Nick Pilotti (center) receiving the 2012-13 PIHA Organization of the Year Award

With the 2012-2013 PIHA season behind us and the new season steadily approaching, PIHA Media wanted to look back before closing the book on another successful year. This week the league caught up with Nick Pilotti of the Inferno to again recognize the franchises’ first Organization of the Year award.

PIHA: PIHA Organization of the Year – congratulations. Is this something that the Inferno will rally around for future years?

Nick Pilotti: We are very excited to be named Organization of the year for the 2013 season. It is something that we take extreme pride in. We want to make our games as exciting as possible for the fans and the players. Our organization takes this very seriously and want to draw in more people to the sport that we love playing. We have a great relationship with a Dance Studio, a local Roller Derby Group, and Karate Organization that were able to come out and perform during our halftime to keep our fans entertained. We are fortunate to have Armstrong Television, the local television station, want to televise our games and we wanted to show everyone in our community that we are more than just a random adult inline hockey game. This is a great way to showcase our talents and the sport of Inline Hockey.

PIHA: During the Finals the league had only spectacular reviews from the people that watched the LIVE internet broadcasts; will you continue to do these?

N.P.: We not only do live stream for our Pro and Minor Inferno games, but our Youth and Adult house league games as well. We feel that it is a cool feature for our facility to offer those who cannot attend games live, the opportunity to follow along online.

PIHA: There were several games broadcast on TV this year. How did these go and do the players enjoy the attention?

N.P.: I was constantly getting bombarded with people asking for my autograph on a regular basis before this season, but now that we have our games televised, I did notice that more of the locals were recognizing me in our local Wal-Mart. Other than that, the players did enjoy watching themselves play on TV. The organizations that did perform during our halftime were very excited to have that same exposure. As for Hot Shots, we did use the television broadcast as an opportunity to draw the interest kids to start playing our sport. We advertised a Free Learn to Play Hockey Clinic run by our Inferno players that included free rental equipment. We ended up getting 30 new kids that have never played before to come out for the clinic. It was a great marketing tool for our home rink.

PIHA: What does the organization look forward to improving in the 2013-2014 season?

N.P.: We will keep looking for new ways to draw new fans and entertain them during our games. In addition to the halftime shows that we put on, this past year we added a new light show with fog machines for our player introductions. Who knows what we will come up with next, but it is our goal to provide a professional atmosphere for the players and the fans.

PIHA: Lastly, any hints on future plans to keep the trophy at Hot Shots Arena and in the Inferno organization next year?

N.P.: Like I said before, we take great pride in providing a professional atmosphere at all times. We have a few ideas, but I am going to keep everyone in suspense till next year.

Mt. Pleasant, PA – The New Jersey Braves looked like the “Cream of the Crop” coming into this past weekend’s PIHA Finals and ultimately the Braves proved that they were. One of PIHA’s newest franchises were too much for the Scottdale Inferno on Sunday as the Braves swept the home team in spectacular fashion and went on to their first KIHA Cup Championship.

Although the final matchup was the “Braves Show”, the team from North Jersey did not exactly “walk” through the weekend’s round robin play. The Braves ultimately went 6-2 to be the first seed heading into the final series but, after winning game 7 of 8 in the round robin the team decided to sit a few key players and went on to lose game 8 to the very same Inferno team they would meet on Sunday. This was a tough break for one of the best teams at Finals weekend as the Inferno win knocked out the Mile High Miners and ended their shot at a rematch with the Braves. ”It was an unfortunate circumstance but one that has happened several times in the roller hockey world. A team not needing to win is only looking towards the future and their chance at a championship but it’s tough for another team that a decision like that may affect. The Miners coaching staff handled things with great professionalism and the league will definitely be taking a look at other options for the 2013-2014 season,” mentioned PIHA President, CJ Yoder.

The league would also like to thank the Pennsylvania Monsoon for joining us at the Finals. The organization and its players proved why they have been in PIHA since its inception. Spectacular weekend for everyone, all around!

2012-13 Founders Cup Champions – Long Island Sting

2012-13 Playoff MVP – Mike Genova

Mt. Pleasant, PA - Last weekend’s PIHA Finals proved too much for the Western Conference Champion Colorado Springs Thunder as they looked out matched both Friday and Saturday night during PIHA’s 12th PIHA Founders Cup Finals. After taking two on Friday night, the Snipers took advantage of just about every power play opportunity and scored their final PP goal in overtime to basically stick a dagger in the floundering Thunder squad.

After the second OT loss in a row the Thunder were nowhere to be found in game four as the Long Island team took it to them, winning the final game 6-2 and putting a stamp on a dominant sweep. Sniper goaltender, Mike Genova skated home with the Playoff MVP award winning all four games and shutting down a Thunder offense that had no issues scoring all year.

Although the series was a bit shorter than league management would have liked, Founder Charley Yoder was proud of the events. ”The league would love a 7-game series every year with the best team winning at the end but that’s not always going to happen. I have to say though, the series was fun to watch. There is tremendous talent on both of these squads and throughout our league. Both Long Island and Colorado Springs was well represented this weekend. No funny stuff after whistles, no scrums at every turn, just good hard hockey by both teams. The league and its fans appreciate that.” Mr. Yoder also mentioned the unbelievable support and commitment by the Hotshots Arena staff during the entire weekend and the weeks leading up to the event.

Tomorrow the two teams meet at Hotshots Arena for games 3 and 4 of the best-of-7 series. “We obviously need to stay out of the box. Mo, Thomps, Healey, and Bokina are definitely on the same page and we can not give them PP opportunities. We will come back ready to work tomorrow night and see what happens,” said Thunder captain CJ Yoder.

In other action the Mile High Miners (Denver, CO) and the home team, Scottdale Inferno skated to a 1-0 Miners win and 3-3 tie. Plenty of minor league action was still to be played as this article was written.

Games 1 & 2 – Friday, 2/22 at 7:30pm ET
Games 3 & 4 – Saturday, 2/23 at 7:30pm ET
Games 5, 6, & 7 – Sunday, 2/24 at 11:00am ET

Games can be seen by selecting the Blue Rink Mobile HD link at http://www.hotshotsarena.com/live.

Here are a few players to watch next weekend:

Marshallton Rampage – Nico Christino (57pts) led all scoring in the division throughout the regular season.

Mile High Miners – Two players that played several games with the Pro squad and should crack a lineup next year. Joey Dolce (47pts) Ryan Wass-Tursick (43 pts). Miners Jon Joy led all goaltenders with 3 shutouts.

New Jersey Braves – Jared Reisman led the Minor Division with 28 assists in 24 games.

Scottsdale Inferno – Led by veteran Nick Pilotti and being at home should help this team be a contender. Pilotti led the team with 9g, 22a, for 31pts.

When this was written the league still was waiting on the Sting/495′ers series to be completed.

Slim Pickens

Welcome back hockey fans it is time for the PIHA finals. Facing off in the finals will be the Colorado Springs Thunder and the defending champions Long Island Snipers. This is going to be a battle between two teams that feature identical types of players. Leading the way for these teams are two veteran playmakers, The Snipers Greg Thompson and CJ Yoder for the Thunder.  They also have tall strong men with absolute BOMBS for shots from the point in Eric Bogenrief for the Thunder and Jonathan Mosenson for the Snipers.  Up front both of these teams feature a flashy explosive forwards capable of taking the game over and putting up goals in bunches. Snipers John Healy and the Thunder’s Jake Miller. The “supporting” casts of these teams are more than capable as well. This series is going to be intense, and I am pumped.

The minor league finals will also be intense. This year’s favorite the New Jersey Braves are hoping to keep rolling into the finals. It will not be easy if the home squad Scottsdale Inferno have anything to say about it.  The Appalachian division champs Marshalton Rampage are a young but very good team.  Both the Sting or 495ers are poised and capable of bringing home the hardware as are the Western conference champions the Miners. If this years minor league playoffs are like last year, then this will be a very good tourney featuring the future stars in our league and our game.

Be sure to get your tickets and Steel City look out cause Slim Pickins is on the way out for some playoff hockey. Good luck to all the teams.

Here’s Hoping There’s a Buffett in Pitt…

Slim 

North Arlington, NJ – The Eastern Conference Finals would be played through some difficult conditions at the new home of the ISCA Grizzlies in North Arlington, NJ. Moving out of their old home in Wallington after 15 years, the Grizzlies found themselves on their new home turf for the first time. “Well, this isn’t home just yet, but it is starting to feel like it really quick” says Grizzlies General Manager and Rink Operator Denis Jelcic.

The Eastern Conference Playoffs were hindered by a storm that would cripple the tri-state area but somehow a good showing of Eastern Conference teams got to the event. In the Appalachian Minor Division it was #1 seeded Rampage that would receive a bye while the #2 Inferno and #3 Monsoon would play a two-game series which would fall the Inferno’s way 5-1 and 4-1, a closer series than the score would indicate. Coach Charley Yoder would have his hands full with 4 skaters and 2 goaltenders, and finagling a 5th skater by switching a goaltender to a skater. It was 0-0 for quite some time in both games. The Inferno would score first in both games, while the Monsoon would tie it 1-1 on the power play in both games. Not having much gas left in both games, the Monsoon goalie would stand tall but could not hold off the Inferno. In the Appalachian Minor Division against the Rampage the Inferno would win Game 1, but the Rampage came back with a Game 2 triumph. While also having the lead in Game 3 before Inferno Coach Mike Gerger would get ejected trying to energize his team for the tying goal, and well, it worked. The Inferno would tie it on a goal by aging superstar Nick Pilotti, but in overtime the Rampage would prove to be too much and score the division winning goal. Coach Mike Gerger had this to say when asked about his ejection being intentional “Yea I got tossed on purpose, it worked didn’t it?” Both the Rampage and the Inferno will advance to the Finals representing the Appalachian Minor Division.

The Atlantic Division Minor seeds two and three, 495ers and Sting respectively, could not make the trip due to over 30″ of snow in their area. They will play their series in the coming days with the winner advancing to the PIHA finals. In the other Minor Division match up, it was the top seeded Braves and Grizzlies that would go three games. Game 1 would belong to the Braves with a dominant 8-2 victory, while the Grizzlies would pull out a 5-3 victory in Game 2. Game 3 would be a classic match as both teams were tied 1-1 and Grizzlies trailed 2-1. With :22 seconds they pulled their goaltender and tied the game 2-2. Unfortunately a bounce would go the Braves way and they would defeat the Grizzlies in overtime to move on to the PIHA Finals.

The Pro Division would feature the Appalachian Division’s Lunatics and Team Blue. Team Blue would beat the Lunatics in two games to advance to the division final where they would be defeated in two games by the Appalachian Division Champion Inferno. In the other match up, the Brawlers who did not attend this weekend’s events would allow the Grizzlies to advance to the Atlantic Division Finals where they would meet the Snipers. Game one would be a tug of war with the Snipers leading the Grizzlies 2-1 in the final seconds when Timmie Fulton found a loose puck in front of the net to tie the game 2-2. Unfortunately, it would be a penalty on the same player who tied the game, that would be called in overtime to give the Snipers a power play that they would convert on as they do so well – Snipers Win Game 1. The effects of Game 1 would sit on the Grizzlies shoulders in Game 2 as the Snipers would pour it on and win Game two 6-2 and win the Atlantic Division.

Eastern Conference Pro Finals between the Appalachian Division Champion Inferno and Atlantic Division Snipers would be a three-game series, quicker than anticipated. Snipers would win Game one 3-2, Game two 7-4 and Game three 4-1 – advancing to the PIHA Finals for the third straight season.

Eastern Conference playoffs are complete as we move on to the PIHA Finals February 22-24.

Parker, CO – This past weekend the Parker Fieldhouse showcased some of the best hockey the state has ever seen as the Pro Division did not disappoint while the Minor division proved that there are plenty of great, young hockey players that will be moving up to fill out the upper ranks.

The 5-game Western Conference Final pro series was a great one and one PIHA fans in the Rockies had been waiting for, for over a year.  In 2012 the Miners pulled a huge upset of the Colorado Springs Thunder and held off a Prowlers/Thunder rivalry until this year as the two came into the series with Pittsburgh and a PIHA Championship in their minds.  Thunder pulled out an overtime win in game one but dropped game two badly on Saturday night.  The Prowlers came into the series as big favorites but Sunday would prove that this battle of wills can go either way at any time.  Games 3 and 4 were taken by the visiting Thunder in front of a big Parker Fieldhouse crowd.   The Thunder were led by great goaltending as Dan Lamb posted his first playoff shutout of the year and some timely scoring by some of the most unlikely of players.  Defenseman Eric Sherlock, Matt Pedersen, and Pablo Navarro all scored goals while continuing their great defensive play.  “We definitely had some guys step up this weekend.   Our ‘D’ were doing a great job of jumping into the play and then taking advantage of the chances they received because of the hard work.  We will need that at the Finals if we want to move towards our final goal,” said coach, Larry Holmes.

The Prowler Minor team was also represented in the Minor Division Final as they took on the Mile High Miners.   Both teams swept their Saturday night, semi-final series as the first seeded Miners took care of the Front Range Thunder and then the Prowlers proved too much for a short benched New Mexico Venom.  The two teams played several overtime games and split series throughout the regular season.  All and all the best two teams in the division would see each other on Sunday to see who would represent the division at the PIHA Finals in February.

Game 1 went to the Prowlers in double overtime as an untimely too-many-men penalty cost the Miners the opener.  But games two and three went the Mile High way as the Miners took both handily and proved they were worthy of the opportunity at the organization’s first PIHA Championship.   PIHA Finals weekend is the weekend of February 22-24.   For more information keep an eye on the PIHA website at www.thepiha.com.