Brian C. Stone Memorial Christmas Hockey Tournament: Goffstown 0 vs. Bedford 7

From J.F.K. Coliseum in Manchester, NH: Goffstown 0 vs. Bedford 7.

It was another fun night at the rink, the JFK Coliseum rink. I do enjoy seeing the families in attendance as kids come home from school and come home for Christmas. It’s really a fun place to be. I still have fun, even when a game goes the way that it went tonight. I will get to the game shortly.

Recently, I was bouncing some ideas about fans and their behavior off of my wife whom has a tremendously creative mind. She suggested that maybe there should be a parent penalty box as she had immediately drawn the parallel between fans and parents. Well, I am not sure that will happen but were it in place tonight, there definitely would have been folks whistled for unsportsmanlike conduct. Honestly, my wife might have spent some time in the penalty box during youth tournaments for interference at least. I am always amazed, actually I am not amazed at all because we’re mere humans, when I hear parents, who for some reason, cannot (or refuse to) connect that their child is a part of the entire team. You know, team? As in something greater than one’s self. You know, team? As in they’re not in on some conspiracy to make any one kid (yours) look bad. Seriously, do you think the players hear you? I hope not. Do you think it’s making your player feel better? No, because they can’t hear you. Is it making you feel better? My Mom always said, “We don’t lift ourselves up by stepping on those around us”. So if it’s making you feel better then see the nearest mirror for the problem.

On a separate note, I love our hockey family. It’s a special group because we all have been through the same process, the early morning ice times, long and numerous road trips, winter weather, cold rinks, etc. and we are all still here. I am not judging anyone, just observing. And if you have read me before, I call it like I see it.

For the second straight night Goffstown lined up to play hockey without 4 of their players who are out with injuries. Being that this tournament is a Memorial Christmas Hockey Tournament, some teams play all their players throughout the games in the tournament. Young players get ice time and experience against top varsity talent which accelerates their learning. Goffstown is one of those teams.

Tonight, Bedford was all over Goffstown right from the opening faceoff. This is what you get playing against a Marty Myers Bedford hockey team. You get a team that skates well. A team that skates hard. They challenge everything. They practice harder and faster than you do. They are thinking faster and moving the puck faster than most.

I am not sure if the folks at JFK were using a multiplier or some sort of currency conversion rate against the Canadian dollar to track shots on goal, but the Grizzlies were outshot 27-3 in the first period. I can vouch for the 3 shots that Shea Guimont was peppered with by Goffstown. James Amorelli supposedly faced 27 shots and made 23 saves. He did allow 4 goals in the opening period. Goffstown did have trouble defending the front of net, as their defense rotated to players behind the net. Some would say that he didn’t have much help. Personally, I would hope that as a competitor trying to master his craft within a team sport that he would say he could have allowed fewer rebounds. I have seen him make many saves like he did tonight but I would also say that he has not allowed as many rebounds as he did tonight. James made many very good ‘first-saves’ in the game, he was under fire constantly. That said, Bernie Parent could have been in net tonight and the Grizzlies would still have lost. Goffstown had at least 9 different players in the lineup tonight who have less than 25 games of varsity experience under their belts, most have less than 7 games. That showed up tonight, but it’s okay because that’s how learning happens.

James Amorelli makes one of his 32 saves against Bedford. at the Brian C. Stone Memorial Christmas Hockey Tournament. (C) 1inawesomewonder 2019 – Sage Photo

In a game like this one other distractions crept into the periphery of my mind like, why does every puck that hits the glass here take a right angle bounce back toward the ice? Also, why can’t we put our feet under the row of seats in front of us at JFK? Another one was, if it’s warmer outside than inside the rink, should the Zamboni office back door just stay closed after cutting the ice?

After the second period ended and the shots on goal were announced to the crowd, several of us laughed out loud. For one, the shots were announced as 23-7 in favor of Bedford. That number of 23 was way too high but we’ll give it to them. The funniest part was that they had no idea that Goffstown had changed goaltenders five-plus minutes into the period. Bedford scored 3 more goals and led 7-0 after two periods. James Amorelli made 32 saves on 39 shots and got a ton of work in a short amount of time. He’s a good goaltender and I am confident that he will bounce back and play outstanding hockey going forward. Jake Webber played in the net for the Grizzlies for the rest of the game and would make 16 saves on 16 shots. Shea Guimont was the starting goalie for Bedford and he made 4 saves on 4 shots in 20:00. Matthew Desmond was 12/12 in saves over the final 25:00 of the game.The final period was running time due to the goal differential which made the clock operator’s job much easier. There was no scoring and both teams were looking to get out of the city with no further injuries. Bedford moves into Saturday with a 2-0 record and have not lost a game at this tournament in over 5 years. Goffstown is 0-2, very banged up, and playing Hanover at 12:00 noon tomorrow.

Summary:

Goals:

Goffstown: 0-0-0 = 0
Bedford: 4-3-0 = 7

Shots:

Goffstown: 03-07-06= 16
Bedford: 27-23-05 = 55

1. Matthew Lapinsky from Andrew Johnson and Logan Debonville
2. Will Scott from Brady Burke and John Giroux
3. Cam Wasylak from John Giroux
4. Quinlan Kerr from Cam Wasylak and Luke Moores
5. Brett Niland from Derek Greer
6. Will Scott from Brady Burke and John Giroux
7. Tim Purcell from Cam Wasylak

The beginning of every article. (C) 1inawesomewonder 2017.