The Knights win in the final minutes of the EJHL South Playoffs in a real old fashion barn-burner. The Eels proved they are real and a major force in Tier III Junior Hockey

The Florida Eels are probably the most exciting junior ice hockey team in the EJHL South. During the 2011-2012 playing season, the Eels had only 3 wins and came back this year with a vengeance and increased their production 8 fold with 25 wins. GM, Frank Scarpaci, made a calculated decision last year at this time that it was time not only to clean house so to speak but to tear down the building and rebuild it from the ground up. 

Scarpaci decided to bring in new players to the program. That has to be the understatement of the year, however, as Scarpaci brought in 44 new guys out of his 50 man roster. He went on a recruiting mission that included 8 Junior Showcases across the USA and put together 6 different tournament teams of his own to test and evaluate his prospective talent. Next Scarpaci went on a nationwide search for a new coach for his EJHL South Team. After interviewing over 20 candidates he hired Jason Bloomingburg, former assistant coach of the Texas Tornadoes. Bloomingburg offered the experience of playing and coaching at the NAHL Tier II program. In fact he won the Nationals with the Tornadoes as both a player and coach. Moreover, Bloomingburg went on to play Division 1 NCAA college hockey at Providence College and Wayne State and also enjoyed a minor league professional hockey career.

With this new team in place the Eels coaching staff scouted over 1,000 players; had over 200 players on their tournament teams or training camps; and then went through the arduous task of discerning who were the right players for the EJHL South and Empire teams. The cuts ran deep and the decisions took sleepless nights, but we remained true to our mission, which was to rebuild from the ground up. The Eels were looking for a variety of players and skill alone was not always the determining factor in selecting a player for their team. The key ingredient the coaching staff was looking for were boys with strong moral character. The second key ingredient was work ethic which is made up of the following: players who have the heart, determination, grit, and dedication to win. Scarpaci wanted to immerse his team with players who would sacrifice everything on and off the ice and who possessed the intestinal fortitude and burning desire not to be complacent. The last key ingredient was to find college bound players. They are the serious ones. They come with a goal and a mission to play NCAA men's college hockey and are not coming to play hockey for simply a good time.

The Eels staff found 44 of these guys and added them to the few committed players they had from last year's roster. We could tell from day one of training camp and the weeks that ensued that we put together the right mixture. The chemistry was here said Coach Bloomingburg. But words alone and cheerleading does not put up the numbers. Bloomingburg's game plan was set in motion and we embarked upon the most rigorous training program in all of Junior hockey. It involved 1 1/2 hours a day of ice time and 1 1/2 hours of strength and conditioning training with our new sponsors World Gym. Then 3 -4 times per week our players went over the game of hockey. We call that "Hockey Intelligence" which involved not only chalk talk, review of game film of our games and upcoming opponents, but how the game is played. There we reviewed game footage of high level programs from the USHL, the NAHL as well as NCAA Div 1 college teams and NHL teams. It was uniquely designed to educate our players in all aspects of the game. To make them not only the best physically fit and conditioned team on the ice but also the most hockey intelligent players on the ice as well.

The season proved extremely positive for the Eels program. In fact arguably speaking the Eels program has to be the most improved Junior Hockey program in North America. The EJHL South team went from 3 wins in 2011-12 to 25 wins this season. They had the best power play percentage and equally shared the best penalty kill percentage in the league. They had over 11 players with double digits. They had two of the top defenseman in the league with Brien Thompson and Joey Colartarci and had a number of the league top scorers in Zack Mudge, Fredrik Wink, Tom Doverhjelm and Daniel Filler to name a few. In net they had probably the best goalie in the league if not in all of Tier III Junior Hockey in Hunter Fernandez.

As a tribute to the Eels development, the Empire team showed equally remarkable improvement with a parallel 25 wins. This was to be compared to only 5 wins in 2011-12 playing season. The Empire team finished in 9th place overall in league wins and winning percentage. Things look good for the EJHL South squad next season as the Empire team has strong prospects pushing at their door.

Well season two stared last weekend: the playoffs. The drama was truly set. Most folks looking at the league were predicting an Atlanta Knights vs. Florida Eels showdown. Both teams were at the top of their divisions; they both played a similar high tempo style game; they both had depth and talent across the board; and they both had phenomenal goaltending. The Atlanta Knights had won the USA Hockey Nationals in 2011-12 and had the experience with many returning veterans. Oddly enough the two teams ended out staying in the same hotel for the weekend; which was unplanned; ate at the same restaurants; had adjoining locker rooms; and consequently shared adjoining showers.

Well each team battled hard in the round robin portion of the playoffs. The other opponents were very difficult challenges and nothing was taken for granted. In fact Scarpaci commented that the Tampa Bay Juniors and Space Coast Hurricanes were playing their best hockey of the year and Palm Beach always played the Eels tough, so we could not worry about Atlanta or Hampton Roads. We had to focus on the opponents at hand. Well the Eels players seemed possessed. They brought on a tenacious forecheck that smothered the opposition in the offensive zone. Equally present were the Eels very determined and difficult back checking attitude that denies scoring opportunities. The result was the Eels were victorious in the round robin and semi-finals to earn a spot in the Championship round.

Both Atlanta and the Eels were now battle proven. Strong regular seasons and one of the hardest fought round robin and semi finals teams could handle in the playoffs. Monday was set. The defending USA Hockey Tier III Champions the Atlanta Knights vs. the Eels - the most improved Junior team in the USA. Atlanta knew they could not take the Eels for granted. They knew this was not the Eels of 2011-12. During the regular season the two teams spit. The Knights won the first game 1-0 in the Charlotte Showcase in October where as the Eels defeated Atlanta in the Southern Showcase in December 3-1. 

The rink had over 2 dozen scouts in attendance for the showdown. In period 1, Atlanta picked up a pair of goals while the Eels came up dry. The pace of the game was very fast. The Eels were playing hard laying on a hard forecheck, hitting everything in site. The Knights were equally aggressive and had two goals to show for it. To some folks they might have thought, oh well the Knights will continue to dominate and peel the Eels apart in periods 2 and 3. This was not the case, however. In between periods in the locker room, you had to see it on the Eels players' faces. No way. We were not going to quit. The boys brought out the character and work ethic. They had determination and would sacrifice everything to get back this game.

Period two was all Eels. The boys came back with 3 unanswered goals. They turned things around fast and it seemed like they completely picked up the ice surface and tilted the scales. Up and down unbelievable two way hockey. Now you could see it in the faces of both teams.

In period three Atlanta came back hard as did the Eels continuing to battle it out. With 6 minutes to go it seemed like the Eels would be going to the Tier III USA Hockey Jr Nationals, but then Atlanta somehow found a way to tie things up and the rink grew extremely quite. Both teams continued to battle like true warriors. This was the best Jr hockey had to offer. Class all around. Then with a little more than 2 minutes remaining in regulation time, the Knights scored their 4th goal of the game which proved to be the game winner. The Eels continued to battle to try to tie things up but were denied. The Atlanta Knights went on to win the game winning the EJHL South League Championship and the right to go to the USA Hockey Tier III Nationals and defend their title.

In the end the EJHL South Championship game proved to be what everyone hoped it would be; a battle right to the end by our two top teams in the playoffs. The exposure and visibility for our league was simply phenomenal. The scouts laced the building and got to see all weekend very talented players from all 6 teams participating. The Championship game was not a disappointing blow out but a well fought battle of skill, determination, and heart by Atlanta Knights and the Florida Eels. The Eels proved not only to their colleagues in the EJHL South but to all of USA Hockey how determined and dedicated this organization is to playing Junior hockey. The Eels did everything they could to get here and are extremely proud of the players and its staff for such a great year. 

What we saw amongst the players as went through the hand shake line was pure greatness; a mutual adoration and respect uniquely found in the EJHL South players, owners, GMs, and coaches. . The Knights players hugging the Eels congratulating them for an incredible season and how well they improved and the Eels congratulating the Knights for winning and wishing them the best of luck with a directive to WIN IT ALL AT NATIONALS. Gentlemen, this is the kind of respect only hockey folks can understand.