A (Roller) hockey dynasty on the east side Sports

It’s beginning to look a lot like...a hockey dynasty.

Manny’s Aprilia Lions captured their third Manhattan Roller Hockey League Championship in the last four tries, winning a grueling, best-of-three series last month over SMT Expo 2 games to 1. The league plays its games at the Paul McDermott Memorial Rink at Stanley Isaacs Park on First Avenue and 96th Street.

The Lions (formerly Buffalo Trace and Brother Jimmys) came from behind in the league’s most prestigious Empire Conference Tier 1 championship round, dropping the opening game 8-3. With their backs against the wall, they notched a perfect dozen in the next two, scoring wins of 6-3 and 6-5. Forward Connor Cafferty figured in all six goals in Game 2 and had four assists in the series-clincher. He was named Playoff MVP for the Empire Conference. Goaltender Eric Gallion made 30 saves in the final game and recorded a sparkling .914 save percentage throughout the playoffs.

Lions Captain Chris Pelka, who has run the team since the league’s inception in 2007, says hoisting the championship trophy - which is an almost exact replica of the NHL’s Stanley Cup – is always a great thrill.

“It was a hard fought victory, especially after losing the first game,” Pelka said. “Playing against (SMT Captain Adam) Root’s team is always tough. I’m so happy we could close the deal.” Root, perennial league superstar and nemesis of Pelka, scored a goal with six minutes to play in the fateful rubber match, but Evan Chlanda of Aprilia broke the tie and won the series with his goal with less than two minutes to play in regulation.

As is customary, Pelka and his teammates each took an individual victory skate around the rink, kissing and holding the cup high above his head. Every Lion will also get his name engraved on the trophy. “It never gets old,” Pelka beamed.

The MRHL was established by Mark Barbour as a not-for-profit corporation after the adult roller hockey league program was shut down at Chelsea Piers in August 2006. It has called the Upper East Side its home since that time. They have two seasons a year – spring and fall – culminating in playoff-style tournaments in June and November.

The league is comprised of four different divisions, 24 teams and has approximately 300 players. It is entirely self-sufficient and uses the proceeds of each teams’ league fees to fund rink improvements, such as a new playing surface and overhead stadium-style lighting. The new lights, which were installed this summer, have enabled games to be played after work hours during the week, thus making it easier to accommodate league expansion and reschedule contests that are postponed due to bad weather. The MRHL started with 12 teams and is now at 24, with a long waiting list of people wanting in. Bradley Yale, who is captain of Tier One’s Brick Run team, has been instrumental in coordinating rink improvements and is in charge of community relations for the league.

Tom Smith, one of the founding fathers of the MRHL, is proud of the way the league represents the Upper East Side and the entire Big Apple. “The league is as diverse as the city,” Smith said. “We have everyone from students to doormen to electricians to investment bankers to neurosurgeons playing.”

The MRHL has a partnership with the Yorkville Youth Athletic Association, with which they conduct youth hockey clinics. Pelka, teammates Mike Martin and Eddie Chlanda, as well as Josh Brower, who is the captain of Tier 3 champs Greylock, are among the players who volunteer their time teaching kids aged 6-12 from all over the city, the fundamentals of roller hockey.

“Our goal is serve the community and give an outlet to hockey players a good environment to play,” Brower said. “What we have at 96th Street is really amazing and it’s nice to give back.”

Mr. Brower works as a recruiter for Teach for America, which finds teachers and places them in neighborhoods in need throughout the U.S., so he is no stranger to philanthropic endeavors. The Greylock team, which gets its name from a sports camp in Massachusetts that many of its players attended, was led by winger Brett Novick. He had four goals and four assists in the two game sweep of conference runner-up American Whiskey Eagles.

Mighty Mouse swept Special Delivery to capture the Freedom Conference Tier 2 title. The A Team did the same to Ernst and Young to win the Times Square Conference Tier 4 crown. These conference winning teams, including Brower’s Greylock squad, each move up division as a reward. Brower is even more ambitious.

“We’re not done until we get to Division One,” he boasted.

Pelka and his Lions will be waiting.