Skills Competition Wrap-up

Fastest Skater Competition

After the all-star games were over, over one-hundred of the ECRHA’s finest took to the floor for the Revision Hockey Skills Competition.  An excited crowd packed the main rink at the Sportsplex, eager to see who would be crowned the title of the ECRHA’s fastest skater. 

After two rounds of head-to-head matchups, the quarterfinal brackets were set.  In the first matchup, Jay Quinn (Queens) went up against Thomas Hughes (Cortland) in what would be a contrast in skating style: big, long strides (Quinn) versus fast, quick strides (Hughes).  Dancing at the line, Hughes jumped out to an early lead, but Quinn’s long strides bridged the gap quickly, as halfway through the matchup, the competitors were neck and neck.  In what would be the closest match of the day, Hughes narrowly beat out Quinn, and advanced to the final four.  In the second matchup, Matthew Toy (Northeastern) faced off against Ed Jones (Neumann).  Regarded as one of the fastest players in Division I, Jones flew off the line and never looked back.  Toy gave a great effort, but in the end, Jones prevailed and moved on to cement the first semifinal matchup. 

On the other side of the bracket, Matthew Riopelle (West Point) lined up against Dan Caliendo (UConn). While this matchup had potential, it looked like fatigue had set in a bit with Caliendo, as he labored through the last half of the race.  Riopelle powered through and secured the first spot in the semi-finals.  In the last quarterfinal matchup, Joseph Chappius (Brockport) lined up against Stephen Ferguson (Queens).  In what would be another extremely close matchup, Chappius narrowly edged out Ferguson to complete the final four.

In the first semi-final matchup, two of the quickest players in the league went head-to-head, both eager to secure a spot in the finals.  It was interesting to see the contrast of styles to begin the race- Hughes did what he had done all day, crouched down and started doing a bizarre dance at the starting line.  On the other side of the rink, Jones looked collected and focused, and he calmly waited to begin the race.  In a race that was neck to neck for about 75% of the way, Hughes seemed to have stumbled or slipped around the last turn, giving Jones the slight edge he needed to take the victory. 

In the second semi-final matchup, two division one rivals went toe-to-toe for the right to face Jones in the finals.  Riopelle and Chappius looked pretty winded, as to be expected for this late in the competition.  However, looks can be deceiving.  Riopelle seemed to get a little stronger with each round, as he summarily defeated Chappius by a couple strides to move onto the finals.

After a short respite, both competitors were eager to begin the final matchup.  Once again, this matchup pitted two different strengths against each other:  Riopelle’s endurance and speed against Jones’ quickness and foot speed.  With hundreds of fans and fellow players looking on, the crowd buzzed with anticipation for an exciting finals matchup.  Both players got a great jump from the start.  Halfway through, Jones and Riopelle were neck and neck- it was anybody’s race.  The last half of the race, however, Riopelle’s endurance kicked in, as he took a slight lead 3/4s of the way through.  Riopelle never looked back, as he beat Jones by a stride to secure the title of ECRHA’s fastest skater.  Congratulations to Matthew Riopelle, and to all the players who participated in the fastest skater competition.

 

3 on 0 Breakaway Competition

Sixty-four players and goaltenders took the rink for the second and final event of the skills competition, the 3-on-0 breakaway challenge.  Each team had forty-five seconds to score as many goals on the opposing goaltender as possible.  Win and you move on, lose and you go home.  After a bit of confusion, the players and fans seemed to get the hang of the competition, which was taylor-made for some beautiful goals and some outstanding saves.  Kudos to goaltenders John Iadevaia (Hofstra), Christian Ricketts (Slippery Rock), and Neil Tweardy (Millersville) for making some outstanding saves in the first couple of rounds.

After the first couple of rounds, the final four was set.  In the first matchup, Tom Petro (Delaware), Nick Allison (Neumann), Alex Robinson (UConn) and Adam Melillo (Stony Brook) squared off against Max Stern (Cortland), Matt Mendolia (Queens), Pat Rosa (Hofstra), and Zack Back (UConn). With both teams ready, the matchup got underway with Melillo and Back making several beautiful saves to keep it 0-0 early on.  Eventually, the combination of Stern/Mendolia/Rosa clicked and managed to put two past Melillo.  That was all the offense Zack Back needed, as he looked confident and in control, turning away any and all chances that Petro/Allison/Robinson had to offer.  In the end, the team of Stern/Mendolia/Rosa/Back escaped with a 2-1 win and secured a spot in the finals.

On the other side of the bracket, the other looming semi-final matchup told the tale of two completely different approaches to the event.   Matt Merola (UConn), Mike McCorkle (UMass), Sean Simpson (Slippery Rock), and Brad Witt (West Point) had tried a different approach to this event. Instead of going in three on zero against the goalie, they each took turns going in on individual breakaways. After 20-30 seconds of that, their style would evolve into 2 on 0 breakaways, and even an occasional 3 on 0 breakaway.  Their style seemed to work, as they won the first two matchups pretty handily.  Their opponent in the semi-finals was the team of Kenneth Bogart (Cornell), Joseph Chappius (Brockport), Ryan McGeehan (Slippery Rock) and Dan Cordle (Pittsburgh), who moved through the first two rounds with relative ease.  To this point, both Witt and Cordle had played well, giving up no more than two goals in the first two rounds.  However, the strange approach that Merola/McCorkle/Simpson took to the breakaway challenge worked its magic again, as they scored a couple early goals on breakaways to take an early lead that they would not relinquish.  Brad Witt made several outstanding stops to help his team advance to the finals.

The story of the finals in the 3-on-0 breakaway challenge was goaltending.  Both Back and Witt were outstanding to this point, each essential to their team making the finals.  With forty-five seconds on the clock, the players were eager and ready to go.  As was the case all day, Zack Back played outstanding in the finals, allowing one late goal to the unorthodox team of Merola/McCorkle/Simpson, while on the other side, Stern/Mendolia/Rosa were firing on all cylinders, putting three past Witt and securing the victory in the first ever 3-on-0 breakaway challenge.  Congratulations to the winners, and to all the participants for making the skills competition a memorable and fun event for all.

All the pictures of our winners can be seen at the ECRHA Facebook account