2010 Flames Win Silver at GSL Tourney

The 2010 Manchester Flames entered the GSL State Tournament as the #1 seed. They traveled to Rochester, NH on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to play in the tournament. The 2010 Flames would end up in the final on Sunday night and battle for the title.

The Flames ended up winning their first game against #6 Rochester, 6-2. Then they lost on Saturday to #3 Upper Valley, 1-0 in a game where they were completely smothered and barely even had any shots on goal. Sunday afternoon they beat #2 Lakes Region, 3-0 to advance to the Championship Game. In the Final, they played Upper Valley again. It was probably the best game of the tournament with two teams playing their hearts out. With a game of such magnitude on the line, regulation time would not suffice, so they played overtime. With 1:06 left in the OT, Upper Valley scored on a bouncing, rolling puck that found its way into the net, earning a 4-3 victory. The 2010 Flames had given their all and fell just short of their goal.

For a team that rostered several kids that had never played team hockey before this season, it’s been a tremendous season of development for this group. I look forward to seeing these kids continue to love the game and to see where they go from here. We are very fortunate to be a part of the group we have. I can tell you from many years of coaching kids and watching kids play team sports that this entire hockey family is special, this is not the norm. We are grateful.

To the coaches I thank you for your collective approach with these youngsters over the last 6 months. I fully believe that great players first just need to be allowed and encouraged to be fun loving kids. There should be no rush to push these young players to become hardened, jaded young adults trying to actualize someone else’s goals or vanished dreams. I feel that they’ve been able to fall in love with the game while working tirelessly for love of the game and maybe more so for one another. All of this, within an environment that you coaches have fostered. A safe place where young, impressionable kids can thrive without fear of an almighty agenda and dare to dream their own dreams. Thank you all for that.

Please take a moment or two to enjoy some pictures from the GSL Tournament games. Click on the gallery and then specific pictures to enlarge if you wish.

Game One: Flames 6 – Rochester 2

: Opening face-off for the Flames in their first ever GSL Tournament.

: James scores from the crease after a rush by Austin.

: Throw your hands in the air like you just don’t care.

: Luke comes pretty close to a goal on this play.

: Austin plays lead goose in the famous ‘V formation’.

: Colby fires a shot in front of the Flames faithful out in Rochester.

: Two on none. The Flames did not score on this play.

: Here the Flames hit the post with a shot that got past the goaltender.

: Austin feeds James with a pass that led directly to the Flames second goal of the game.

: Travis makes a right pad save on this shot. Meanwhile the referee skids to a stop on his snowboard.

: Travis gets a piece of this shot with his glove and keeps it out of the net.

: Austin and the Flames score on this play with just about everyone in on the rush.

: Shot on goal for the Flames.

: Somehow this shot from Beal did not get into the net, but the Flames kept on firing.

: Rochester had the numbers in their favor but the Flames kept the puck out of the net.

: Drew and Austin out for a beautiful pairs skate in the middle of the game.

: I had heard the legends but didn’t believe them. Then I had this opportunity to spot the rarely, if ever seen, ‘2-sticked player of the Lilac City’.

: Finley leads a rush up ice and gets a shot on goal for the Flames.

: Travis makes an interesting save while a Rochester player stands wide open.

: This puck slips past the goalie for a Flames goal.

: Let the celebration begin!

: The Flames salute Travis and themselves for their opening game win at the GSL Tourney.

Game Two: Flames 0 – Upper Valley 1

: Ian gets one of the few shots on goal that the Flames were allowed in this game.

: This was the only goal of the game and you can see there weren’t many Flames defending on this play.

: The Flames came close on this chance with Drew and Gavin.

: So Drew grabbed the puck and tried a different approach.

: Travis and the Flames just barely survived this scoring chance from Upper Valley.

: The Flames are bunched up as Austin prepares to shoot through layers. Can you spot the French flag?

: Travis makes a great save on Gillies, who, as you may have noticed, was a threat to score throughout the game.

: Logan takes a shot through Upper Valley traffic. They always had someone back on D.

: Travis makes another save to keep the Flames within one goal of tying the game.

: The puck is in the air and Drew tries to get a handle on it for an offensive chance.

: Last line of defense and Travis kept this scoring chance out of the net.

: Dube was wide open but the puck got through him.

Semi-Finals: Flames 3 – Lakes Region 0

: This Flames scoring chance looked good from where I stood.

: Colby cuts through center ice for the Flames.

: The Flames get on the board first and they were pretty happy about it.

: James shows off his strength with this one handed wrap around clearing attempt.

: The Mighty Fin and Garrett work on their cheerleading routine. One leans left while the other leans right, and so on.

: Teddy and Garrett got pretty close but could not get the puck over the goal line.

: And then, all of the sudden, everyone started skating full speed right at me.

: Here comes the Flames and the coach has got their back.

: The Flames out in Rochester at the old barn, and their both looking pretty good.

: The Flames look to create some offense but the spacing isn’t quite there yet.

: Four defenders go to one side and two open Flames go to the net but they couldn’t connect on this play.

: Jordan came over and asked me what I thought of his centering pass, and I said, “Nice pass 9.”

: Luke hustles back to the defensive end.

: Teddy has a step on the defense but he couldn’t get around the corner with the puck.

: Here I took a turn playing net while Travis made a quick run to the concession stand for me. I mean, I was buying.

: This is the cover photo for upcoming album from Travis, ‘Goalie Moves’. He was inspired by Bob Seger’s ‘Night Moves’ album.

: Old Glory, new LED lights, and a netminder with a view.

: James takes a shot but the Flames really could use some traffic in front of the net.

: Colby steps up to play some defense and yells, “Donde estás hermano?” Looking for Jax.

: Travis stands in and takes this shot head on. There was no rebound.

: Teddy was at the net mouth when the puck went in, and he got the celebration started pronto.

: Austin scored the Flames goal and there was some high-steppin hand shakin goin on.

: Logan turns the corner but Travis had everything under control.

: Colby makes a nice stick check on the puck and the whole team looks quite attentive.

: Flames win! Travis celebrates.

: Flames celebrate as a team and I love the look on Colby’s face.

: Drew and Kayden get in on the action as the Flames get ready to shake hands.

Finals: Flames 3 – Upper Valley 4 (OT)

: With the lineups announced it was time for our Anthem and the beautiful Old Glory.

: Flames gather around to make sure that Travis is well taken care of.

: Austin and the Flames get on the board out in Rochester

: Travis holds onto the puck just above his glove and immediately nods off.

: Symmetry, reflections, the puck and a forward cutting to the net.

: Finley keeps the puck in the zone, right in front of the ‘Beard Section’ at Rochester Arena.

: Austin gets the puck past the goaltender and the Flames go up 2-0.

: Celebrating the Flames second goal of the game.

: Travis makes an acrobatic save. I tried this move once and ended up in traction for nearly a decade.

: Because the name on the front should carry more weight than the name on the back. All for one.

: Drew went into stealth mode and tried to sneak past the enemy lines with the puck.

: This is your everyday Championship Game action shot. I don’t know why, it just is.

: The Flames get after the puck while Jordan flashes a glance at his mom and channels “I love you Mom” to her.

: Colby takes a shot and when he learns to get his hips rotated his shot will be a rocket.

: Teddy comes over to grab the puck along the boards.

: The Flames get some defense back and in front of Travis on this play.

: Jordan carries the puck up ice and looks for opportunity.

: Colby definitely stole the show in the Mr. Congeniality Contest.

: James steps up to break up a play on defense.

: Finley and Travis take away angles as the puck is centered.

: Teddy jammin the crease and the puck pops into the air.

: Then Austin and the Flames netted another one.

: Travis had the puck cupped with his stick but it was loose and eventually got pushed into the net to tie the game.

: Travis gets some help from his defense in the Overtime.

: Manchester Flames 2nd Place.

: Manchester Flames 2nd Place.