After a 46 game season, the Philadelphia JRFlyers are headed to the playoffs. It was a rough second half for the team, but the JRFlyers have been playing better in the past few weeks. The JRFlyers finish the season in 3rd place in the Mid Atlantic Conference South Division behind the Philadelphia Little Flyers and the Philadelphia Revolution.

The JRFlyers ended the season with a 20-22-4 record giving them 44 points. They enter the playoffs as the #5 seed, which means they take on the #4 seed. The #4 seed is a familiar opponent, the division rival Philadelphia Revolution. Only 41 miles separates the two rivals, and since it is within the 125 mile league rule, the JRFlyers will have a home game in the series.

The JRFlyers and Revolution squared off five times in the regular season. The JRFlyers went 1-4 against them this year, Scores: 5-1 Revolution, 5-1 Revolution, 4-2, Revolution, 7-0 Revolution, and 4-3 shootout win JRFlyers. At a glance, this looks very lopsided, but the shootout win was a big deal for the JRFlyers. It snapped the losing streak against them on the year, and looking at that from a players side is big. Now, the team knows what it takes to get a win against them. The Revolution finished the season the year 27-15-2. While the JRFlyers have been rising, and playing better, the Revolution enter the playoffs on a three game losing streak.

Now, that you have the story, let’s look at the numbers

 

Scoring

JRFlyers           Goals For  160             Goals Against  172

Revolution      Goals For  190             Goals Against  117

 

Special Teams

JRFlyers           Power Play  13.9%                  Penalty Kill  85.0%

Revolution      Power Play  31.4%                  Penalty Kill  76.7%

 

Team Scoring Leaders

JRFlyers

            Connor Leighton         15G  28A   43PTS

            Michael Houlihan       26G  15A  41PTS

            Justin Weinbrenner    19G  15A  34PTS

            Billy McDevitt             11G  19A  30PTS

            John McCuen              13G  12A  25PTS

 

Revolution

            Samir Abouelhana      29G  64A   93PTS

            Jake Russo                   28G   42A  70PTS

            Justin Meers                16G  38A   54PTS

            Mike Mania                 11G  32A  43PTS

            Noah Bradley              21G  19A  40PTS

          

Rivalry games are always intense, now add the playoffs into that equation, and it could be an even better series. After five meetings in the regular season, now it can be a potential eight games, the players are ready to go:

“It was good to get a win in our last meeting. It gives us some confidence moving forward knowing we can beat them. We know how they (Revolution) play so we are excited, and it should be a good series. It will be a hard fought series, they play a physical style game and we want to match that. It all starts with our team defense. We have been controlling our breakouts really well and we need to continue to control the puck and the game so we can surprise people.” Kiemel

 

It’s been tough against them this year, but we have been playing our best hockey of the season in the past few weeks. We need to continue to work 110% every game and every shift. We need to keep things simple and pay attention to detail. “Weinbrenner

 

The quest for Rhode Island starts on Saturday night, as the EHL Playoffs are here.

 

Schedule

Saturday at Revolution           7pm

Sunday vs Revolution             5:30pm

**If Necessary Monday at Revolution           1pm

 

TO SEE ENTIRE PLAYOFF BRACKET VISIT EASTERNHOCKEYLEAGUE.ORG

 

By: Joe Sindoni

Director of Broadcasting

Play by Play Announcer