NOVA Cool Cats will be attending the 3rd Annual Frankenfest. The Cool Cats have attended it each of the three years that the NJ Daredevils have had the tournament.
The Cool Cats have 18 players attending the tournament this year.
The weekend includes a Cool Cats family dinner at Tiffanys Restaurant. The dinner is one of the better things to do because the Cool Cats get to bond off the ice.
The games will be played at
Codey Arena.
560 Northfield Avenue
West Orange , NJ 07052
The Schedule is
Day/Date Time Teams
Sat, Oct 8 5:15 - 6:00 NJDD White vs Nova Cool Cats
Sat, Oct 8 6:15 - 7:00 Nova Cool Cats vs South CT Storm
Sun, Oct 9 3:45 - 4:30 Nova Cool Cats vs All-Stars
Cool Cats Roster:
45 Eddie Banta
42 Bowen Boyack
66 Scott Brawley
62 Mason Cook
53 Rob Davenhall
19 Samuel Debold
48 Michael Dowling
52 Noah Erdman
56 Thomas Grattan
18 Burke Lyle
10 Alexi Kovacevic
90 Tyler Meyers
67 Joshua Roemele
14 Aidan Smith
71 Keenan Tjahjana
64 Matthew Zwirb
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Frankenfest is one of those tournaments that everyone should go to. There’s just something about it that’s just really special. In our hearts, it holds a special spot – it was the first tournament that we went to after Aidan joined the team last year. And let me tell you, what a difference a year makes! Last year, he could barely stand on the ice; this year, he was skating all over the place!
The tournament is capped at 12 teams to keep it manageable and get teams to play a couple of games. This year, teams from Albany, Boston, Philadelphia, Connecticut and New Jersey participated along with the Cool Cats. About 15 Cool Cats and their families headed up to New Jersey on Saturday morning October 9
th. Our first game was scheduled for 5:15, with the second right after at 6:15. The kids were happy to be there and played their hearts out. First, our B team line would play against the other team’s B line and then our C team line would go out (or as Joyce likes to call some of them, the Kittens). Our first game was against the New Jersey Dare Devils White and our second against the South Connecticut Storm. Even the siblings got into the action - with orange and blue pom-poms, Lola, Abbie, Quinn and Riley led cheers and a parade in the bleacher to cheer their brothers on! After playing these two games, the players were still full of energy and we headed off to what I believe to be a highlight of the tournament – the family team dinner.
Our team dinner was held at Tiffany’s Restaurant again this year, and we had a huge turnout. We had a private room that accommodated around 40 Cool Cats and their families– nearly every seat was taken! It is always a great part of the weekend to sit back, relax and get to know other players and their families. We are lucky enough to have David Lyle volunteer to be the tournament chairperson and he has set up the team dinner at Tiffany’s the past two years.
This year, Frankenfest had a huge selection for raffle and I think it’s fair to say that Cool Cat families cleaned up! People won a bike, a necklace, NJ Devils clothes, skating passes, and cash to name a few!
On Sunday, the Cool Cats took the ice again for one last game in which the Cool Cats played against the All-Stars. Scott Brawley kicked off the scoring with a goal and the Cool Cats were off! Sam Debold scored not long after Scott. Keenan and Mason were forces to be reckoned with and put the All-Stars’ goalie to the test with their shots on goal. In the second period, Mike Dowling had a beautiful goal that went in from a shot from quarter ice. Both the B and C lines were passing to each other and kept the All-Stars’ goalie on his toes. One of the highlights was watching Tyler Meyers – playing in his first tournament game and coming off an illness that prevented him from playing on Saturday – score a goal! On defense, Matthew Zwirb held down the fort and helped protect the goal with Zach Erdman, (Mentor goalie), who suited up to be in the net. To end the game, Thomas Grattan had a penalty shot that went in – the entire game was thrilling to watch and it was so incredible to see the Cool Cats play as a team!
One observation that can’t go unnoticed is the dedication of the coaches – Randy Brawley and Tom Saurman during the game. They kept the players going and helped the younger “kittens” stay in the game and chase the puck. Drew Lyle put on his skates to mentor out on the ice as well. Frankenfest would not be such a highlight without the Cool Cat families who come up for the weekend and the extended families who come to watch. There is no shortage of fans for the Cool Cats – that’s for sure! One of the nicest compliments that I heard during the weekend was as we were leaving – a gentleman from another team stopped me and said “there is no doubt that you have the best cheerleading here.”
Frankenfest 2011
Trophy is in the case at Kettler Iceplex
