March 2004

AJHL Reports

Northwood Tournament Produces Prospect for Avalanche Defenseman
Daniel P. Keashen

The weather channel flashed winter temperature advisories all weekend. The temperature never went above 10 degrees and any exposed extremities would go numb in a matter of seconds if they weren’t covered. This was the setting for the annual Northwood tournament in Lake Placid. The tournament is a gathering place for recruiter’s, scouts, and coaches of Jr. A, college, and professional teams.

Defenseman Jackie Lankelis’ main goal before the start of the season was to improve and develop his skills in order to play Jr. A hockey. In preparation for Northwood he networked with coaches of several teams; he saw this as the opportunity to present his attributes to members of the organizations at the tournament. Since Northwood, two invitations have been granted for Jackie to come up and make a lasting impression on a coach.

Jackie has been on a roller coaster ride throughout the season. He started the year with a rib injury that kept him out of the lineup for an extended period of time. The nature of Jackie’s injury didn’t allow him to engage in physical activity: no riding the bike, lifting weights, or skating. This returned him to the Avalanche lineup in a weakened playing state. After his return Jackie worked hard on and off the ice to regain his strength and mobility. Throughout the season there has been stark improvement in his overall play which he credits to Coach Leigh Dean. "Getting him [Dean] as a coach was the best thing that could have happen to me. . . I’ve improved my game more this year then in my entire career." Through the last ten games of the season Jackie has been moved up to the Avs’ top defensive line with partner Matt Rigtrup.

Jackie will have to earn a position with either Jr. A team and nothing has been guaranteed to him. He has back-up plans with the University of Delaware, and since the Blizzard Showcase he has been in contact with SUNY Plattsburgh. A combination of size, developing skills, and excellent grades make Jackie a solid prospect for next season wherever he goes.

League Play: With playoff positioning at stake, the Avs grabbed an early lead against the Jr. Titans in an early Feb clash in the first period of the game, and held on to it until the Titans tied the game 1-1 late in the second period. The Avs took a commanding lead in the third period with a three-goal outburst, with Rigtrup picking up a goal and assist. Undaunted, the Titans fought back and tied the game with three unanswered goals sending the game into overtime. The Titans scored the only goal of the shootout and won the game 5-4.

The Avs were looking for revenge against the Titans in Trenton in their next contest. The Avs came out of the locker room with momentum and skated to 1-0 lead after the first period. In the second period the Titans collected a power-play goal to tie it before xoring another powerplay goal in the third to go up 2-1. The Avs responded with three goals with Kenta Hatamochi’s two goals leading the way. The Avs got a stellar goaltending performance by Rob Fallick as he turned away 26 shots in the 4-2 victory.

The Blizzard Classic saw a depleted Avs team drop their first game to the Little Flyers 4-1. The Avs couldn’t dent the win column in their finals two contests, either, falling to the streaking Jr. Wolf Pack and again to the Little Flyers.

Notes: The Avalanche had two non-league games cancelled against the Buffalo Jr. Stars during February and they will make up two games against the Jr. Nationals Mar 20-21. Matt Rigtrup is one the top five scoring defenseman in the AJHL with five goals and seven assists. Correction- Rob Fallick played in goal during a 5-2 win against the Little Flyers Jan 3.

Jr. Nationals Finish Out Excellent Debut Season

While they won’t wind up in first place, the Washington Jr. Nationals have plenty to be proud of in their first season. They led the newly-formed AJHL for the majority of the year, only to succumb late in the campaign to the numerous games-in-hand held by the Hartford Jr. Wolf Pack.

With just two remaining games, the ‘Nats can still earn second place depending on the outcome of the NY Bobcats’ final few games.

No doubt the Nationals will look back on the pair of one-goal losses to the Jr. Wolf Pack late in the season as the deciding factor in their finish. The ‘Nats dropped a pair of 3-2 decisions to the Jr. Wolf Pack in MD during the final weekend in February. The preceding game, a 7-6 victory to the Bobcats, had left them weel positioned to capture the crown if they could capture two or three points against the Jr. Wolf Pack.

But rather than cry over spilled milk, expect the talented ‘Nats to turn feisty at the AJHL playoffs later this month in Albany. They certainly have the firepower to do so.

Their top one-two punch of Nikita Kashirsky and Michael Gardner finshed one-two in the AJHL in scoing, where they had resided for much of the year. Excellent supporting work was done all season by Bobby Surdam, Rich Jondo and others.

The defensive corps was anchored by the brilliant play of Colin Brumsted and Bryan Blackburn. Blackburn was rewarded with an offer to the ECAC’s Norwich University, perhaps the nation’s top D-III program and defending D-III national champions.

Bryan Blackburn, a native of Fredericksburg, VA, and mainstay on the Washington Jr. Nationals’ defense for the past two years has formally committed to NCAA defending D-III champion Norwich University of the ECAC. Blackburn is the first player from the Jr. Nationals’ organization to make the jump to a top-flight NCAA Division III program.

It’s a great spot for him to land as Norwich, located in Northfield, VT, will graduate four senior defensemen. Thus Blackburn can reasonably expect to make immediate contributions to the Cadet lineup next year.

Head coach Nick Carso believes that Bryan has the tools, talent and commitment to excel at the next level. "Bryan is not just a blue-chip prospect but an excellent young man. He has been a joy to coach and we wish him the best of luck next year."

Blackburn, a 1986 birth year, led the Jr. Nationals’ defensemen in scoring with five goals and 15 assists in 22 contests, and is ranked second among all defensemen in scoring in the Atlantic Junior Hockey League. He was named assistant captain by his team for the second year in a row.

The Nationals are again turning out some fine college prospects: Matt Fairchild, James LaCour, Mark Tilch and Bobby Plant are currently being pursued by Division I colleges in the Northeast while Dave Quader and Kyle Keller are making some key contributions to their respective universities this year.

Little Flyers Elite Have a Busy Month

The Little Flyers Junior Elite played an eight-game slate in February, and while their 3-5 may not show it, they actually skated well and were competitive in just about every game. Defenseman John Giacobbo had a big monthwith eight goals and 11 assists. He ccontinues to lead the Little Flyers and all AJHL defensemen in scoring with 42 points (22 goals and 20 assists).

The Flyers started the month brilliantly, defeating the first-place Washington Jr. Nationals 7-3. The Flyers made the most of their scoring chances,registering only 20 shots. Alex Viscidi, John Giacobbo, and Bryan Schallenhammer paced the Flyers with two goals each with Anthony Nordo rounding out the scoring with a solo goal. Giacobbo added three assists, while Nordo had two and Chris Riggs, Anthony Scales, Viscidi, and Schallenhammer each chipped in with an assist. Blaise Belfiore was in goal for the flyers and he came up big, turning away 34 of 37 shots.

The Flyers’ good efforts unfortunately went unrewarded during their next weekend set, as they dropped two close ones to the Jr. Titans, 6-5 and 2-1. Giacobbo again had a multiple goal game and Andrew Osberg also added two goals, with Louis Volpe adding a goal in the Saturday loss.

Ben Robertson notched the Flyers’ lone goal on Sunday, with Greg Melasecca and Nordo picking up assists. Brennan was in goal for the Flyers and he had a solid game stopping 30 of the 32 shots he faced to keep his team in it the whole way.

Three of their final four games in Feb would be come against a strong NY Bobcats team, and despite losing the three games the Flyers made a good showing of themselves. In the Blizzard Classic at ProSkate, the Flyers came out determined and skated stride-for-stride with the Bobcats, giving them all they could handle before losing by a 4-2 score. The showcase atmosphere produced playoff-like hockey, and each period was played crisply, Mike O'Brien (unassisted) got the Flyers’ goal in period one, while C J Schneider scored the Flyers’second goal assisted by Avi Meyers and Robertson. Brennan was in goal for the Flyers and again had a solid game, as he faced 39 shots and stopped 35 of them.

The Flyers concluded their showcase run with a 4-1 victory over the North Jersey Avalanche Monday morning.

Club president John Giacobbo is optimistic about his team's chances in the remaining league games and in the upcoming playoffs, set for the "Big Arena" in Albany, NY. "We’re getting healthy and we’ll have all our kids back from school when the playoffs start." When they do, don’t be surprised if the Little Flyers become a tough out in the playoffs. With the memories of last season’s Keegan Cup run still firmly in the minds of several players who moved up from the Met League team of last season, expect extraordinary effort from the Flyers in Albany.