ECHL

Royals Dismantle Titans 7-0

March 25, 2012

Being mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, the Trenton Titans have had only two goals; play spoiler to other teams in the playoff race, and try to catch the Bakersfield Condors and not be the worst team in the entire ECHL.

Sadly, they would do neither as the Reading Royals beat Trenton 7-0.

Coach Vince Williams has noted that the team is looking ahead to next season saying.

“You’re seeing what guys are made of,” he said. “You gotta earn what you’re gonna get. That’s how it should be.”

Jackals Devour Titans

March 10, 2012

Matt Bernot

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Five new defensemen and three players making their pro-hockey debuts gave Elmira’s veterans an easy night picking apart the Trenton Titans.

Coach Vince Williams summed up the situation rather easily.

“We’ve been pretty depleted,” he said following Friday night’s upsetting 7-3 loss. “We’re giving (some guys) some looks.”

The game started as many Titans games have this season; with the other team scoring first.

Where Are They Now? Joey MacDonald

February 29, 2012

John Madonia

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Former New York Islanders goaltender Joey MacDonald had to make a difficult career decision. At 31 years old, should he continue in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Detroit Red Wings as, essentially a career backup to Jimmy Howard, or take an offer to play in Russia?

On July 11, 2011, MacDonald chose to re-sign with the Red Wings and was assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.

On September 7, 2011 a plane carrying the Russian hockey team; Lokomtiv Yaroslavi crashed just after take-off. The crash killed nearly the entire roster (only four players survived, all not on the plane) and the entire coaching staff.

The team that MacDonald decided not to sign with?

Lokomtiv Yaroslavi.

(Photo Credit: French Kheldar/Flickr)

Isles Minus Rolston & Mottau But Otherwise Stay The Same - And That's Okay

February 27, 2012

Rob McGowan

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Rick Nash won't be donning an Islanders jersey tomorrow night; the Islanders didn't get a first round pick for Evgeni Nabokov and/or P.A. Parenteau; Al Montoya will still be on the bench to back up the Islanders number one goaltender; and the defensive play of Mark Eaton, Milan Jurcina and Steve Staios will still be seen for the rest of the season.

Staios, despite popular reports from a fake twitter account, was not dealt to the Vancouver Canucks for a 6th round draft pick.

BUT Garth Snow did manage to rid himself of the putrid play of Brian Rolston and the defensive relapses of Mike Mottau. Both were sent packing to the Boston Bruins for a couple of prospects; Yanick Riendeau and Marc Cantin.

(Photo Credit: Robert Kowal/Flickr)

Dekker Decks Jackals With Loss

February 26, 2012

Matt Bernot

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It was a new day and a new goalie in Trenton. Adam Dekker and Peter Dudonovich were the goalies the Titans dressed for the contest as the Elmira Jackals came to town. They were the sixth and seventh goalies respectively to dress for a Titans game in the last two weeks alone.

An announced crowd of 3464 witnessed a solid first period by the hometown team. Titans Captain Randy Rowe, helped the team gain the lead when he tapped home a rebound off a point shot from Tyler Hostetter at the 16:23 mark.

Dekker made nine saves during the period and looked comfortable in net. He admitted to being unsure of what the ECHL was going to bring.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “It was kind of a deep breath, just go up and see what happens.”

New Look Titans Fall to Greenville

February 25, 2012

Matt Bernot

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When a player gets injured in the NHL, teams are forced to call up players from their minor league systems to fill the void. Of course, this process then becomes a vicious circle where each subsequent team calls up players from the team below it.

That was the case on Friday night for the Trenton Titans.

Due to losing Eric Baier, Corey Syvret and Dave Caruso to the AHL, in addition to the loss of Mitch Versteeg to injured reserve, things did not look promising for the depleted ECHL club.

Considering all the roster moves, the team was forced to add replacement players in order to fill out the lineup.

Where Are They Now? Zenon Konopka Edition

February 24, 2012

John Madonia

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When you ask someone 'who is your favorite player?' you may get responses of such Sidney Crosby, Marian Gaborik, Evgeni Malkin, or even John Tavares on the Islanders front. If you ask my lovely wife the same question....

Zenon Konopka.

It truly boggles my mind how someone that has a great mind for the game and knows her hockey would find such a admiration for a 4th line player that doesn’t exactly do things that chicks dig.. like hit home-runs or score 40 goals.

For reasons unknown, she has a true affinity towards him, so much in fact that she made up a shirt that stated simply 'Bring Konopka Back!' and subsequently wore the shirt on Monday to his first game back on the Island as an Ottawa Senator.

Labelle's Royal Night Sinks Titans

February 23, 2012

Matt Bernot

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Having gone 3-1-1 in their last five games with slim playoff hopes alive, the Trenton Titans hosted the Reading Royals Wednesday night at the Sun Center. Titans Coach Vince Williams decided to ride the hot hand by starting Brad Phillips again in goal. Phillips had allowed one goal in each of his last two starts, both wins.

In what has become Trenton-typical this season, the Titans allowed the first goal at 11:18 as Olivier Labelle set a screen in front of Phillips and a Yannick Tifu shot bounced off Labelle. The deflection went past Phillips to give the Royals the lead at 1-0.

Late in the period, Ryan Hayes answered right back for Trenton as he stole the puck in the offensive zone from a Royals defensemen and fired a quick shot on net. The shot beat goalie Karel St. Laurent to tie the game with just over a minute left.

Hostetter Nails Down Wheeling

February 20, 2012

Matt Bernot

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After dismantling the Elmira Jackals 8-1 Saturday night in Elmira, the Trenton Titans looked to keep up the strong play as the Wheeling Nailers came to town.

Brad Phillips made his third straight start in net. He was excited to have the chance to play since Dave Caruso had played the majority of games before he signed with AHL Charlotte last week.

“Playing more brings more confidence to the table,” Phillips said. “Brings more experience too, I’m still learning .”

The strong play carried over as Trenton staked itself to an early 3-0 lead.

Rynnas Stops 48 to Beat Trenton

February 18, 2012

Matt Bernot

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Just two days removed from an offense-filled 6-5 shootout loss at Sun Center, the Reading Royals and Trenton Titans hooked up again Friday night in Trenton.

Like many times this season, the Titans started the game in early penalty trouble as Myles Stoesz was sent off for tripping at the 3:02 mark and Steve Silva followed at 4:15 for high-sticking. Luckily for the Titans, Reading’s power play would never really show anything in terms of a cohesive attack and the Titans killed off both the penalties.

Unfortunately, Trenton’s defense would cough up the puck leading to a breakaway. This time, Ray DiLauro had a shot blocked, allowing Kenny Ryan to spring Dennis McCauley on a breakaway. Brad Phillips stopped the initial shot before John Scrymgeour smacked home the rebound to give the Royals an early 1-0 lead.