Brian Stone Memorial Christmas Hockey Championship: Bedford 4 at Goffstown 3

From J.F.K. Coliseum in Manchester, NH, December 29, 2018:

There is a team in Division II hockey that has compiled 36 regular season victories over the last 3 seasons. Yet, nobody counts them anything but usually out. They played Division I powerhouse, Bedford on Saturday afternoon at JFK Coliseum in Manchester for the title at the Brian C. Stone Memorial Christmas Hockey Tournament. Things turned out as nearly everyone would have predicted, with Bedford winning their fourth straight Christmas Tournament championship, but it wasn’t that easy. Goffstown was outplayed for long stretches of the game yet never let up and cut a 4-1 deficit to 4-3 going into the final period.

Let’s face it, Bedford is the better team. They have more depth in skills, goaltending, and skating. Their program has played in the NHIAA State Championship game, in whatever Division they have competed in, six times in the last seven years. They won the championship five of their six trips, falling only to Hanover last season, 2-1. So, Bedford is the top dog in my mind. They are well coached. They force you to play flawlessly, at top speed, in a perceived space the size of a well-equipped blender. Watching Bedford from a distance these last several years, I have noticed a simple but overwhelmingly understated factor that helps separate them from their competition. They skate hard, all the time, every shift, every player, their feet are always moving. There are no free plays, no free goals, no free space given when playing the Bulldogs, and that’s not a talent thing, but a mindset and determination thing. It’s what I have always referred to as “controlling the controllable”, the effort is a decision, a commitment.

So when the puck dropped and Bedford scored just 23 seconds into the game, on a goal scored by Jack Sylvain from Parker Roberto and Arhat Vaidya, reality hit. The first few minutes looked like Goffstown had walked onto a treadmill that was turned all the way up, things looked a bit daunting for the Grizzlies. After a few minutes, someone thought maybe we should unplug the treadmill and reset on the fly. Goffstown caught their breath and started to play some good hockey. At 5:05 of the period Sebastian Beal scored from the slot on a feed from Griffin Cook to tie the game at 1-1. Then at 9:29 Quinlan Kerr gave Bedford a 2-1 lead from Arhat Vaidya, as they capitalized immediately on failed clearing attempts by the Grizzlies. With a minute left to play in the period, Goffstown’s Kyle LaSella made a save going to his left but the rebound came out to the slot area where Bedford pounced on the puck and shot at the open side of the net for a seemingly sure goal. Somehow Grady Chretien came sliding across the crease at top speed for Goffstown and kicked the puck out of harm’s way. Bedford led 2-1 on the scoreboard and outshot the Grizzlies 10-7 in the period.

The second period started similar to the first period like play started while Bedford was already moving at full speed. After the opening faceoff and a quick neutral zone faceoff that Goffstown won, defenseman Colin Burke had the puck on his stick as he entered the offensive zone in high traffic. He was ahead of a couple of the forwards and the puck was stripped, leaving him up ice with only one defender back. As Bedford does so well, they instantly turned the opportunity into an odd-man rush. Arhat Vaidya to Jack Sylvain to Jake Sanclemente, all at full speed, Bedford goal. This time it only took 16 seconds for Bedford to score. At 1:37 of the period with a good offensive possession going for the Grizzlies, Jacob Noonan looked to his left to make a D-to-D pass from the right point to the left point. Unfortunately for him, Parker Roberto read this from a mile away and picked off the pass and was off to the races. D partner, Brett Lassonde turned on the jets and got back in time to break up the rush. At 10:15 of the period Bedford scored when Quinlan Kerr collected a big rebound from a John Giroux shot and gave the Bulldogs a 4-1 lead. Just over a minute later, Kyle LaSella made a pair of huge saves after a Noonan turnover in Goffstown’s own end and held the score at 4-1. I heard someone say that Goffstown looked like they were killing a penalty for the first 12 minutes of the second period and that wasn’t far off from how things were looking. Then, as if they had lulled their opponents into a false sense of superiority, the Grizzlies clawed back into the game in a flash. At 13:21 of the period Colby Gamache scored an unbelievable goal from his back, on a breakaway, at full speed. He looked like he was out on the lake being towed by a boat, having a good old time. Isaac McGregor worked the puck to Sebastian Beal who eased a long lead pass that was almost out of Gamache’s reach, which would have been icing if he had not retrieved it just in time. Gamache corralled the puck, made a move to his right which knocked himself off balance and put the puck past Ben Bernard in net for Bedford. Bernard, by the way, was outstanding all day, robbing Griffin Cook twice, and snagging a Grady Chretien blast as well. Then with 21 seconds left in the period, Colby Gamache blocked a Bedford slapshot with his knee and as he dropped to the ice in pain, the puck caromed right to Sebastian Beal. Beal turned and fed a perfect outlet pass to Griffin Cook who barreled into good shooting position and cut the lead to 4-3. All of the sudden, on two brilliant hockey plays, Goffstown was back in the game. The shots ended up being 11-10 in favor of Bedford for the period, and it was a one-goal game headed to the 3rd period.

In the final period, the game was intense, and the action was plentiful. Neither team would give an inch, and ultimately the score remained the same, 4-3. At 8:37 of the period though, Kyle LaSella made a nice save on a Bedford bid, but the rebound came right out to Bedford in front of a yawning net when Colin Burke used all 6-foot-5-inches of his frame to make a sliding save across the crease. Just over a minute later, Bedford freshman, Brett Niland whistled a laser-like wrist shot right past LaSella’s head and clanked it off of the crossbar. Goffstown had chances but could not score as Bedford circled the wagons as needed to secure their fourth straight title. I didn’t see all of the games in the tournament this year, but the final game had to be one of the best of the whole week. Bedford did what they had to do to win the game, and Goffstown, the big underdog, gave them all they could handle.

Bedford’s Jack Sylvain won the tournament MVP. Here’s the rest of the All-Tourney team:

• Goalie: Shea Guimont – Bedford
• Defense: Matt Gardner – Hanover
• Defense: Arhat Vaidya – Bedford
• Forward: Jake Mielcarz – Bow
• Forward: Parker Roberto – Bedford
• Forward: Sebastian Beal – Goffstown (2 goals – 8 assists in the tourney)

Goffstown won more than once in the tournament for the first time. They went to the Championship game for the first time. Sebastian Beal became the first Grizzlie player to make the All-Tourney team.

Goffstown returns to regular season action on January 2nd, at the defending champions home ice in Keene at 7 pm. Keene won their Christmas tournament this year, in the final they prevailed 7-1 over Merrimack.