Ice Flyers secure win in Home Finale
By Bill Vilona
Ice Flyers Correspondent
The message was heeded. The performance showed it.
After an early morning team meeting to get refocused, the Ice Flyers flipped the narrative with a 4-2 win Saturday night against the Evansville Thunderbolts to end their home schedule in desired fashion.
“We played very well. Came out hard and put the pedal down,” said Ice Flyers coach Rod Aldoff. “There was a couple little lapses, but overall heart and soul were in that game. It was a big win.”
After Friday’s 4-1 loss to Evansville, Aldoff expressed dismay with his team’s play and questioned heart and soul from what he deemed a lackluster game.
That was not the case Saturday at the Pensacola Bay Center.
A crowd of 4,445, which pushed the 28-game home schedule to near 100,000 in season attendance, watched the Ice Flyers start well and fend off Evansville’s late game push. Four different players scored goals, four others had assists.
It was also Military Appreciation Night at the Bay Center, sponsored by Navy Federal Credit Union, and featuring various tributes.
Playing in his second game with the Ice Flyers, centerman Andrew Shewfelt scored his first goal 2:40 into the first period. He then assisted on the Ice Flyers’ second goal by Frederic Letourneau on a power play eight minutes later.
Shewfelt, 25, a Nova Scotia native spent most of his rookie pro season at two ECHL teams – Wichita Thunder and Tulsa Oilers. He is among several new additions in the past two weeks.
“He’s got some great speed up the middle for us and gives us extra depth up the middle,” Aldoff said.
The win Saturday completed six home games in nine days, a stretch that Aldoff said should not have led to up-and-down games this week.
“We used to play four in four (days) and the NHL plays every other night,” he said. “Those are just excuses.
“That’s the old chart going up and down and those are dangerous to play with. You have to have even-keel consistency. It’s just maturity as a hockey player.”
The Ice Flyers will finish the regular season with three games in three nights, April 8-10, in Macon, Ga. against the Macon Mayhem – a team that was eliminated weeks ago from playoff contention.
Ironically, it was the Macon Centreplex a year ago where the Ice Flyers celebrated their fourth Southern Professional Hockey League title. They may not know their first-round playoff opponent until after that April 10 game in Macon.
The Ice Flyers are likely to be the No. 6 seed. The fifth-place team, Quad City Storm, has a five-point lead with two games remaining.
If the playoffs were to start now, the Ice Flyers first-round foe would be the Huntsville Havoc, which have fallen to third place. But only four points separate the top three teams and just six points separate the top four teams, so a variety of scenarios are possible.
Aldoff said his own team’s focus will be his priority.
“You have to be at the top of your game mentally,” he said. “The playoffs are tight, they are physical, there’s emotions, speed bumps, so you have to be mentally prepared for everything.”
The Ice Flyers stayed sharp Saturday. Their 2-0 lead after one period became 4-0 in the first eight minutes of the second period. Malik Johnson scored 90 seconds into the period on assists from Cory Dennis and Dylan Carabia, who had two assists in the game.
Jan Salak scored his fourth goal since joining the Ice Flyers in March on an unassisted, power-play goal.
WHAT’S NEXT?
WHAT: Ice Flyers final three games.
WHO: Ice Flyers vs. Macon Mayhem
WHEN: Friday thru Sunday
WHERE: Macon Centreplex, Macon, Ga.
ONLINE: www.thesphl.com
