) and Matty Brighton (1 assist).
Saturday, 1/31/26 @ 12:50pm vs. Baltimore Saints B:
After some morning naps and lunch, the Dare Devils were back at it in this early afternoon battle against the bruising Baltimore Saints B squad. This could have been the most physical game the Dare Devils have ever experienced but the team made their coaches proud by battling, keeping their composure and ultimately winning a hard fought battle. The Dare Devils were once again led by superstar goalie, Matty Brighton, but he wasn't the only star of the game. The Hanson Brothers Line and the Chuckle Head Line earned the enviable task of matching up against two of the strongest lines in Special Hockey. Both lines held their own and were major influences on the outcome of the game. Shea Passikoff led off the 1st shift with two quick goals and the NJ squad kept attacking as the game progressed. The Dare Devils were led by Shea Passikoff (3 goals), Patrick Hung (2 goals, 1 assist), Owen Silverstein (2 goals), Danny Giger (2 assists), Connor Hung (1 goal), Ayden Duran (1 assist), Kieran O'Malley (1 assist), Liam Smith (1 assist) and Matty Brighton (1 assist). James Cooney played a standout defensive game, battling throughout against some of the biggest, baddest players in Special Hockey. The Dare Devils efforts in the round robin portion of the tournament have put them in a great position for Championship Sunday - we will find out our opponent for the Championship Game later this evening.
Sunday, 2/1/26 @ 8:20am vs. North Carolina Cat Canes - Championship Game:
After the Saturday games, the Dare Devils players had a busy rest of the day. The team gathered at Alley Oops to help Owen Silverstein celebrate his birthday. All of the players seemed to figure out how to navigate the games as everyone left with some cool prizes. After the party, some of the players relaxed, some went swimming and others were on pins and needles trying to figure out when and who we would be playing on Championship Sunday. Shortly before the team was set to meet at the Green Turtle loft for our annual team dinner, we found out we would be playing the Carolina Canes at 8:20am on Sunday morning. The team proceeded to enjoy the awesome atmosphere, food and drink at the Green Turtle and listened to stories from our esteemed Manager and Coach, Bernard, about his coming of age shenanigans at the Turtle. Perhaps it was the late night at the Turtle, the howling wind that prevented the players from getting a good nights sleep, the early morning fire alarm or the fact that our star goalie, Matty Brighton, and skaters Danny Giger and Owen Silverstein couldn't play on Sunday morning, but the Dare Devils came up short against our friends from North Carolina. Coach Bernard pulled out all the stops by wearing his Old Bay Seasoning jersey but it wasn't enough to overcome the hot Canes goaltender. Patrick Hung tried to single handedly win the game for the Dare Devils but his 6 goals weren't enough to overcome the scoring onslaught put on by the Canes. Liam Smith recorded 4 assists, Connor Hung netted 1 goal and 1 assist, James Cooney had 1 assist and Kieran O'Malley recorded one assist. Shea Passikoff, Ayden Duran and Liam Smith all had several goals stolen by the Carolina goaltender. In addition, a valiant effort was also put in by our guest goalie from the Nova Cool Cats. He made a multitude of acrobatic saves throughout the afternoon. The Dare Devils had to settle for the silver medal but it was still a successful and enjoyable weekend. Great job, team!
What’s up, everyone? Captain Ryan back at ya with another Captain’s Corner! This week’s practice may have been lighter in attendance due to the snowstorm coming our way tomorrow, but Coach Myles, Coach Eric, and our junior coaches made sure we were working hard and having fun.
Just a reminder, we have NO PRACTICE next Saturday due to a scheduling conflict. We will be back on the ice February 7. With that being said, my after practice birthday celebration will now be February 7.
And a few other reminders:
*Ocean City, Maryland Tournament is next weekend (January 30- February 1)
*February 7 will be a game in Woodbridge against the Warriors. Game begins 11:15 AM. Practice will still be held at Codey for those not attending the game.
*February 14-16: Binghamton Tournament. Practice will NOT be held on February 15.
*February 20-22: Rochester Tournament. Practice will still be held on February 21 at Codey for those not attending Rochester.
Let’s keep showing great sportsmanship and hard work out there, guys! Keep making us proud each and every day. Until then, Happy Hockey! Stay safe and warm!
The Dare Devils were back at it again on Saturday, January 10th, for their 2nd practice of the New Year. Practice was well attended in terms of both players and coaches. As usual, practice started with the learn-to-skate session and all of our coaches were working hard with the skaters to make sure they were situated on the ice.
After the learn-to-skate portion of practice, Coach Myles led the team through power skating and endurance drills to get the players endurance up for the upcoming slate of tournaments and games. Just when the players were about to collapse in exhaustion, Coach Myles split the team into three groups and rotated them through stations. Coach Eric led the butterfly drill, Coach Myles ran the edge work and the Junior Coaches guided the shooting practice on superstar goalie, Matty Brighton. Everyone put in a solid effort and the team looks like they are ready for the upcoming gauntlet of games.
Captain Ryan Griffin also documented the action with an updated Captain's Corner post where he brings back the Dare Devils Spotlight highlighting veteran superstar, CJ Notare. Great job, Cap and great job, CJ!
Today, the Dare Devils held their annual open skate and Holiday Party. It is one of our favorite days of the season. Not only does it offer an opportunity for the players, coaches and families to unwind, it also allows some of the players and coaches who attend college out of state a day to celebrate with their hockey friends while home on winter break. This year, it was great to see superstar Ryan Wahlers and Junior Coach Brenden Garcia back on the ice.
The excitement was in the air as the players put on their gear in the locker room. There was all sorts of chatter about what the players were putting on their gift lists and speculation about whether or not Santa would show up to the party. Similar to previous years, the players took the ice alongside our friends from the New Jersey State Police (both in hockey uniforms and dress uniforms) and had a leisurely skate around the rink. The players, coaches and police officers were all seen having a great time skating, laughing and catching up. 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!
At around 9:45 am, a hush took over the ice and all eyes were on the man with the white beard making his way through the door. It was Santa Claus himself, dressed in his red suit, just as Coach Doug predicted. The players couldn't contain themselves and all made their way to Santa to plead their case that they are deserving of gifts. Santa was gracious, as usual, and posed for a group picture with the team and the police officers.
After the group picture on the ice, the players beelined to the locker rooms and made their way to the party area to celebrate. Everyone enjoyed bagels, snacks, drinks and desserts before getting an opportunity to sit and chat with Santa and his helpers. The players were all on their best behavior and as a result, they were all given medals, treats and personalized gifts. It was a great day all the way around.
There are many thank you's to go around for today. Kathy Kientz led the party efforts (from planning, to setup, to execution and cleanup). Kathy had help from several parents and all of your efforts led to a superb party. In addition, a thank you goes out to one of our biggest benefactors, Rich McDermott, for his generous donations to our annual holiday event. We would also like to thank Frank and his crew of photographers for documenting the day. All pictures can be found on Frank’s site via this link. Lastly, thank you to the players, coaches, managers, families and friends for your continued dedication to the team. Our team is a collective effort and we greatly appreciate all of you. Happy Holidays and have a wonderful winter break!
On the Eve of Hanukkah, and smack in the middle of the Christmas season, the Dare Devils were delivered a gift today. I'm not talking about the Old Bay Seasoning jersey Coach Bernard was proudly sporting. I'm referring to long time veteran, CJ Notare, rejoining the Dare Devils after recently moving back into the area. CJ knocked the dust off right away and was cruising across the ice and whipping passes to the coaches. Welcome back, CJ - it was great to see you on the ice!
As the Dare Devils do not have any games until the new year, today's practice lacked the typical structure that we normally have. We started with the learn-to-skate session and Coach John, Coach Joe, Coach Eric, Junior Coach Carmine and Junior Coach Luke (aka "Larry") put in a lot of effort in working with our newer players. Thank you, Coaches!
After the free skate concluded, the Dare Devils were split into two teams and participated in an action packed scrimmage for the remainder of practice. In the spirit of the holiday season, the Dare Devils skated with effort, played team hockey and worked hard on defense. In a fast paced opening shift, Jimmy McTernan netted the first goal for the red/white team and that was quickly followed by a two-on-o break where Captain Ryan Griffin (updated Captain's Corner post can be found here) and Will Trampota put on a passing clinic before being stone-walled by the shooter tutor. A few of the other highlights included Owen Silverstein feeding Shea Passikoff with a perfect pass for a goal, Patrick Law flying around the ice netting a few goals, Owen Silverstein burying a couple of goals into the top corner, Kieran O'Malley playing strong defense, Reese Citro putting on a stick-handling display, Will Milazzo playing his typical solid all-around game, Quinn Phillips showing off his shooting skills and Henry Barrios continuing his progression with several breakaway attempts.
Frank recovered from picture day and delivered copies of the team photos today. As always, thank you, Frank! We'll see everyone at practice and the Holiday Party next week!
In what is becoming an annual ritual, the Dare Devils traveled down the Turnpike to Northeast Philadelphia for a December contest against our good friends, the Philadelphia Freeze. Northeast Philly was the home of Sylvester Stallone during his high school years, and the Dare Devils channeled their inner Rocky Balboa during today's matchup. All of endurance skating Coach Myles put the players through during practices came in handy, as only 8 NJ players suited up today.
You would never know the Dare Devils were short-handed with the way they played this morning. The Dare Devils were flying around the ice all game, despite playing with a flimsy shooter tutor in place of a real goalie. The constant double-shifting seemed to benefit the Dare Devils as they were playing like a team, making the extra pass, playing solid defense, and seemingly having the time of their lives as they zipped around the ice. The lack of a goaltender inspired our defensive specialists, Patrick and Connor Hung (aka the "Hung Boys"), to be defensive stalwarts throughout the game. The Hung Boys committed to protecting the net and their efforts paid off as the Dare Devils eked out a victory in this evenly matched contest.
Patrick Hung opened the scoring for the Dare Devils, taking a lead pass from Liam Smith, cutting across the crease and deking the goalie with a sneaky stick move. Shea Passikoff followed that up with two quick goals and the Dare Devils were off to the races.
All of the Dare Devils in attendance made the box score, led by Shea Passikoff (6 goals), Patrick Hung (2 goals, 2 assists), Liam Smith (2 goals, 1 assist), Ayden Duran (3 assists), James Cooney (1 goal, 1 assist), Owen Silverstein (1 goal), Connor Hung (1 assist), and Kieran O'Malley (1 assist).
Rookie Kieran O'Malley made the trip to Philly today and he continues to be a solid contributor in his first season with the team. He played strong defense, made beautiful passes and had several scoring chances that were stolen by the talented Freeze goalie. Keep up the great work, Kieran. We love having you on the team.
Lastly, we would like to thank the Philadelphia Freeze for once again treating us with brotherly love. In addition to giving us a great game, they hooked us up after the game with Philadelphia pretzels, donuts, drinks, fruit and other snacks. Thank you Freeze - you are one of our favorites! We can't wait to play you again!
Today is one of the most important days of the year for the Dare Devils....Team Picture Day! The players all came prepared in their red and green retro (aka, Christmas Tree) jerseys. The picture was scheduled to take place at 9:30, so the players hopped onto the ice and had a free skate for the 1st half hour of practice.
At 9:30 on the dot, Coach Bernard went into the scorers box and blared the horn to signal it was picture time. In an orderly fashion, the players all exited the ice on Rink 2, made their way to the bleachers on Rink 1 and started setting up for the picture. After 15 years, our esteemed team photographer, Frank Ingram, has the process down to a science. Frank looked like a conductor at the NY Philharmonic, waving the players and coaches into position, and giving subtle instructions to his cameraman protege, Nath.
The players were back on the ice five minutes later (a record for picture day). Coaches Eric, Jordan, Steve Toledo and a collection of other senior/junior coaches ran practice today. We started with power skating work and then the coaches split the players into two groups for butterfly and shooting drills.
At the conclusion of practice, Frank requested all the coaches to gather together for a photo on the ice (see above). Maybe it was because Nath had already left for the day, but this photo didn't go as smoothly as the team photo. Many of the Coaches aren't good listeners so Frank had to reposition us several times to get us in the proper pose.
Thank you Frank and Nath for organizing the photos today. Your dedication to the team is greatly appreciated. Additionally, we would like to acknowledge Coach Joe Keenan. While Joe was a youth/high school hockey player, he volunteered as a Junior Coach for the Dare Devils. Joe recently reached out to management to come back as a Senior Coach. Welcome back Coach Joe!
We will share the team photo as soon as it is available.
The New Jersey Devils hosted the Dare Devils at the Prudential Center this evening for our annual Group Night event. This year, the Devils treated us like the royalty we are and provided our entire outfit with prime seating in the lower bowl to see the Devils take on the Columbus Blue Jackets. Unfortunately, the Devils lost an action packed (and fight filled) battle to the Blue Jackets. Despite seeing the home team lose, the Dare Devils still had a great time this evening. It was a great bonding experience for the team to let loose and watch the pros play.
The highlight of the night occurred during the 1st intermission when a group of Dare Devils players and coaches had the opportunity to participate in the "Marquee Matchup" game on the ice under the bright lights of the Prudential Center. The Dare Devils were split into two evenly matched teams to participate in this prime time event. Reese Citro, James Cooney, Taylor Esposito (goalie), Shea Passikoff, Owen Silverstein and Liam Smith wore their white uniforms while Ayden Duran, Theodore Howard, Patrick Law and Will Trampota donned their red jerseys. Coach Bernard drew the short straw and played goalie for the red squad while Coaches Brendon and Eric supervised the action from center ice.
Similar to the NHL game that sandwiched our event, this Marquee Matchup had a lot of action. Taylor Esposito made several pad stops to thwart Will Trampota and Patrick Law breakaway attempts. Not to be outdone, Coach Bernard caught the goaltending bug and used his freshly taped stick to block a flurry of chances from the white squad. In succession, Shea Passikoff went end-to-end only to be denied by Coach Bernard, Owen Silverstein's rebound attempt was also flung away, and Shea Passikoff had another shot blocked by the wily coach. Coach Bernard even stonewalled James Cooney, when James tried to stuff home a rebound. However, just when Coach Bernard seemed unsolvable, Owen Silverstein collected a puck in the defensive zone and weaved his way to the net and put home a goal. At this point, Reese Citro substituted in for the short-handed red team, deked up the ice, and snuck a puck past Esposito in the closing seconds to tie the game up at one. Liam Smith, Ayden Duran and Theodore Howard all played strong all around games for their respective teams.
After the Marquee Matchup ended, Theodore Howard was named the man of the match and was interviewed in front of the 16,000 fans in attendance. Theodore made the Dare Devils proud by talking about how long he has been playing hockey and by leading the crowd through a "Let's go Devils" chant. Way to go, TJ!
In addition to the players participating in the game, several Dare Devils players and family members made their way onto the big board. Aidan Hung was singled out by the camera man and the Silverstein family had their enthusiasm highlighted on the score board for the rest of the crowd to see.
All around, it was a great night for the Dare Devils. Thank you to the approximately 140 Dare Devils players, family members and friends who attended tonight's event. In addition, a special thank you goes out to our Devils representative, Adam Spitz, and everyone else with the Devils who once again showed us excellent hospitality. Thank you, Adam and thank you, Devils!
On this rainy Thanksgiving Sunday, several Dare Devils players and coaches hopped in their cars, crossed the George Washington Bridge, descended down the Henry Hudson Parkway, traversed 125th Street past the famed Apollo Theater and hung a right on Lenox Avenue. What were the Dare Devils doing in Harlem? Heading to the Gottesman Rink at the Davis Center in Central Park to participate in the ASHA Central Park Classic Skills, Drills and Scrimmage along with our friends from the Central Park North Stars, Woodbridge Warriors and the Philadelphia Flyers Youth program.
The Dare Devils were represented by Max Baranowski, James Cooney, Taylor Esposito, Charles Gao, Shea Passikoff, Owen Silverstein and Liam Smith. Despite the rain, the players had a great time at the event. The North Stars recently moved back to Central Park (after a few years in Prospect Park, Brooklyn) and it was a treat to see the newly renovated Gottesman Rink at the Northern tip of the Park. There was a beautiful locker room and viewing area, and more importantly, a perfect sheet of ice to play on.
The event started with a free skate where the players were joined by New York Rangers legend (and Hell's Kitchen's own), Brian Mullin. The North Stars coaches then ran the players through a gauntlet of power skating, passing and shooting drills before splitting the teams up for scrimmages. The Dare Devils skated as a unit and everyone played brilliantly. All of the Dare Devils scored goals, passed the puck, blocked shots and played strong defense. The highlight of the scrimmage was Liam Smith taking a lead pass from Brian Mullin and burying the puck past Taylor Esposito.
After almost two hours on the ice, the rain soaked players made their way to the locker room area, where they quickly changed into warm street clothes and enjoyed pizza, cookies and drinks with their friends. A special thank you goes out to the North Stars, ASHA and Brian Mullin for making today a memorable outing for our players.
Hopefully the players equipment drys out in time for the in-between-periods game at the Prudential Center tomorrow.
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