Written by One of the beauties of sport is that competition brings opportunity where something has to give. People can talk, stats, results, and personnel can be compared on paper, but in truth, it’s only after having contested in the sport that we really know. Last night out at Keene Ice, the Keene Blackbirds hosted the Goffstown Grizzlies on Keene’s Senior Night. It was NH Hockey’s Division II #1 vs. #2 in a last week of the season matchup. Something had to give.
Grizzlies on the defensive. (Photo by Charron)
Watching the first two periods of the game last night was like watching somebody vigorously shake a 2-liter bottle full of carbonated soda. The pace was mostly fast, a little furious, and certainly had the contents agitated. In the third period, someone finally knocked the cap off of the bottle and the explosion turned out to be five third period goals put on the board by Keene.
Max Lajeunesse finds some rare open ice against the Blackbirds. (Photo by Charron)
Keene is good. I dare say they have the best group of defensemen in Division II. They play at a pace that Goffstown hasn’t had to play at for a good month or so. No offense to recent opponents, but Keene is really good, and they play like a team. They are well coached. Honestly, there seems to be a different air about them this season.
Goffstown is good. They have found ways to win all season long and demonstrated great playmaking ability, playing as a team.
Back to the first two periods, it was a great hockey game. I heard fans from both sides talking about the back and forth, the pace, and the intensity. It was some really good hockey.
During games, I track a lot of things, and I don’t always remember the greatest details of plays I watch because I am looking for several things at a time. So, I don’t always project the best picture after the fact, in words. Last night though, I felt like I left the rink with so many words. Superlatives, even. The word I overused most last night, in my mind, and certainly out loud, was ‘lesson’. I will get to more on that later.
Grizzlies line change. The third line scored both goals for Goffstown. (Photo by Charron)
Over the first period, I thought that Goffstown played well, but not as well as many around me thought. The first 10 minutes or so, I say yes, they played really well. For me, it changed at the end of Goffstown’s powerplay after Tim Greenwood had been whistled for a hook. It was almost as though Keene got the desired result on their forecheck while shorthanded and then smelled the blood in the water and continued to crank up that pressure. Grizzlies defensemen had less time to move the puck, and smaller windows to put their passes through. I think it was the late, Hall of Fame commentator, Keith Jackson that first said something like “rumbling, bumbling, stumbling” during college football broadcasts; that phrase came to mind the rest of the night. Finally, late in the period, at 13:35 precisely, Owen Haas glided up the left wing after a Grizzlie turnover and outlet pass from Marcin Maleski like he was on a fast track left open specifically for his use. He burst into the offensive zone at full tilt and ripped a wicked wrister into the net, top corner, far side, nary a defender in his path. Keene led 1-0. Early on, Myles Ditkoff served notice that entrance to his net would be tough to come by. Just 34 seconds into the contest Ditkoff made a sparkling left pad, kick save on Goffstown’s Max Lajeunesse.
In the second period Goffstown, I thought, played very well for large chunks of time even though they would be outscored, ultimately, 2-1 in the period. Keene scored 12 seconds into the period after Madeline Sage made a nice save on the initial shot but Tim Greenwood was left alone to pound the rebound home.
Grady Chretien had two points at Keene. (Photo by Charron)
Brian Langevin had the assist. From there, Goffstown had several possessions of good offensive zone pressure.
Max Lajeunesse and Griffin Cook had separate chances where they played pepper off of Ditkoff’s pads but get the puck past him. Grady Chretien finally got the Grizzlies on the board on a nice passing play from Brett Branscum and Theo Milianes at 9:26. At 11:02 Goffstown made a fatal error being caught up ice and out of position, leaving Tim Greenwood and Joseph Walsh on a full blown 2-on-1 break. Goffstown neither took away the pass nor took away the shooter and Greenwood skated in close and dished the puck to his left, on the stick of Walsh, to easily deposit the puck into the net. It was now 3-1 Keene. Goffstown continued to get pressure but the evidence started to mount, evidence that the Goffstown effort was massive to get a goal, while Keene’s expense of effort in order to score was less. That is one of the reasons, I felt, that the third period played out the way it did.
In the final period, Keene expanded their lead to 4-1 at 2:46, when Ben Brown through a shot at the net from deep at right point. The puck found the net. It was unassisted and, to me, probably should have been stopped. But, here’s the thing, Walsh’s first goal of the night, in the second period, turned out to be the game-winner. Goffstown had all kinds of trouble with Keene’s defensemen, and even more so, with Keene’s team defense. Goffstown at times looked like they were trying to execute offensive precision while draped in a huge wet quilt that Grammy kept in the north room because it was impenetrable. Credit to Keene.
Goffstown had some chances to score but there wasn’t a lot of space to operate in. (Photo by Charron)
At 4:43 Keene’s Connor Murphy scored on a shot that Maddie Sage saved with her blocker but somehow it bounced over, or around her, and found the strings. At 6:26 Keene scored a goal, Walsh from Maleski, that, in my mind’s eye was a snapshot of several Grizzlies standing around watching a battle on the boards like it was happening on TV. So, in those three and a half minutes or so, Goffstown fell from 3-1 down, to 6-1 down. The Grizzlies third line got their second goal of the night at 8:00 when Grady Chretien fed Theo Milianes for a good looking goal. It was 16 seconds later that Keene willed their way into the zone, stormed the net, and Joseph Walsh scored from Brian Langevin and Tim Greenwood, with little resistance. The Blackbirds scored at 9:26, Ben Brown from Connor Murphy, to cap the scoring for the evening. Keene won it, 8-2, and improved to 13-1-1 on the season. The Blackbirds are now an astounding 29-1-1 over the last two regular seasons in D-II Hockey. They finish the season on Saturday at Spaulding.
Goffstown plays #2 Windham (15-2) at their barn on Saturday night to finish the regular season. Then it’s a post-season game against another worthy opponent. The goal is to be playing your best hockey at the end of the season when everything counts a little bit more.
Noah Charron looks for an open teammate at Keene. (Photo by Charron)
So, this is where I get on my soapbox and get back to the word ‘lesson’. If I were a hockey coach and gave the Grizzlies a pre-game chat, or list of points that might be important in last night’s game, it might include these: Play your game (as in, not their game). Move the puck quickly and with purpose. Be tough mentally, you will face adversity tonight, how will you choose to handle it? If all else fails, make the smart play. Don’t blame, rather rally to each other’s aid, always. I don’t know, something like that. If I look at my list and issue a grade on performance, like a report card, I would say, “Ahhh, ya, we’re going to have to ask you back to repeat this course”. In failure or losses, there are lessons and opportunities to grow, to learn, to improve. I know the coaching staff is and will be all over this. I hope the leadership within the team is not about the blame game but fully engaged in the circle the wagons mode, and rally the team to pick each other up, always.
A thought process resembling something like watching a team score against you, goalie, or you, defense, or you, whoever; needs to be obliterated and replaced with everything happens to US. Period. Us period. Go watch the third period of last night’s Women’s Ice Hockey Gold Medal game between the USA and Canada, and refresh your definition of what rallying around one another looks like. Do you want to talk about team defense? It was like watching the queen bee try to sneak out of the hive without another bee noticing. Both teams response; Not going to happen, not to US.
It was Senior Night in Keene and emotions ran high. Lots of love to go round. (Photo by Charron)
When pressure is applied, often times things crack or breakdown, just ask your smartphone screen. When we face adversity it’s like calling attention to people and saying, “Hey look through this magnifying glass to examine what this person is made of”. So, I ask the question, “Hey Grizzlies, who was on your roster this season when you ran out to a 14-2 league record?” If there any ‘buts’ in your response, then get up off of yours and do something about it.
Personally, I believe last night’s game was better than the score indicated. I know Keene is a good, experienced, well-coached team, and Goffstown should be so fortunate to get such an opportunity to learn from this experience against the #1 team. How else do you learn to play at the pace, if you are not pushed to play that way? Forward we move.
NHIAA Hockey:
Updated records.
I can’t tell if Michael Fortin is crossing the tape at the finish line in a photo finish, or hanging over a fence on the back forty. (Photo by Charron)
Goffstown (14-3) ar Keene (13-1-1)
Keene Ice, Keene, NH
February 21, 2018. 6:10PM Start:
Summary:
Goals:
Goffstown: 0-1-1 = 2
Keene: 1-2-5 = 8
Shots:
Goffstown: 06-10-05 = 21
Keene: 09-09-11 = 29
Scoring:
1st Keene at 13:35. Even. Owen Haas from Marcin Maleski.
2nd Keene at 0:12. Even. Tim Greenwood from Brian Langevin and Joseph Walsh.
2nd Goffstown at 9:26. Even. Grady Chretien (12) from Theo Milianes (12) and Brett Branscum (13).
2nd Keene at 11:02. Even. Joseph Walsh from Tim Greenwood.
3rd Keene at 2:46. Even. Ben Brown unassisted.
3rd Keene at 4:43. Even. Connor Murphy unassisted.
3rd Keene at 6:26. Even. Joseph Walsh from Marcin Maleski.
3rd Goffstown at 8:00. Even. Theo Milianes (3) from Grady Chretien (7).
3rd Keene at 8:16. Even. Joseph Walsh from Brian Langevin and Tim Greenwood.
3rd Keene at 9:49. Even. Ben Brown from Connor Murphy and Zach Mooers.
Special Teams:
Goffstown Power Play: 0 for 1.
Keene Power Play: 0 for 2.
Saves:
Goffstown: Madeline Sage 21 of 29. (45:00)