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Russo’s Little Flyers are big winners
Canfield’s Russo earns another EHL
coaching honor after stellar season
By Tom Williams
For the second time in his four seasons as the Philadelphia Little Flyers head coach, Canfield High School graduate Rocky Russo has been named the Eastern Hockey League’s Coach of the Year.
That’s a Hall of Fame number in baseball.
“Whenever you’re batting. 500, you’re doing pretty well,” Russo agreed, calling the junior hockey league’s award “pretty special.”
The Little Flyers’ season was more than special as the team posted a 30-game winning streak as well as a 33-game unbeaten streak.
“We lost our first game in overtime,” Russo said. “We played OK, then [the streak] just kind of started and pretty soon we were at 10, 11 12 wins.”
The Little Flyers are based in Aston, Pa., about a 25-minute drive to downtown Philadelphia. The EHL is a Tier Three junior league with teams in New England and the mid-Atlantic states. By comparison, the Youngstown Phantoms are in the USHL. a Tier One league that stretches from Ohio to North Dakota.
The EHL players are high-school age, hoping to earn college scholarships (sometimes for athletics and often for academics as well).
As the Little Flyers’ season heated up, social media enhanced the spotlight. Russo and his staff decided to approach the streak by being “up front” with the players and not shying away from the accomplishment.
By Christmas break, the streak hit 28.
“What a crazy feeling,” Russo said. “It was exciting.”
Losing games can provide coaches with teaching moments, prompting line shake-ups. Because of the streak, Russo had to modify his approach — it’s hard to see how a team responds to a loss when they don’t exist.
“Somebody was always stepping up,” Russo said. “It was a strange set of circumstances.”
Russo played four seasons with Kent State University’s club team while he earned a business management degree. His coaching career began with Youngstown State’s club team, that won the CHA championship in 2006.
Then Russo joined Bob Mainhardt’s staff with the Mahoning Valley Phantoms of the North American Hockey League (Tier Two). That franchise folded when the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL were created. Russo stayed with the NAHL, joining the St. Louis franchise for the 2009-10 season. He then moved on to the NAHL’s Amarillo Bulls for three seasons before joining the Little Flyers.
One thing he likes about eastern Pennsylvania is that he’s just a five-and-a-half hour ride from home, which means his family is often able to visit.
“It’s been a great experience,” he said. “Great town.”
The Little Flyers’ good fortune continued deep into the league playoffs, but then evaporated.
“Heartbreaker,” Russo said of the finale.
In the best-of-five EHL Finals against the Philadelphia Junior Flyers, Russo’s Little Flyers won two of the first three games and had a 4-3 lead late in Game 4.
“We had a goal disallowed, they pull their goalie and score,” Russo said. In double overtime, the Junior Flyers scored again to force a winner-take-all Game 5.
“We had a two-goal lead with four minutes and change [on the clock],” Russo said. It didn’t last. “We made a mistake and they buried it,”
The puck took a weird bounce off a stanchion to set up a wide-open attempt. With a minute remaining, the Junior Flyers tied the game then won in overtime when the puck bounced off a skate and was ruled legitimate (no kicking motion).
It was the second straight appearance in the finals for the Little Flyers, which provides plenty of motivation for their returning players and head coach.