GAME RECAP: Rockers vs. Port Huron Prowlers 12/9/23

Adversity has hit the Motor City Rockers. After the team opened the season with twelve straight games without a regulation time loss, they've now lost four games in a row in regulation, the latest coming Saturday night in their return to Big Boy Arena in Fraser. After a tough loss the previous night in Port Huron, the Rockers were looking to the friendly confines of their home ice to change their fortunes and get back to their winning ways. And they had the benefit of the return of two key forwards as both Declan Conway and TJ Delaney were back after serving suspensions. Being back in Fraser seemed to be the elixir the team needed as they stormed out to a 4-1 lead after two periods. But a key injury, a cold goaltender and an all-out blitz by the Prowlers left the team, and the crowd of 1,179, a bit stunned as Port Huron scored four unanswered goals in the third period to take a shocking 5-4 victory.   

Port Huron was gifted a five minute powerplay just eight seconds into the game when Motor City's Elias Thompson went after Prowler Tucker Scantlebury, getting him down on the ice and pummeling away with a number of shots while Scantlebury turtled. The result was Thompson getting the only major, but the Rockers kept the damage to a minimum. Port Huron scored once at 3:40 when Brandon Picard beat Trevor Babin, back in net after having the last two games off, to make it 1-0. The Rockers were able to get that goal back on a powerplay of their own late in the period. Fresh off serving a two game suspension, Declan Conway threw it towards the net from the corner to the right of Port Huron goaltender Makar Sokolov and the puck had eyes, finding the back of the net for Conway's sixth of the year at 18:15 from TJ Sneath and Jonathan Juliano. Despite being out-shot 15-8 in the period, Motor City went to the locker room in a 1-1 tie.

The second period was all Motor City on the scoreboard. They were again out-shot in the period, this time 15-10, but beat Sokolov three times to take what seemed like a commanding 4-1 lead. Juliano started the scoring at 5:58 when he tipped in a shot from TJ Delaney for his fifth of the season. Ryan Rotundi, who returned to the team this weekend, drew the other assist. Then Delaney got one of his own at 11:18 when he carried the puck up ice and sniped one past Sokolov from Sneath and Josh Colten. It was Delaney's third of the season. Then recently signed Glynn Robitaille continued his hot weekend with his third goal in two games at 18:38, tapping in a cross-ice pass from Scott Coash to make it 4-1. Colten picked up the other helper on the goal and Motor City appeared to be in command after two periods.

The Rockers' lead appeared to be even more commanding given the play of Babin in net. He was spectacular, especially in the second period when he made a flurry of saves that had the crowd at Big Boy Arena as loud as I've ever heard them, showing appreciation to their goalie. But Babin appeared to be wincing in pain on the ice late in the period and sure enough, he did not return for the third period as rookie goaltender Ricardo Gonzalez was forced into action to try to close the game out. It's never easy for a goalie who thinks they have the night off to come in cold, but it's also their job to be ready and Gonzalez has shown he can play at this level so far this year. However, this twenty minutes would be a nightmare for him and the Rockers as the Prowlers came out looking to strike early and did just 42 seconds in when Alex Johnson scored from just inside the blueline. Then at the 2:18 mark, Gonzalez hesitated on playing the puck and got burned when Matt Graham beat him to make it 4-3. Things got even worse when Motor City coughed the puck up in the neutral zone while on the powerplay and Dalton Jay rushed in on Gonzalez and beat him for a shorthanded goal at 10:40 and things were suddenly tied 4-4. The Prowlers completed the comeback on another rush to the net. Gonzalez stopped the initial shot but Graham was right there to deposit it into the net for the 5-4 lead at 15:28. The Rockers were unable to get the equalizer and the Prowlers stunned Motor City and their faithful fans with the comeback victory to sweep both weekend games. 

So now, a lot of attention will turn to the health of Trevor Babin. The Rockers are off until Friday when they host the Carolina Thunderbirds, a tough task even when fully healthy. We await to hear word if Babin's injury is a short term thing or if it will require extended rest. If it's the latter, some tough decisions will need to be made. Can Gonzalez hold the fort down until Babin returns? He looked good in his early starts but struggled this weekend. And again, this loss is hardly all on him. He came in cold and the Rockers have developed an alarming pattern of being badly out-shot lately, 41-23 overall in this contest. Or will Motor City be forced to look elsewhere and bring in a third goaltender until Babin can go? We will see how the roster shakes out this week before the Friday game against Carolina.  

GAME RECAP: Rockers at Port Huron Prowlers 12/8/23

The Battle of I-94 heated back up again Friday night in Port Huron as the Motor City Rockers concluded their eight game road trip with their sixth match-up already this season against the Prowlers at McMorran Place. Motor City had dominated the first five contests, winning them all, four in regulation and one in overtime. In order to continue their winning ways against their Michigan rivals, they'd have to do it without two suspended players, two injured players and integrating some newly signed fresh faces. The new additions contributed right off the bat but it wasn't enough as Motor City lost a two goal lead, and the game, 5-3 before an announced crowd of 1,210 at McMorran.

Things started out great for the Rockers as it took just 2:59 for them to strike first. Just signed forward TJ Sneath deflected in a shot from Brad Reitter for his first goal in his first FPHL game, after spending last season in the SPHL. Pavel Svintsov drew the other assist on Motor City's quick strike. Another new addition made it 2-0 at 11:38 when Glynn Robitaille, playing in his fourth game, took a great outlet pass from Dante Suffredini and broke ahead of the Port Huron defense. His blast beat Ian Wallace for his first regular season goal as a Rocker, he did score in an exhibition game before being released, and it was 2-0 Motor City. The Rockers couldn't make it out of the period unscathed however as Liam Freeborn, just back from a recall to the SPHL, made a pretty move through the defense and beat Motor City goalie Ricardo Gonzalez for his fifth goal of the season at 17:05. Shots ended up even at thirteen for the period and the Rockers carried a 2-1 lead to the locker room.

It continued to look good for Motor City in the second when Scott Coash centered the puck from behind the net to Robitaille who knocked it in for his second of the night at 9:44 to put the Rockers up 3-1. With seven minutes left in the period tempers flared when Elias Thompson came in to drop the gloves with Port Huron's Dan Chartrand. Both players landed some good shots in this one, slight edge to Thompson in the end. But the Prowlers came out of the tussle with a powerplay and took advantage at 13:56 when Davide Gaeta bested Gonzalez for his third goal of the season to make it 3-2. Barely a minute later, Gaeta broke in on a two-on-one and fed Tristan Simm who found the back of the net and suddenly things were tied at three at 15:05. The Prowlers controlled the period, out-shooting Motor City 17-7.

It remained even for most of the third as it started to look like it may require overtime to determine a winner. Motor City killed off two penalties, Port Huron killed off one, then a crucial call was made at 15:01 when Chartrand was sent off for hooking, giving Motor City a power play late in the game and a golden opportunity to take the lead. That golden opportunity quickly turned to disaster though, when a pass to the point got past Jamie Milam sending Vincent Dekumbis streaking down the ice. Gonzalez gambled and came out of his net to try to get to the puck first, could not, and Dekumbis deposited it into the empty net for the shorthanded goal at 15:24. The Prowlers then added an insurance goal at 17:41 when Freeborn picked up his second of the night from the side of the net in close to make it a 5-3 final.

So a tough loss all the way around for Motor City given the early lead and the way things ended. The good news is they can put it in the rear view mirror and get back on track against these same Prowlers tonight at Big Boy Arena in their first home game since November 10th. The Rockers will look to end this three game losing streak in front of their home crowd, and they'll get both Declan Conway and TJ Delaney back from suspension which will be a big help. Face-off is at 6:05 PM in Fraser.               

GAME RECAP: Rockers at Watertown Wolves 12/3/23

I know the last thing the Motor City Rockers' players and coaches will give you are excuses for losing, but I want to be fair about this weekend's games so I guess I am going to make some excuses. Yes, the Rockers only took two of a possible nine points from this weekend's trio of games. It started out great with a thrilling overtime win in Danbury Friday night. Things were going good Saturday, a quick 2-0 lead, until the unfortunate and uncalled for dirty hit on captain Danny Vanderwiel that I cover here. Danbury came back to win that game, handing the Rockers their first regulation time loss of the season. They had a chance to end the weekend on a high note in Watertown Sunday, but here are the facts. The Rockers have not played a home game since November 10th. That's a month now away from Big Boy Arena. They've played eight straight road games, mostly in New York and Connecticut. Their roster has taken a hit, mostly due to injuries and suspensions. Sunday was their third game in three nights, the last game before they can finally return home to Michigan and stay home for awhile. In fact, the entire month of December as they'll either play at home or travel up I-94 to Port Huron. And it was the night after the emotional whirlwind in Danbury. With all of that piling up, their 5-2 loss in Watertown was not surprising, the Wolves have a very competitive squad this season. It doesn't take away from a very productive road trip overall.

Ricardo Gonzalez got his third start of the year in net for Motor City, with Josh Rosenzweig getting the nod for Watertown. Before the game really got underway, each team's tough guy dropped the mitts as Rocker Elias Thompson battled Justin Schmit to a draw just two seconds in off the opening face-off. Once play truly got underway, it was the Wolves who struck first when Carter Thornton blasted a slapshot past Gonzalez at 14:01 from Tate Leeson and Trevor Lord. Watertown out-shot Motor City 18-13 in the first and took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.

The second period started out the same way, with another Thompson vs. Schmit bout just two seconds in. These two are so strong, it is hard for one to clearly come out on top, they each got a few shots in but this was another fight I'd consider a draw. The Rockers were able to even things up at 4:33 when newcomer Tristen Wells tipped in a shot for his first of the season from Jonathan Juliano and Josh Colten. But the Wolves struck back quickly at 5:49 when Tate Leeson netted his team-leading tenth of the season. Joshua Tomasi then made it 3-1 at 18:57 when he got in behind the defense and bested Gonzalez for the unassisted goal, his second this year. The Wolves again led in shots 21-14 and carried a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.

Motor City gave it one last push in the third, carrying the play and out-shooting Watertown 19-12 in the stanza, but Rosenzweig was on top of his game. An early goal from Marc Bottero on a rebound at 1:31 put the Wolves in control 4-1. The Rockers managed to get one back late in the period when Jamie Milam scored his third of the season from Wells and Brad Reitter but Bottero scored his second of the night at 19:11 to clinch the 5-2 victory for the Wolves.        

So a tough way to close out the weekend, but as I said, the Rockers had a lot to overcome at the tail end of this road trip. They'll be fine. They still sit in second place in the Empire Division, seven points behind first place Binghamton and six points ahead of third place Danbury. Their next eight games will be in Michigan, five at Big Boy Arena, and three in Port Huron starting this Friday at 7:05 at McMorran Place. The two teams then face-off in Fraser at 6:05 Saturday evening, the Rockers first home game in over a month.     

GAME RECAP: Rockers at Danbury Hat Tricks 12/2/23

It's hard to focus on, or really care about, the outcome of this game, given the event that happened in the first period, more on that shortly. Thankfully, the injured player involved is doing as well as he can given the circumstances. So I'll recap the second, and final, meeting of the season between the Motor City Rockers and Danbury Hat Tricks, with the disclaimer that, as I said, the stats and results of this game ultimately mean little in the grand scheme of things when you see a player, I don't care on what team, but in this instance it was Motor City, taken off the ice on a stretcher.

It was the same goaltending match-up as it was Friday night, with Trevor Babin back in net for Motor City and Connor McCollum for Danbury. Things started out great for the Rockers at 6:02 when TJ Delaney sped up ice, avoided a hit, and sent it to the slot where Jonathan Juliano was waiting to blast it past McCollum for his fourth of the season and 1-0 lead. Barely a minute later, Pavel Svintsov picked the pocket of Danbury defenseman John Macdonald, sent it over to Danny Vanderwiel who passed it in front to a streaking Brad Reitter for his fourth of the season at 7:22 to make it 2-0 Motor City. But there was little time to celebrate due to what happened right as the goal was scored. Vanderwiel was hit into the boards by Danbury goon Daniel Amesbury and went down. I have no issue with the timing of the hit, if you watch the replay, Amesbury is looking to finish the check as players do. The hit and goal occur practically simultaneously. The issue, and it's a big one, is Amesbury gets his arms up and delivers a blow to the back of Vanderwiel's neck as he is going into the boards face first. It's absolutely inexcusable and a reckless play from a player who already has a history of this crap. I love tough guys, I love that minor league hockey still has its share of fights, hard, but clean, hits and brawls. There is no place in any level of hockey for a hit like that. It was a scary scene, no one wants to see a player taken off on a stretcher, and I am sure it affected the Motor City players seeing their captain injured in that way. Both Elias Thompson and Trevor Babin skated towards the penalty box where Amesbury was sitting, but the officials were able to diffuse the situation from getting any uglier. When play did resume, Danbury was able to tie things up fairly quickly on a shorthanded goal by Jonny Ruiz at 11:04 and an even strength goal by Brandon Stojcevski at 13:43 to make it 2-2 after one.   

I can't imagine how difficult it is to resume playing hockey after an incident like that, but that is what athletes do and the Rockers were able to re-take the lead at 11:27 of the second, this time on a shorthanded goal of their own. Brad Reitter picked off an errant outlet pass from the goalie McCollum and headed in on a two-on-one, sending the perfect pass to Pavel Svintsov who scored his fifth goal of the season to make it 3-2 Motor City. But less than a minute later Daniel McKitrick was able to get it right back for Danbury with his third goal of the season at 12:13 to send it to the second intermission tied at three.

The Rockers lost Declan Conway early in the third period when he was called for a roughing penalty and let the officials know what he thought of it, good for an abuse of officials misconduct. On his way off the ice Conway gave the Danbury faithful the old Middle Finger Salute with a crotch point to top it off, earning him a lewd/inappropriate gesture misconduct as well. Things stayed even until the 14:40 mark. After a number of good chances for the Rockers, Sam Dabrowski sent the puck towards center ice where Nick DiNicola put on the jets, got behind the Motor City defense and beat Babin on a backhander to put the Hat Tricks up 4-3. The Rockers pulled Babin for the extra man to try to get the equalizer but Danbury was able to hold them off and even added an empty net goal as time expired from Jacob Ratcliffe to make it a 5-3 final.

The loss was the Rockers first of the season in regulation time after picking up at least a point in their first thirteen games. Their record now sits at 7-1-3-2, good for 28 points. More important, is the health of Danny Vanderwiel. The latest report from the team is that he has thankfully been released from the hospital and has rejoined the team, although he has suffered a concussion. Given the circumstances, and the dirtiness of the hit, it could have been a lot worse and I know Rockers fans are thankful that is not the case. In the aftermath, the FPHL handed out a two game suspension to Declan Conway for the obscene gestures to the Danbury fans on his way off the ice. That's unfortunate as he had just returned from a one game suspension, but as funny a moment as it was, you know the league is not going to let that slide. As for Amesbury, the league handed down an eighteen game suspension for the hit on Vanderwiel, noting his status as a repeat offender for the extended suspension. Will he learn from it? Time will tell, but this isn't his first dirty hit, given his track record it probably won't be his last. The Rockers now travel to Watertown, New York for a Sunday evening meeting with the Wolves, their third game in three nights.  

GAME RECAP: Rockers at Danbury Hat Tricks 12/1/23

The Motor City Rockers came into Danbury, Connecticut Friday night still standing as the only team in the FPHL without a regulation time loss. In order to keep that streak alive, they'd have to get the franchise's first ever victory against last year's Commissioner's Cup champion Danbury Hat Tricks. The Rockers were also shorthanded in this game, with a key piece of their top line, Declan Conway, serving a one game suspension, and defenseman Nick Magill-Diaz recently placed on the IR. It didn't look good early as they fell behind 3-1 behind a barrage of shots from the Danbury offense. But Trevor Babin stood on his head in net to keep the team in it, and then the Motor City offense clicked and the Rockers stormed back for a thrilling 5-4 victory in overtime. 

It didn't take long for the Rockers to get on the board in the first. Just 58 seconds in, Derek Makimaa fed a beautifully placed pass to John Colten who was parked to the left of Danbury netminder Connor McCollum and Colten tapped it in for his third goal of the season for the quick 1-0 lead. Pavel Svintsov picked up the other helper on this one. That would be one of the few shots Motor City would get in the first as the Hat Tricks poured pressure on Babin, to the tune of a 22-6 shot advantage in the period. They did cash in twice on goals from John Macdonald at 11:27 and Michael Falanga at 16:34, but Babin made so many saves of the spectacular variety, the 2-1 deficit after one was easily manageable. There is still no other goalie I'd rather have in The Fed than Babin.

The hole got deeper for the Rockers early in the second when Danbury struck on the powerplay. With Motor City two men down, Daniel McKitrick fed a cross ice pass to Corey Cunningham who beat Babin to make it 3-1 at 3:53. But give all credit to Motor City, they kept grinding with so much hockey left to play and it started to pay off. Scott Coash was dumped behind the Danbury net but made an incredible pass lying on his stomach to the front of the net where TJ Delaney sniped it past McCollum to cut it to 3-2 at 9:10. Unfortunately, the official scoring on the play shows Josh Colten getting the assist when it was clearly Coash who made the amazing pass. This is the second week in a row the off-ice officials got it wrong on a key assist in the game, something I wish the league would clean up. In the grand scheme of things, I'm sure the players don't care about losing an assist here and there, but this was a highlight pass. The Rockers then tied it on the powerplay at 16:25 on a beautiful passing display, Svintsov to Jamie Milam to Brad Reitter who blasted it into the goal for his third of the season. Things were all even going into the third and the shots were more even in the period with Danbury holding a slight 16-15 advantage. 

The Rockers took their second lead of the night early in the third when Coash took the puck away from a Danbury defender at center ice and headed in on a two-on-one. He waited then fired it over the left shoulder of McCollum for his team leading ninth of the season just 2:02 in to make it 4-3 Motor City. But that lead lasted all of fourteen seconds as Corey Cunningham skated in shortly off the face-off and flipped a backhander past Babin to even things again at four. Shots were even at twelve for the period but the score remained tied sending this one to overtime.

Danbury started the overtime on the powerplay for 1:10 thanks to a late penalty on Derek Makimaa in the third but that was quickly negated when a slash was called on Sam Dabrowski just 22 seconds in to the extra period. Motor City then thought they had the game won at 1:33 when they seemed to have scored on a scramble in front of the net, the entire bench came out to celebrate the win, then the officials gathered and decided to review the play. After review, the goal was waved off much to the Rockers' chagrin and play continued, with Motor City now on the powerplay. To their credit, the Rockers didn't let the decision discourage them, they got right back to business and won the friggin' game to quote Reg Dunlop. Colten passed it over to Svintsov who found Coash who did what he does, ripping it past McCollum's left shoulder for his tenth of the season and the game winning goal as the bench got to empty for a second celebration.

For the game, Danbury fired fifty shots in Babin's direction, a 46 save performance for the star goaltender. A big night too for Coash with the two goals, including the game winner, and a highlight reel assist he should have been credited for. With the OT win, Motor City improves to 9-0-3 on the season, good for 28 points. These two teams are right back at it tonight for a 7:00 face-off at the Danbury Arena. It will be their second, and final, match-up of the season unfortunately as the Hat Tricks do not make the trek to Fraser. That makes these points all the more important since the two teams now play in the same division.  

GAME RECAP: Rockers at Elmira River Sharks 11/25/23

Fresh off a 3-2 win Friday night, the Motor City Rockers were right back at it Saturday for another match-up with the Elmira River Sharks. This time, they made quick work of their Empire Division foes as the Rockers slayed the River Sharks 7-2.

For the second time this season, the Rockers started a game four-on-four, after a pre-game warm-up violation minor was called against each team, in this case Jonathan Juliano for Motor City and Rasmus Asp for Elmira. Motor City would score early and often in the first, starting with leading scorer Scott Coash. He picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone, skated in and beat Spencer Kozlowki over his right shoulder for his eighth goal of the season just 2:50 in. Jamie Milam drew the only assist on the goal. Barely two minutes later, Coash's linemate Declan Conway stole the puck from Rasmus Asp, carried it in to the Elmira zone and fired it over Kozlowski's blocker side with a blast from the face-off circle to the left of the Elmira goaltender, almost the same spot Coash had scored from. The unassisted goal at the 5:00 mark, his fourth of the season, made it 2-0 Rockers. Less than two minutes later it was 3-0 when Motor City broke in on a two-on-one. Team captain Danny Vanderwiel fed the pass over to Brad Reitter who crashed the net and picked up his second goal at 6:42 to make it 3-0. It only took 47 seconds to add another goal, this time on the powerplay as Jonathan Juliano poked in a rebound off a shot by Milam to make it 4-0, his third goal of the season. Erik Oganezov was credited with the second assist but upon watching the replay, it very clearly should have went to Vanderwiel. He is the one who fed the puck to Milam to start the play, he wears nineteen, Oganezov wears nine and the official scorer clearly missed it. So Danny, you're owed an assist.  That spelled the end of the night for Kozlowki who was pulled from the net in favor of Brandon Collett, but the Motor City onslaught continued. Pavel Svintsov worked the puck behind the Elmira goal, fed it out front to Reitter who sent it over to Josh Colten who cleanly beat Collett for his second goal of the season at 9:56 to make it 5-0. The shots on net were close in the period with the Rockers holding a 14-11 edge, but it was anything but close on the scoreboard after one, between the offensive ambush by Motor City and rookie goalie Ricardo Gonzalez stopping every shot he faced in his second start of the season.

Things settled down for the first half of the second period but the Rockers were able to strike again at 12:30. Elmira had trouble clearing their zone, Vanderwiel took advantage sending a perfect pass to a streaking Declan Conway who buried it in the open net for his fifth goal of the season and second of the night. Derek Makimaa drew the other assist on the goal that made it 6-0 Motor City. The River Sharks finally found a way to beat Gonzalez at 17:48 on a face-off to the left of the Motor City netminder. Steven Klinck won the draw back to Frank Trazzera who skated into the slot and beat Gonzalez with a perfectly placed shot, not much the rook could do on that one, and it was 6-1 Rockers. Motor City gave Elmira all of 21 seconds to enjoy their first of the night when three Rockers broke out into the Elmira zone and Reitter found Svintsov all alone for an easy goal, the rookie's fourth of the season at 18:09 to make it 7-1. Mike Winn picked up the second assist and that's how the period ended. Elmira had out-shot Motor City 18-10 in the second stanza, but found their deficit increased by a goal.

Elmira started the third period on the powerplay thanks to a late second period call on Declan Conway who knocked over Nick Gullo at the 18:56 mark of the second and was given a checking from behind match penalty and tossed from the game. I can't emphasize enough what an awful call this was, watching the replay over and over, Gullo skates backwards into Conway who barely touches him, yet Gullo goes down in a heap like he was shot from the stands. The River Sharks were only able to capitalize once on the major penalty however, when head coach Tyler Gjurich, activated for this game on a celebrity contract, scored his first of the season, but more importantly for him, his 300th career FPHL goal. Gullo and Klinck drew the assists on the historic goal, but that is all Elmira would get back on this night as the Rockers cruised the rest of the period and took the 7-2 victory.

Despite the lopsided score, Elmira actually out-shot Motor City 40-28 in the game, a testament to how well Gonzalez played in net. Both of his starts have come against the River Sharks this season, he stopped 31 of 32 shots in a 4-1 win back on November 4th, so the Rockers goaltending situation is really looking solid with the talented rookie backing up Trevor Babin. Motor City now improves to 7-0-3 on the season for 26 points, still six behind first place Binghamton. Up next for the Rockers will be the defending Commissioner's Cup champion Danbury Hat Tricks. Motor City travels to Connecticut this coming weekend for games Friday and Saturday. It will be their only two games against Danbury this season, a shame since they are now in the same division. The Hat Tricks are currently in third place in the Empire Division, eight points behind the Rockers, so this is a good opportunity for Motor City to put even more distance between themselves and the champs in the standings.   

GAME RECAP: Rockers at Elmira River Sharks 11/24/23

After falling in overtime to Watertown on Thanksgiving Eve, the Motor City Rockers looked to get back on track against another New York division rival as they traveled to Elmira for another weekend set with the River Sharks. These two teams just faced each other three weeks ago with a pair of games at First Arena, with Elmira winning the first match in a shootout 3-2 before Motor City got revenge the next night in a 4-1 victory. 

The first period belonged to the goaltenders as Elmira's Spencer Kozlowski turned aside all twelve shots he faced, while his counterpart, Motor City's Trevor Babin, snuffed out all fourteen Elmira shots, as well as shutting down two power plays by the River Sharks. 

The second period belonged to the Rockers, in particular leading scorer Scott Coash, but it was Elmira who would actually strike first. On the powerplay, Darius Davidson drove to the net and beat Babin on a backhand shot for his first goal of the season at 3:15 from Cameron Yarwood and Steven Klinck to put the Sharks up 1-0. Things turned around at the 9:22 mark when Yarwood coughed the puck up at his own blueline, stripped by Jamie Milam who sent Coash in on a clear breakaway and he put it right through the five-hole on Kozlowski to even it at one. It would be Coash again at 15:03 to break the tie as Elmira had trouble clearing their zone. Mike Winn picked it up near the blueline and sent it toward the net where it rebounded to Coash for his team leading seventh goal of the season. Declan Conway drew the other assist on the play. Then just over a minute later, the Rockers struck again on a beautifully set up goal. After a near chance in the Motor City end, Nick Magill-Diaz carried it up ice, dropped the puck to Jonathan Juliano who fed TJ Delaney coming in late and he had a wide open net to deposit the puck into for his first goal of the season and first as a Rocker at 16:10 for the 3-1 lead after two periods. Motor City out-shot Elmira 18-8 in the period as they controlled play after falling behind.

That set up a third period where Motor City had to protect a two goal lead, and that has been an issue in each of the three games they went on to drop in overtime or the shootout this season. That pattern of giving up leads late in the game appeared to be rearing its ugly head at the 8:27 mark when the newly acquired Steven Klinck, who assisted on the first Elmira goal, got his first as a River Shark and second of the season from Houston Wilson and Nick Gullo to make it 3-2. It was just a perfect shot that handcuffed Babin. However, on this night the Rockers were able to shut the door and hold on to close out the 3-2 victory, despite being out-shot 12-9 in the period. Strong goaltending from Babin, disciplined defensive play, and a late powerplay all contributed to the victory.

With the win, Motor City improves to 7-0-3 on the season, good for 23 points, and still undefeated in regulation time. The Rockers are six points back of first place Binghamton after the Black Bears had to settle for two points in a shootout win over Danbury Friday night.  These same two teams will be back at it again tonight at 6:07 PM in the final meeting of the season at First Arena. It won't be the last the two Empire Division squads will see of each other though, as the River Sharks will be visiting Fraser twice this month, right before the Christmas break. 

GAME RECAP: Rockers at Watertown Wolves 11/22/23

Coming into Wednesday night's contest, the Motor City Rockers were the last team in the FPHL to have still not suffered a regulation time loss. They had been joined by Binghamton, but the Watertown Wolves took care of that Saturday in an impressive 5-1 win over the Black Bears. Now the Wolves looked to knock off the Rockers as well at Watertown Arena on Thanksgiving Eve. They didn't quite pull it off, needing overtime to get the victory, so the Rockers still come away with a point, but this was another regulation win that slipped through Motor City's fingers as Watertown came back from being down 2-0 to claim the 3-2 win in the extra period before an announced crowd of 752 fans.

It didn't take long for things to get feisty in the first. Motor City's Brad Reitter dropped the gloves with Watertown's Joshua Tomasi just 3:20 in. Tomasi ended up getting the last shot in so a slight advantage to him in the tussle. Then at 8:56, each team's resident tough guy flung their equipment away off a face-off as Rocker Elias Thompson battled Fed veteran tough guy Justin Schmit. There wasn't much to this fight to be honest, neither player really got a good shot in so we will call this one a draw. With the fisticuffs out of the way it was time for some pucks to fly into the net. The Rockers struck first at 13:54 when leading scorer Scott Coash picked up a bouncing puck at the blueline and went high over Wolves goalie Eloi Bouchard for his fifth goal of the season. Newly signed defenseman Erik Oganezov drew the only assist in his first game as a Rocker. Motor City then added one late in the period on the powerplay. Pavel Svintsov tried a wrap-around attempt that came to the front of the net where Danny Vanderwiel buried it past Bouchard for his fourth of the season at 18:26 for the 2-0 Motor City lead. Brad Reitter was credited with the only assist on the play. The Rockers fired 23 shots at Bouchard overall in the period, while Trevor Babin stopped all 17 shots he faced.     

The chippiness continued in the second period. Motor City's Jonathan Juliano was belted by Dakota Seaman which didn't sit well with TJ Delaney who went after Seaman for the night's third fight. Seaman got Delaney on the ice and got his shots in while he was down so give the decision to Seaman on this one, but credit to Delaney for sticking up for his teammate. Barely a minute after that bout, the Wolves got on the board. Babin made a great save on Tate Leeson but was down on his back on the ice leaving a gaping net for Trevor Lord who deposited the puck into the net for his seventh of the season at 8:39. Less than a minute later, Leeson was headed for the showers after picking up a major for spearing along with a game misconduct. Neither team could score after that, despite good chances on both ends, and Motor City carried a 2-1 lead into the second intermission. The Rockers again had a decisive advantage in shots on goal in the period, out-shooting Watertown 17-9.    

Things stayed 2-1 until late in the third when Chase DiBari beat Babin on a wrap-around goal for his second of the season at 15:52 from Trevor Lord and Marc Bottero. Watertown out-shot Motor City 18-13 in the third and came out of it with the equalizer to send things to overtime. And Lord would be the hero in the extra session. After Babin made a great save, the puck came out to Lord who blasted it past the Rockers netminder for his second of the night and eighth of the season at 4:12 from Bottero to give the Wolves the win. 

Motor City comes out of this one with a point and a 6-0-3 mark on the season, good for twenty points overall. Binghamton won Wednesday night however, putting them seven points ahead of the second place Rockers in the Empire Division. Motor City has played three less games though, so there are nine potential points sitting there for the Rockers to make up ground. I know it is early in the season, but Binghamton is damn good so Motor City needs to keep that gap in points manageable if they entertain hopes of a division title. 

Up next for the Rockers is a two game set in Elmira this weekend, with Friday and Saturday games against the River Sharks. Motor City holds a 1-0-1 record so far on the season against Elmira, losing in a shootout 3-2 on November 3rd, then rebounding the next night with a 4-1 victory in New York.        

Rockers Updates

The Motor City Rockers last took to the ice over a week ago when they completed a weekend sweep of their former division rivals, more on that shortly, the Port Huron Prowlers on November 11th at McMorran Place. With eleven teams in the FPHL this year, this past week was a bye week for Motor City as they were the odd team out of the schedule. It's been an extended break for me as well as I was at a different kind of rock show the weekend the Rockers were disposing of the Prowlers, a three night stand of concerts by the insanely great My Morning Jacket in Chicago. That explains the lack of game recaps for those two games, but in a nutshell, the Rockers dismantled Port Huron 7-1 at Big Boy Arena on November 10th, in the season's first real "old time hockey" game. Lots of hits, cheap shots, punches and buffoonery, we're looking at you Adam Heinzl, in this one. Then Motor City spotted Port Huron a 2-0 lead after two the next night on the road, only to rip their hearts out with three unanswered goals in the third for the 3-2 win.

With those two wins, the Rockers now stand at 5-0-2 on the season, good for nineteen points and second place in the Empire Division, five points behind first place Binghamton who has played three more games than Motor City. Wait a minute, did I say Empire Division? Why, yes I did. That's another thing that occurred since my last update. The Rockers switched divisions on November 8th, switching places with the Blue Ridge Bobcats who now reside in the Continental Division. Geographically it makes sense. Motor City was stuck in a division with two teams, Mississippi and Baton Rouge, that they don't play once all season which made little sense to me. Now the problem is their Michigan rival Port Huron still sits in the Continental Division. My best answer is, hey, it's The Fed. What is the point in over-analyzing it? Maybe next season they'll re-align again and get the two Michigan teams back in the same division. Let's move on for now.

On to the roster, the Rockers have made a number of moves since my last update. After Roman Gaudet was placed on injured reserve, forward Adam Morgan was signed. Morgan has spent time in the FPHL with Delaware and Port Huron and at 6'5', 220, more than made up for the size lost with Gaudet down. However, his stay was short-lived as he skated in two games for the Rockers, going scoreless before his release. The Rockers then made a couple trades, acquiring another big forward in Thomas "TJ" Delaney from Watertown for the FedTastic "future considerations." At 6'6", 220, Delaney brings the same size that Morgan had, as well as 36 previous games of FPHL experience with Delaware and sixteen games in the SPHL with Vermilion County. His younger brother Tim is already on the Motor City roster, so the Rockers have their first brother duo in team history. Motor City also dealt the rights to defenseman Charlie Bedard to Danbury for those same "future considerations". Bedard had been selected from Delaware in the dispersal draft but never skated for the Rockers.

Once TJ Delaney made it official and signed, the Rockers had to drop a player from the roster and it was forward Francis Moore who was released. The rookie skated in three games while here, going scoreless. They were faced with the same situation when Gaudet returned from the IR and unfortunately defenseman Ryan Rotondi was the odd man out. Rotondi skated for the Rockers in three separate stints last year and is a local guy, so don't be surprised if he makes his way back at some point should injuries or recalls become an issue. This season he played in six games, with one point on an assist.          

The Rockers made one more move today, inking defenseman Erik Oganezov to a contract. The Russian blueliner is in his third season in the Fed and fifth city. He started his career in 2021-22 skating in forty games for Binghamton, scoring four goals and adding eight assists. Last season he split his time between the Black Bears, Delaware and Elmira, playing in 41 games overall with one goal and twelve assists between the three teams. This season he started with the expansion Blue Ridge Bobcats, going scoreless in two games before being released. Welcome to The Rock Show Erik.

So that gets things up to date both on the ice and off. Speaking of on the ice, the Rockers are finally back at it tomorrow night in what I'll call the Battle of Former Travis Ridgen Employers as they travel to Watertown to take on the Wolves for the first time this season. Watertown sits at 3-5 so far, it's another opportunity for Motor City to add to their point total and get closer to first place Binghamton. Face-off at Watertown Arena is at 7:30 PM.  

GAME RECAP: Rockers at Elmira River Sharks 11/4/23

After Friday night's disappointing shootout loss to Elmira, I fully expected the Motor City Rockers to bounce back with a better effort. And the team did just that, jumping out to an early lead and never looking back in a 4-1 victory over the River Sharks before an announced crowd of 1,179 at First Arena. 

As I mentioned, it didn't take long for the Rockers to strike as Scott Coash sent an outlet pass ahead to Declan Conway whose backhanded pass to Rocco DiCostanzo was then deposited past Elmira goaltender Spencer Kozlowski for DiCostanzo's second goal of the season just 1:14 into the game. Rocco is one of those new players to Motor City that I mentioned in the preseason will be relied on for secondary scoring and to make up for the loss of the likes of Tommy Cardinal and Connor Inger, so it's nice to see him get a couple early on. In my opinion, the game turned permanently in Motor City's favor at the 14:41 mark. Both Jamie Milam and Nick Magill-Diaz were sent to the box at 13:31 for cross-checking penalties, giving Elmira a full two minute, two-man advantage. But River Sharks defenseman Kona Jackson fell down at the blueline, giving Mike Wynn a clear cut breakaway and he buried it behind Kozlowksi for a 2-0 Motor City lead. That's a huge error to recover from and Jackson looked flustered, later fanning on a one-time attempt to the groans of the Elmira faithful. A huge momentum swing and the Rockers took the 2-0 lead to the locker room.

Of note, this was the first game this season that Trevor Babin did not start in net for Motor City and rookie Ricardo Gonzalez took advantage of the opportunity with stellar play in net, stopping all fourteen first period Elmira shots. The first period also featured the first fight of the season involving a Motor City player. I know it's hard to believe any team played five fight-less games in a row in The Fed, but that is the case. And this really didn't qualify as much of a fight, DiCostanzo tussled with Elmira's Steven Ford who pulled Rocco down, but I didn't see any punches thrown in the skirmish. Still, each player was given five for fighting, with Ford picking up the extra two for instigating.

In the second, the Rockers scored two back breaking goals that did the River Sharks in for good. Right after killing off a penalty, Declan Conway took a pass from Pavel Svintsov, dumped it ahead to Mike Winn, then charged towards the net. Winn's pass to the slot deflected right to Conway whose beautiful backhand shot eluded Kozlowski for the 3-0 lead at 14:01. Winn and Scott Coash drew the assists on Conway's first of the season. This had to have been a huge relief for Conway who a couple times earlier in the game looked towards the ceiling in frustration after having good scoring opportunities snuffed out. It was just a matter of time for last season's second leading goal scorer on the team to get one, he's too good of an offensive talent. Expect Conway to light the red lamp more often going forward. Elmira ruined any chance for Gonzalez to come out of his first start with a shutout at 15:38 when Austin Pickford was credited with the goal on a rebound off the initial save. I say credited because I've watched that replay numerous times and still am not convinced the puck ever crossed the goal line, I certainly didn't see it go in on video. Nick Gullo and Stavros Soilis drew the assists on Pickford's first of the season. But the Rockers again had a momentum killing answer, and again right after killing off a penalty. Danny Vanderwiel picked the puck up in his own end and sent Coash away on a two-on-one with Jamie Milam. Coash took it to the net, made a beautiful deke and flipped it past Kozlowski for his third of the season at 17:48. Nick Magill-Diaz drew the other assist along with Vanderwiel. The second period ended with Motor City in complete control, up 4-1.

The third period was rather uneventful, a few penalties and some rising tempers, but nothing came out of any of it and the Rockers shut the door on the 4-1 victory. To me, the big story of the night was the play of Gonzalez in net. I know some fans were surprised he beat out Blake Scott to take the backup goalie position this year, but his play Saturday night proved he earned it. He stopped 31 of 32 shots and I am still not yet convinced he wasn't ripped off of his first professional shutout. I know it's just one game, but his play against Elmira should help alleviate the fears of what happens if Babin is recalled to a higher league at some point this season. Gonzalez gave every indication he is up to the task of being a solid goaltender at this level. With the win, the Rockers now stand at 4-0-2 with thirteen points and in first place in the Continental Division. They have still taken at least a point in all of their games so far this season. Motor City is back at it this coming weekend with a two game set against their Michigan rivals from Port Huron. The Prowlers will be at Big Boy Arena for the first time this season Friday, before the teams travel to McMorran Place for the Saturday rematch.