Come Meet The Men Behind the Mask

Max Kirkwood

Cory Lignelli

Nolan Greene

Darryl Smith

The Florida Eels are thrilled to introduce 4 of its committed goalies for the fall 2014-15 season. Returning veteran is Max Kirkwood who proved he is amongst the best in all of Junior Hockey last season. Max out dueled many opponents last year for the Eels Elite team back boning his team to its 2nd straight Florida Divisional Title and winning the USPHL Southern Conference as well. Max won repeated honors as Goalie of the Week, Goalie of the Month and recognized by his peers and coaches and league administrators being bestowed with League All-Star honors. Max returns this year with two missions in mind: Winning Nationals and earning an NCAA Div. 1 roster spot. Max is a true leader on the team. Both on and off the ice. He is a quiet reserve young man who does all his talking on the ice. We are very excited about his return. He has tremendous character and will be once again a major factor in this year’s winning formula.

Please meet Cory Lignelli.

Cory also comes to the program as seasoned netminder. Last year Cory played for the New Hampshire Monarchs USPHL Elite team. Cory came to us scouted by Sean Guidry who son plays for the Eels program. We saw Cory through out the season with the NH Monarchs  and scouted his accomplishments at the HUB Cup in Boston over the summer. Cory joined the Eels at the USPHL Summer Showcase and impressed Coach Bloomingburg, Frankie Scarpaci and GM Frank Scarpaci. Cory will be a great addition to the Elite team creating a strong combination in net. He is experienced, poised and a winner. He comes from a great family with strong moral fiber and impechaible charater. Those are key ingredients in what we want in our program.

On the Empire side, come meet:

Nolan Greene.

Nolan is a young man who came highly regarded by a number of Eels Massachusetts scouts including Leo Gould, Coach Mike from Boston, and Sean Guidry.

Nolan was recognized by ESPN in Boston and one of the top goalie prospects in Massachusetts. He was a standout goalie for North Quincy High School and an All Star. Nolan joined the Eels in a series of showcases in the Spring including the Pro AM NHL Pre Draft where he played outstanding against numerous teams populated by NCAA Div. 1 commits. Nolan also joined the Eels at the USPHL Spring Showcase where he again played outstanding. Nolan has great size, is very quick, has outstanding vision and puck awareness,  and brings an unorthodox goaltending style. He stops the puck and I mean against top snipers. That is the key. You can tell he is a great kid and comes from a equally  phenominal  family. We expect Nolan to step up to the plate this year and fill the shoes of departing goalie Robert Henerickson who went on to play Pro Hockey in Sweden.

Also on the Empire side is Darryl Smith

Darryl is another strong recruit from Texas. The Eels have done very well with our Texas players over the years bringing us League All Star goalie Hunter Fernandez, Cody Rogers, Brien Thompson, Jonathan Appel and Kade Brannon, to name a few. GM Scarpaci saw Darryl at the JPS Showcase in Denver CO and once again at the CCM Showcase in Littleton CO. He comes highly regarded by our Midwest scout who scouted  Doss Allen,  and recruited and sent us Hank Bill and Michael Kobus amongst others. GM Scarpaci was indeed impressed with Darryl at the JPS and CCM  showcases as he let in only  one goal in 6 periods of hockey during the two showcases. Darryl has great size and has cat like hands. He too has great vision. He attacks the puck as he is very aggressive and very exciting to watch. He like Nolan has a great work ethic. You can tell he comes from a family that not only supports his dreams and goals buy instills the values and work ethic to be the best he can be. Darryl and Nolan will be a phenomenal combination filling the jobs of outstanding goalies that held these jobs over the last several seasons.