Sunday proved no different for the Jr Blades at the Ft Myers Skatium as the Eels continued with their winning ways completing their 4 game sweep over their cross town rivals. On Saturday at Hertz Arena both the Eels Elite and Premier team were victorious by scores of 4-2 and 7-0 respectively. The Jr Blades were hoping to “turn the tide “on Sunday and gain some ground in the standings. The Elite score was close being 4-2 in Saturday’s loss and no doubt they were expecting to gain some ground. They were hoping to seize a break away perhaps, maybe take advantage of lose puck turn overs, maybe catch a break and garner a win. Well the Eels came out red hot scoring 4 1st period goals. A bit discouraging indeed for the Blades, But the Blades turned things around and appeared to stem the tide and were looking promising in the middle of the 2nd period as the Jr Blades closed the margin to within 1 as the score was 4-3, But the Eels Elite took their game to another level and put it into another gear scoring 5 more goals to 1 for the Blades and the Eels handed the Blades a stinging lost 9-4. The Eels Elite gained even ore leverage in the standings securing their sole spot in first place in the Florida Division. What is impressive with the Eels Elite team is unlike the other Divisional leaders in the Elite Division, its scoring is pretty much well rounded. It is a well balanced team where scoring comes from many different players.
On the Premier equation, the dominance showed quite quick and consistent. On Saturday the Eels scored 2 goals in the 1st couple of periods and then opened up for 5 in the 3rd period. On Sunday, the Eels were held to 2 in the 1st period and the Blades quickly scored early in the 2nd period to close the gap to 2-1. But then the wheels feel off for the Jr Blades as the Eels scored for 5 goals in the 2nd and 2 more in the 3rd period. There were 7 different goal scorers for the Eels and it was nothing short of a full scale high octane drive for the Eels. But what was equally impressive was their smothering back checking denying any sustainable come back or penetration by the Blades.
The Eels hallmark of 3-4 weeks of preseason training clearly pays off. We witness this year after year for over a decade. We put our teams in top condition being November ready at the drop of the puck and December ready in October. Our guys are top skilled high performers to begin with but when you spend 4-5 hours er day of training before season and continue with that operation throughout the season you gain the results we have been accustom to. It also fosters a unique branding and culture and camaraderie.
We take on the Tampa Juniors this weekend also home and away. Friday in Tampa and Sunday at home. Tampa is in 2nd place in both the Elite and Premier Divisions as they sit just a few points behind the Eels and are looking to close the margin. This is familiar territory for both organizations as these two programs have historically dominated the Florida Divisions. The Eels have been the front runners for the overwhelming majority of seasons. These ought to be some great games between the two programs. So far this season the Eels have won in both the Premier and Elite games in fact winning the Florida Cup for the 2nd season in row.
Then we head to Atlanta for a 3 game series for both the Elite and Premier teams. The Madhatters this weekend have 3 game series vs the Palm Beach Typhoon so this will be a very busy weekend for all.
