Press Release: November 17, 2013

The Kearsarge Youth Hockey Bantams opened their 2013-14 season yesterday, hosting the Henniker Huskies at Proctor Academy’s Teddy Maloney Rink. This group of Bantam players’ and their families were all wondering what to expect as the drop of the first puck approached. The kids were wondering where their skills, skating, and their evolving mastery of teamwork would rank compared to their opponents. While the parents thought about their children, the team, and the circumstances that brought this little group together to begin with. Just how would these kids measure up? I mean, they do keep score in these games, and performances are measured real-time, like it or not.

The Kearsarge Bantams took to the Proctor Academy ice with a roster of, Sebastian Beal, Alfie Rylander, and Ashley Thompson on defense; the offense was made up of, Nick Ducharme, Matt Jarvis, Nicole Kimptis, Carter McClean, and Noah Newton. Kirsten Westeberg was not active, taking care of an injury, but she was on the bench with her team. Corey Henault was in goal, backing the rest of the lineup.

The game began, and everything was just fine. The players played like a team. They covered for each other. They looked to make plays to one another. They made good hockey plays. It didn’t appear to matter which player carried the puck, or which player skated to open space, or which one dumped the puck into the zone. They played like a team, all players as equal parts with a common goal of playing hockey. Personally, I thought it was fun to watch.

The game ended in a 0-0 tie, but the lack of goal scoring didn’t detract from the effort made by both teams. The pace was generally crisp, and all areas of the ice were defended by both teams. It appeared to me that Kearsarge had the better of the offensive chances throughout the game. Both teams played good defense, clogging the high traffic areas from where goals are often scored. And both goaltenders actually faced fewer shots than the number of offensive chances may have otherwise indicated. Players on both sides did their best to get back on ‘D’, block shots, or disrupt shot attempts.

There were no goals, few stoppages, and only one penalty called in the entire game. Both teams cycled the puck in their offensive end; they cleared pucks from the defensive end instead of trying to lug the puck through multiple defenders; and they dumped the puck in to the offensive zone in order to make appropriate line changes when they could.

I think the parents let go of a simultaneous sigh of relief as the game closed and it was apparent that the team was just fine, at least for the day. The Kearsarge host the Bantams from Oyster River on Sunday afternoon, and again, there’ll be a test, constant measurement, and experience unfolding, real-time. As it should be in youth sports. It’s about the kids, and they’ll be just fine.