The Jr Titans registered their first championship game appearance as a club at Silver Sticks in the Philly Regional over the weekend MORE

Squirt Walker finishes 2nd in Silver Sticks Philly Regional

The Jr Titans registered their first championship game appearance as a club at Silver Sticks in the Philly Regional over the w/end. Coach Walkers Squirts placed 2nd in their bracket in round robin play before moving onto the one game elimination playoff’s winning in the Qtr’s and Semi’s before bowing to the NJ Bandits 3-1 in the championship game. Teams from NJ, NY, Pa, Va and Del , in all 16 total, competed for the grand prize of playing in Canada in January 2010. Our very own Red and White played in 6 games total, 3 round robin games and 3 playoff games, going 4-2 overall, scoring 30 goals while giving up 11. Every Titan player registered a point in the tournament. All of our forwards scored a goal and all of our blueliners played stellar defensive hockey in a 3 day span. Tommy played goal in all 6 games and simply put played his heart out between the pipes.

In a span of 3 days we had our downers, giving up 3 goals in 4 minutes in losing to the Saints and falling to the Bandits in the finals and our ups in bouncing back in a must win 2nd game against the Prowl winning 3-1, beating Red Bank 8-1 in the Qtrs, having the lead for 35 minutes in the Semi’s against the Edge, watching our lead erased by a tip in to send the game into OT only to see Shane flip a perfect saucer pass over 2 Edge defender sticks to Jack who pushed the puck through the legs of a charging Edge defender setting up a 1-1 battle with their goalie with Jack wristing the game winner top shelf sending the Jr Titan faithful into an eruption heard all the way up to the shore(AWESOME!!!). Probably the highlite of the tourney game in the final game against the Bandits, our boys coming off their 5th game in a 48 hour span donned their Red and White road Reds for the final and played their hearts out from the drop of the puck to the final horn. Not once did they let up pushing their tired heavy legs more and more giving their all for 36 minutes. In the end they lost on the scoreboard, but in our hearts they won, showing their fan base what a group of 9 and 10 year olds are capable of doing when they play a game they dearly love.

Special thanks to the friends and family of our Jr Titans, who were the loudest fans during the tournament. Thanks to Kristine for coordinating the travel plans for us parents. Thanks to Marlene and Jerry for the late night pizza that filled our hungry bellies Friday and Saturday nights. Thanks to our coaches, John and Jeff for their game leadership with the kids. Randy as their Head Coach couldn’t have done a better job manning the ship as their Captain executing a great game plan over the 3 day span. And last but not least to our players below who wore their Jr Titans sweaters with pride at Silver Sticks letting the youth hockey world know who they are, the Jr Titan Squirt Walker team from Wall NJ!!!! Well done boys, well done!!!! Go Titans!!!

Tony Restituto former Titans Coach, founder of Wall Americans Hockey Club, and a man with a giant heart passed away this weekend after a long illness.  Our prayers are with his family.  Tony’s loss is a big loss for youth hockey.  He touched many llives in a positive way.  He gave so much and asked for nothing in return.  Peace.

Congratulations to our Jr. Titan PW Major players who have been selected to play in the most prestigious PW tournament in the world. 8 of our players were selected to play on various district teams. This tournament tryout is open to all 2nd year PWs in their respective areas. This tournament takes place during a period of 11 days with crowds totaling around 200 000 fans, every year. This extraordinary event was founded in 1960 and has never ceased to grow in importance. Coach Walker also coaches the Flyer squad.

Many stars from the National Hockey League have passed through this Tournament: Brad Park, Guy Lafleur, Marcel Dionne, Gilbert Perrault, Mark Howe, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Sylvain Côté, Eric Lindros

And now will feature the following Titans:

Diesel Pelke - Hershey Bears

Dom Tirro - NY Rangers

Kostya Mamedov - NJ Devils
Ryan Walker - NJ Devils

Matt Chinnici - Philadelphia Flyers
JP Monteverdi - Philadelphia Flyers
Anthony Minerva - Philadelphia Flyers
Todd Goehring - Philadelphia Flyers

The 97s pulled off another shocking result at Gold Coast Arena by tying the Devils with less than a minute remaining in the 3rd.  Anthony Minerva stuffed in a sweet feed from Kostya Mamedov on the man-advantage to tie the game at 3-3.  Mamedov was able to carry the puck around a couple Devils and locate Minerva across the crease.  Mamedov also had a breakaway with about 20 seconds remaining but the Devils goalie poke-checked the puck away at the last second. 

The 97s lit the lamp first at 11:29 of the 1st after Mamedov tried a wraparound that Garrhet Reedy was able to lift a forehand over the goalie in tight space around the net. The Devils quickly closed the gap 67 seconds later to knot the game at 1-1.

Dominik Tirro gave the Titans a 2-1 lead midway thru the 2nd on a rebound from a Zach Zeitlin shot.

The Devils were able to get 2 goals in the 3rd to take the lead before the heroics from Minerva and Mamedov.  The Titans outshot the Devils 29-23. 

The Titans visit the NJ Colonials at Mennen Arena tomorrow at 12:15pm.

The NJ Jr. Titans PeeWee ‘97s welcome you to our home game this afternoon.  Today we host the very deep and talented NJ Youth Devils in what may be our biggest test to-date.  The Devils boast some of the best players in the League if not the entire District.  They are led by my good friend and Atlantic District Colleague Jim Elia – Jim has been a National caliber coach in the AYHL for many years.  Coach Elia is also on the Quebec PeeWee Devils staff – it is not an accident that our 1^st League game vs. the Devils comes the day before the 1^st Quebec tryout.  Coach Elia will have his boys ready this afternoon – our Titans will have to be prepared to match their intensity and work ethic.

The Devils earned a hard fought split in last weekend’s series with the Washington Little Capitals – salvaging the weekend with a 4-2 win at home after on opening 3-1 loss last Saturday.  Your NJ Titans capped a tremendous weekend with an impressive 3-1 win on the road against a surprised Comcast team. Last Saturday’s 11-1 win at home vs. the NJ Jaguars gave our offense the necessary confidence to waltz into Pennsauken and steal two points from Coach Primeau’s Comcast club.  The coaching staff couldn’t be more proud of the effort put forth by this Titan ’97 group.  They are applying the concepts we implement in practice and they are committed to the game plan each week – it is gratifying to see their hard work pay off so far. The good news (or the bad news) is we are not going to sneak up on teams any more – our 2-0-1 start has caught the attention of our opponents around the League – don’t expect the Devils to take us lightly this afternoon.

Today’s game is going to require a lot of skill and attention to detail.  The Devils move the puck very well, especially on the cycle down low. They are known for being quick in their transition game (creating offense from Defensive zone turnovers).  If we can minimize our giveaways and stay aggressive on our puck pressure thru the middle of the ice, we can wrestle two points away from the Devils here at home. This same mindset will help us tomorrow at Mennen vs. the Colonials – the Colonials are less skilled than the Devils but they will bring a tough, grinding game at our boys on Sunday.

We expect our Titans will be up to the challenge – hopefully with good results – GO TITANS!

In another hard fought battle, the 97s came away with a strong win over Team Comcast in Pennsauken.  The Titans struck first at 13:42 of the first period when Lenny Coviello was able to win a battle and get the puck to Kostya Mamedov who broke free from 2 defenders to rattle in a close-range shot off the cross bar.  The first period consisted mainly of back and forth rushes from each team,  until Mamedov lit the lamp. 

Intense action continued thru the 2nd and into the 3rd with no further scoring, thanks to the strong goaltending of Diesel Pelke who stopped 20 Team Comcast shots in the 1st and 2nd period.  Team Comcast scored with under 6 minutes remaining on a bouncing puck that just made it accross the goal line. 

Another shrewd timeout from Coach Walker, just after that Team Comcast goal settled the team down and convinced them the win was still within reach.  With under 4 minutes to play, Dominik Tirro passed the puck to Mamedov at the blueline.  Mamedov, thorn in the side of Team Comcast all game long with numerous puck carrying rushes into the offensive zone, ripped a wrist shot past the Team Comcast goalie, giving the Titans the 2-1 advantage.

The Titans gave up no shots on goal in the last minute with Team Comcast on a 2-man advantage after benefiting from a Delay of Game penalty and pulling their goalie. 

Pelke stopped 33 of 34 shots in another superb game between the pipes. 

The Titans are home next Saturday against the high-powered NJ Devils at 3:30pm.

The NJ Jr. Titans PeeWee ‘97s welcome you to our home game this afternoon.  Today we host the NJ Jaguars from south Jersey – a well-coached Tier II team that has been a model NJ Youth franchise for years.  The NJ Jaguars are known for their physical teams – their reputation within the District is shaped by the influence of their Program founder, Tim Fingerhut, whose philosophy is to build competitive teams thru skill development and toughness. We don’t know much about this year’s version of the Jaguars but we expect a hard-hitting, grinding, tilt this afternoon.

Your Jr. Titans ‘97s are coming off quite an impressive opening weekend in the AYHL – a miraculous 3-3 tie with the Jr. Flyers and a hard fought 3-1 win over Suffolk last Sunday.  I’m not sure we’ll see a more exciting finish to a game all year – 2 goals in the final 35 seconds to tie a very good Jr. Flyers team – both teams were simply stunned.  What a great effort from our boys – there was never a letdown or any sense of panic – a very encouraging sign.  The boys continue to display their character and grit in tight games – bodes well for helping us learn how to win and change the culture of our team. Our penalty killing was superb against the Jr. Flyers and truly allowed us to mount the comeback.  Sunday’s game was a game of beauty from start to finish.  Although Suffolk jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, we were able to stifle their offense with good backchecking and solid D-zone coverage. We pressured their D, forcing turnovers, ultimately wearing them down where we could pounce for a 2-goal second period and the victory. Another stunned opponent, given they beat us 7-2 in an exhibition game in late-August.

Today’s game vs. the Jaguars gives us a chance to try some different line combinations and gives the boys a little mental break from the intensity of League play.  The coaching staff emphasized set plays on offense this week at practice so we hope to see some creativity today.  Team Comcast, our opponent tomorrow is a big, physical team, in the same mold as their coach, former Flyer Keith Primeau. They are 1-2 in their last three games as they spent last weekend playing top Massachusetts teams, the Red Raiders and the Valley Jr Warriors.  As always, Puck possession and discipline are the keys to victory this weekend.

We expect another strong effort from our boys this weekend – hopefully with good results – GO TITANS!

Diesel Pelke stopped 24 of 25 shots in beating the Suffolk 97s 3-1 on Sunday.  Diesel stopped several 2nd chance opportunities in the tight 3rd period with the score at 2-1.  Suffolk took the lead at 11:25 of the 1st period while the Titans responded with 2 in the 2nd period. Mike Gelatt put one in on a feed from Anthony Minerva.  3 Minutes later Zach Zeitlin ripped a slapshot from the top of the circle that dribbled in thru the goalies legs.  Minerva had a hand in all 3 Titans goals, climaxing with an empty netter with 20 seconds remaining to seal the victory.  Very strong effort out of the defense against a team that lit the lamp 7 times in the Saturday game vs. the Clippers. 

The Titans vist Team Comcast next Sunday in Pennsauken, NJ at 10:50am.