February 25, 2023 – 10 Wins And They’re In. Goffstown traveled down to Salem to play Timberlane in their final regular season game of 2022-2023. The Goffstown Grizzlies took advantage of a couple power plays and skated to a 9-1 victory. The win gave the Goffstown hockey team 10 wins and they’re in to the postseason.
On the power play, Pierce rips a low slapshot and Bibaud is ready for the tip. Bibaud scored on the play. (Photo from Hudl Video)
As it turns out, not only did the Goffstown Grizzlies get ’10 wins and they’re in’, but after all was said and done, they ended up with the #5 seed. We knew going in to the final weekend of the season, that the 7 team playoff field was already set. But only the #7 seed, Somersworth-Coe-Brown knew for sure what seed they were going to be.
Seeds 1-6 were literally up for grabs. If Winnacunnet and St. Thomas won their final games, the Saints would be the #1 seed and the Warriors would be the #2 seed. St. Thomas did beat Oyster River (would have been #1 with win) and Winnacunnet lost to Spaulding, dropping them into a tie with Goffstown. Since the Grizzlies had tied Winnacunnet and then beat them, 1-0, the Goffstown hockey team leap-frogged into the #5 spot, while the Warriors dropped to #6.
But, as one coach said to me last week, “Once you’re in, anything can happen”. That is true. And this season showed that anyone of these teams is capable of winning three straight to run the NHIAA Hockey Bracket for D2.
On Saturday night, with some beautiful, but pesky, snow falling across the region, the Goffstown Grizzlies met the Timberlane Owls for the last game of the regular season. Goffstown was looking to secure 10 wins in league play for the 6th time in Coach Slocum’s 8-years as the Goffstown hockey coach. Timberlane was looking to finish their season while building for the future. I do believe that NH high school hockey is a better game when schools are able to support their own varsity sports and teams. The more, the merrier. After all, isn’t it about the kids?
Goffstown broke things wide open in the second period after the Owls were whistled for consecutive penalties. With three consecutive power play goals in less than four minutes scored by Xavier Bibaud, the Grizzlies opened a 6-1 lead. Bibaud had a natural hat trick. Goffstown ended up with 15 different players registering points in this game. Even Ethan Santoro who made 11 saves in the win, had his second career assist.
On a memorable, all out hustle play from Brock Bennett a Timberlane breakaway bid was disrupted, if not broken up. Santoro ended up making the save and steering the puck to the corner instead of having to make a stop on a Grade A scoring chance. Nick Caldwell tied up the Owl player in the corner as the puck slid past them. Dylan Desruisseaux grabbed the puck and started up ice. He got cut off on a nice defensive play but the puck went right to Corbin Huntley at the offensive blue line and he was in on a 2-on-1 with Gavin Diodati.
As the fortunes of the Owls played out all night, Huntley’s crossing pass to set up Diodati was deflected by a Timberlane’s defensive stick (the one back in the 2-on-1). As Jakobi Sanseverino was reading the play and sliding over to defend the Diodati forthcoming shot, the puck glanced off of the defensive stick and slid into the nearside of the net. It was Huntley’s goal, from Desruisseaux and Santoro. And just an unfortunate play that went against the Timberlane hockey team.
The Goffstown hockey team piled up 37 shots on goal in the first two periods and utilized their third and fourth lines for most of the night. They simply played the next game on their schedule, as they were supposed to do.
As you read on, you can get the details, of the scoring in the game. But, I wanted to bring attention to a pair of Goffstown Grizzlies defensemen who finishing their high school hockey careers this season. Captain, #12, Xavier Bibaud, and #13, Brennan Pierce. These young men look a little different than they did when they skated in their first scrimmages back in December, 2019. All these practices and games later, here’s a look at their statistical tale of the tape.
#12 – Xavier Bibaud, 74 games, 10 goals, 35 assists, 45 points, 5 power play goals. 38 wins and counting.
#13 – Brennan Pierce, 77 games, 11 goals, 34 assists, 45 points, 5 power play goals. 38 wins and counting.
Okay, here we go for a quick ride through the Goffstown hockey goals on Saturday night.
Austin Campbell nice backhand on net at the top of the crease.
Max Ouellette buries the game-winner on a rebound ripped into the net.
Brandon Bograd on a nice deke to the backhand in tight space for the goal.
Xavier Bibaud tips in a slapper from Brennan Pierce. PPG.
Xavier Bibaud backhand at the top of the crease on sweet feed from Nick DiMarzio. PPG.
Xavier Bibaud chips a shot in on another sweet feed from Nick DiMarzio. PPG.
Brock Bennett roofs a wrister from the slot, from Andrew Skora and Xavier Bibaud.
Brennan Pierce scores through the 5-hole as the Grizzlies move the puck east and west for the shot.
Corbin Huntley gets a goal off of the D-man after Ethan Santoro save and Dylan Desruisseaux rush.
Huntley sends a pass over to Diodati but it hits the defender’s stick and slides into the net. (Photo from Hudl Video)
#5 Goffstown plays at #4 Merrimack (West Side Arena) on Saturday, March 4th at 3:30pm in a QuarterFinal battle. This will mark the third game between these two teams this season. Goffstown earned a 2-0 win in January, and a 2-1 win on Senior Night against the Tomahawks during the regular season. This will be the 4th time that Goffstown and Merrimack play each other in the postseason. 4 times in the last 11 seasons. This season marks the 20th season that Goffstown has qualified for the postseason tournament in 23 seasons of varsity hockey.
I hope to post each of the NHIAA Hockey Brackets later this week. For now, the Goffstown Grizzlies earned 10 wins and they’re in.
Sullivan Arena, Feb. 18, 2023. Goffstown recognized the following Seniors in their Senior Night Ceremony.
Avery Morgan – Team Manager
#1 Jake Webber – Goaltender
#3 Brandon Bograd – Forward
#5 Jake Klardie – Forward
#10 Jack Wilkinson – Forward
#11 Corbin Huntley – Defense
#12 Xavier Bibaud – Defense
#13 Brennan Pierce – Defense
#14 Annie St. Cyr – Forward
#31 Ethan Santoro – Goaltender
They are not done playing hockey yet. When it is all done and the final buzzer has sounded: We will miss each of them, and we truly wish them the very best moving forward. It was my honor and pleasure to be a part of the ceremony this season. Thank you.
After the weekend action in NHIAA Hockey – D2, here are the standings.
Standings: Boys Ice Hockey Division II
NOTE: The following are not official NHIAA standings. They are only the accumulation of game results as reported by the athletic directors and coaches.
NHIAA Hockey Bracket D2
NHIAA Hockey Bracket D2 (Photo from the NHIAA Hockey page)
You can follow other Goffstown Hockey stories, here.
You can also follow this blog here. I write a lot about hockey. It’s a long season. It’s not all just about the hockey, but rather about lessons and takeaways that come up throughout these seasons. Yes, I am biased. I am biased toward the truth and the right way to do things, whether anyone is watching or not.
The players play the games. The kids score the goals and make the saves. Most of the time, the kids band together for something that is bigger than themselves; the team. The kids do so many things right on any given play, on any given day. I have found that more often than not, the kids pleasantly surprise us all. It’s awesome. It’s all about the kids.
Goffstown (10-6-2 NHIAA) (11-8-2 Overall) at Timberlane (0-17-0)
Salem ICenter, Salem, NH
Saturday, February 25, 2023. 7:27 PM Start.
Summary:
Goals:
Goffstown: 03 – 04 – 02 = 09
Timberlane: 01 – 00 – 00 = 01
Shots:
Goffstown: 18 – 19 – 09 = 46
Timberlane: 04 – 04 – 04 = 12
Scoring:
1st Goffstown at 1:46. Even. Austin Campbell from Dylan Desruisseaux and Nick Caldwell.
1st Goffstown at 3:37. Even. Max Ouellette from Brennan Pierce and Owen Matatall. (GWG)
1st Goffstown at 5:13. Even. Brandon Bograd from Jake Klardie and Brock Bennett.
1st Timberlane at 14:55. Even. Cam Ingram unassisted.
2nd Goffstown at 3:26. PPG. Xavier Bibaud from Brennan Pierce and Nick DiMarzio.
2nd Goffstown at 4:33. PPG. Xavier Bibaud from Nick DiMarzio and Max Ouellette.
2nd Goffstown at 7:10. PPG. Xavier Bibaud from Nick DiMarzio and Brennan Pierce.
2nd Goffstown at 13:44. Even. Brock Bennett from Andrew Skora and Xavier Bibaud.
3rd Goffstown at 9:55. Even. Brennan Pierce from Brandon Bograd and Gavin Diodati.
3rd Goffstown at 13:45. Even. Corbin Huntley from Dylan Desruisseaux and Ethan Santoro.
Special Teams:
Goffstown Power Play: 3 for 4.
Timberlane Power Play: 0 for 0.
Saves:
Goffstown: Ethan Santoro 11 of 12. (.917). (45:00)
Timberlane: Jakobi Sanseverino 37 of 46. (.804). (45:00)
(photo by Jen Webber Photography)
Remembering Jen Cheney…
The Jen Cheney Memorial Scholarship and Sportsmanship Award (awarded each season)
As a sixteen-year-old junior, Jen was a manager for the very first Goffstown Grizzlies hockey team in the 1999-2000 club season. Her infectious smile and friendly nature was a joy for everyone fortunate to know her. Jen is now our eternal team angel. The spirit of Jen lives on…our team champions an angel memorial patch sewn to each uniform jersey.
On Thursday, May 18th, 2000, Jen was killed by a drunk driver. We are dedicated to memorialize Jen’s life with the Jen Cheney Memorial Scholarship and Sportsmanship Award. But we also want to deliver a message from our team angel… simply…if you choose to drink, don’t drive.
The current look at my ‘hockey office’. So many hours spent in this space, tracking numbers and capturing season after season. (C) 1inawesomewonder 2023.The beginning of every article. (C) 1inawesomewonder 2017.
The thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the individual contributors, mostly mine, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the schools, coaches, players, or characters listed in any of these blog posts. Or, maybe they do, but you would have to ask them directly.
Either way, “It’s a great day for hockey” ~ the late “Badger” Bob Johnson.
“We should be dreaming. We grew up as kids having dreams, but now we’re too sophisticated as adults, as a nation. We stopped dreaming. We should always have dreams.” ~ the late Herb Brooks.
“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it: If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.” ~ Jim Valvano on how to live life, during his ESPY speech.
“I started writing sports stories 20 years ago. I still do. I write because somewhere, in some game, a kid might be having the time of his or her life. That’s awesome to think about. It’s all about the kids.” ~ Steve Beal Sr.
