Acropolis ready for a trip down memory lane BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI Staff Writer Bob Acropolis, who coaches the Brick Hockey Club's Bantam AA team, remembers back in 1994 playing in the USA Hockey championships in Ohio for the club's PeeWee team. It was the second trip to the nationals in four years for the PeeWees under Pat Doyle, who is one of the few club coaches anywhere to coach two club teams into the national tournament. Acropolis, a diminutive but scrappy 12-year-old, helped the team go 1-2-1 and earn a fifth-place finish. And Acropolis could not be happier seeing the fifth team in Brick Hockey Club's history to reach the national finals when the Midget Minors 16s AA leave in two weeks for Fraser, Mich. It is the second trip in three years to the national tournament for that age group team. "Those are the things you never forget," said Acropolis, whose words have been echoed by Alex DePalma, who coached the previous Midget Minor 16s AA team that finished in fifth place. DePalma also is a USA Hockey coaching director for the Atlantic District. Acropolis recalls it was a harder road to get to the national finals back then, as the team had to advance through district and regional competition. Nowadays, there is a round-robin pool play and then a best-of-three final, pitting the Top 2 teams in the district. "One thing I tell my kids is that you have to almost have arrogance," said Acropolis. "You're out there for a reason. You qualified. You're the best team in your area and you have to carry that out with you. You may feel some teams you're playing against are better, but you're the one out there from your area. "You have to know it, to feel it," said Acropolis. "You have to play with a chip on your shoulder. You played to be there." Acropolis experienced that firsthand. After his team lost its first game badly to a team from Michigan, 9-1, it went 1-1-1 from there. "Some guys look at teams like Michigan and feel there is an aura about that, but toe to toe, these guys [from Brick] can play with them." That Midget Minors 16s AA team showed that mettle two years ago when it won two of three games in pool play before losing, 4-1, to the Darion Huskies outside of Chicago in a quarterfinal game. "The biggest thing is the depth of the teams," said Acropolis. "Good teams in the area have one good line. In the nationals, teams have four good lines and two goalies. The depth is much better and it's at a much quicker pace. You don't have that extra second to think about what you have to do. You really have to be on your game. "When we played, we'd have two good lines and everybody had a fourth line that was as good as our first," he said. And the game has changed for this year, said Acropolis, as USA Hockey is calling for tighter calls by the referees on contact. "The game is completely different now than a year ago with the new rules," said Acropolis. "The NHL took away obstruction and now USA Hockey also is doing away with hook and clutch and grab. It's bringing in a fresh, new look. Now guys are fast, move the puck and skate. You almost can't have big defensemen anymore." It puts Acropolis in a good situation as a coach because it's the style he used to make up for his lack of size when he played at Brick Township for his coach and grandfather - Bob Auriemma - before he went on to play for Quinnipiac before graduating recently. "It's college and pro system hockey, and not many programs in the area teach that," said Acropolis. "They even pick teams differently now. It opens up the game some. There's more offensively. Some adjust to it better than others, but George [Colwell, who coaches this Midget Minors 16s AA team heading to the nationals] has done a great job of bringing the kids together from playing on different high school teams." It's why Acropolis wanted to come back and coach in the club program that is run by his uncle - Bobby Auriemma (son of the Brick Township coach). "I was fortunate to go away to college and almost rethink the game," he said. "When I played in college, I had to relearn it. They let me teach the kids and not hold anything back. "I love teaching kids and I love the game. I want to make the club even better as a hockey program." Acropolis' undaunted attitude carried over to his Bantam team when it overcame a horrible start to pick up 12 wins. He sees the same quality in this team that won the districts by sweeping a pair of 5-2 victories over the Junior Phantoms of Pennsauken who had a win and a tie against Brick during their regular season meetings. "For the guys in high school, it may be different than it was for us [PeeWees], but it's neat to go to the hotel and see names on jackets from Washington and North Dakota and Montana, which you normally see on TV," he said. "And then, you get settled in and play the game."