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
Tag(s): News