New England Insanity
The New England Insanity is an inline hockey team that was formed when the Massachusetts Mulissha disbanded following the 2010-11 season. Players from the Mulissha minor team and Coach John Ryder formed the Insanity at the inception of the 2011-12 season. In their first year the franchise took a big step forward as both the elite team and the minor team made the playoffs and advanced to the second round. The elite team beat the New Jersey Surge at Morristown, NJ before succumbing to the New York Terror on Long Island. The minor team beat the New York Terror at home in Warwick, RI before losing to the Long Island 495ers at their home in Old Bethpage, NY. At Season's End the elite team's John Pinheiro was named MVP of the Elite League, and minor team members Sean McElroy and Alvin Durning won their divisions MVP and Best Goalie awards. In 2011-12 the Insanity added a second minor team, and identified The Two teams as Black and White. The elite team would struggle, winning 3 of its first eight, but then lost its final 16 games. Attrition was more to blame than any other factor. The minor teams struggled as well, the White team posted a shut out in its debut and then won only two of the next 23 games. The Black team posted just eight wins during the regular season, and secured a Playoff berth on the last day of the season by sweeping the New Jersey Surge at home. As the eighth seed the team was relegated to the Tier II of the playoffs, held at Skate Safe Arena in Old Bethpage, NY. In Tier I the top four teams faced off One seed v. Four, Two v. Three, and the Tier II bracket featured Five seed v. Eight, Six v. Seven. The Black team reeled off two victories (6-2, 8-4)to sweep the best of three series against the Empire State Legends on Saturday, April 27. On Sunday, April 28 they squared off against the New Haven Fire Ants. Black came out flat and lost 4-2, before taking the second game 4-2. Garrett Vaslet's third hat trick in five games propelled New England to a 4-3 victory, and a trip to sunny Las Vegas, NV for the Finals. The Black team became the first team to advance when they opened play in Vegas with two 5-3 victories over the Delco Demons Orange team on Friday, May 17. With this sweep the New England Insanity Black won The Title of Tier II Eastern Conference Champions. The next day they opened the final series with a loss to the Silicon Valley Quakes, Western Conference Champion having beaten the Las Vegas Aces. On Sunday, May 19 Black won game two 4-3 nine minutes into OT on a goal by Kyle Berube. Game three was a see-saw, with teams trading goals, Black came back to tie twice, including forcing overtime on goal with just :30 remaining. In OT, Jimmy Fuoroli finished the scoring and his hat trick two minutes into overtime to clinch the Tier II National Championship for New England Insanity Black by a 5-4 final score.