EPHL article in NYT

[JR Boucicaut 3803]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/sports/h...&ref=sports

The league has had some brilliant moments. Dan Barry, the equipment manager for Brooklyn, still cannot get over a goal by Tony Resendes.

Resendes rushed end to end, “dangling everybody,” Barry said, only to be taken down in front of the net. But from his knees, he switched his stick around and shot — left-handed — over the sprawling goalie. Resendes’s goal isn’t on YouTube. But a bench-clearing brawl between Brooklyn and the Danbury Mad Hatters is.

[xstartxtodayx 343]

MSG had a feature about the Brooklyn team last week between periods of the Rangers game, apparantly Ron Duguay signed a mini contract to play a few games with them as a promotional type thing. I never knew the team or the league existed, pretty cool to see.

[NoFear1419 0]

yah he played one game with Brooklyn and one game with jersey....i know a couple kids that play in this league..one just got back from playing in echl with cincy....and one kid played over in Europe and came back.

[mxihockey 0]

I worked with resendes at a hockey camp last summer. Heres a pretty cool article about him from a couple years ago. He had a bright future in hockey but couldn't keep his grades up.

http://www.hockeyjournal.com/Article.php?ArtID=344832

[DarkStar50 679]

A friend of mine is on the worst team in the league, Hudson Valley Bears. He is their leading scorer. He played for the Reading Royals in the ECHL for during January and February. The Bears never paid a dime for him to play. Of course, the Bears never had a practice, either.

[slacker76 3]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/sports/h...&ref=sports

The league has had some brilliant moments. Dan Barry, the equipment manager for Brooklyn, still cannot get over a goal by Tony Resendes.

Resendes rushed end to end, “dangling everybody,” Barry said, only to be taken down in front of the net. But from his knees, he switched his stick around and shot — left-handed — over the sprawling goalie. Resendes’s goal isn’t on YouTube. But a bench-clearing brawl between Brooklyn and the Danbury Mad Hatters is.

The guy in the top pic, Matty P, is a really good friend of mine. He is one of the funniest and craziest guys I've ever met. He "left" the SPHL mid season to join Jersey. He told me he's making more money in the E than down south. So I guess it depends on the team and the player as to who makes what.

[jmiami 4]

Yeah, Aces games are a blast. Great that NYT wrote a piece on EPHL. It's good, fast hockey, and everyone busts their tails. I love how Alan Friedman, the owner of the team, works the crowd during games. A real politician. Hats off to him. And yes, the whole thing evokes "Slapshot", and that makes it even more fun.

Am I the only one who saw Duguay's game with the Aces? Was kind of surreal actually. There is Ron Duguay, at 51, from the late '70's disco-era New York Rangers, mostly holding his own against 20-somethings...and of course no helmet. To be sure, he did take short shifts and made some rusty-flubs But he did get a crucial game-tying assist and hustled his tail off. It was the first time I saw him play in person, and was surprised at how big he was. He towered over the other players. He also communicates a lot with his line-mates, yelling out who is open, or warning someone who is about to get nailed from behind. He was actually the biggest communicator on the ice. It was fascinating to watch him play close up.

[rmnyi 0]

A friend of mine is on the worst team in the league, Hudson Valley Bears. He is their leading scorer. He played for the Reading Royals in the ECHL for during January and February. The Bears never paid a dime for him to play. Of course, the Bears never had a practice, either.

Why didn't they have any practices? I heard the Bears are not coming back to Hudson Valley.