Tournament Hockey: Goffstown 0 vs. Oyster River 4

In a game which featured two teams that prove to be about as evenly matched, as evenly matched gets defined each season, the outcome was decided, 4-0. Goffstown was 13-5 in league play while the Bobcats from Oyster River came in at 12-5-1, and these two teams had split 10 goals, 5-5 in their two meetings during the season. Oyster River won the game, 4-0 but dare I say that the game was closer than the score indicated.

Over the course of the first period, Oyster River outshot Goffstown 9-4. The Grizzlies had chances but couldn’t get shots to the net, which would prove to be a theme as the game went on. Nobody scored in the opening period, but it did not lack in excitement. James Amorelli stood his ground and made a nice shoulder save on Alden Swiesz just 1:28 into the contest. Swiesz was allowed free passage up the left wing boards and got past Brennan Pierce for a point blank chance. All of this after Swiesz had blocked a shot from Colby Wright back in the defensive end. At 9:56 of the period, Jack Poitras swung wide from behind the Grizzlies net and ripped a shot off of the post. Goffstown avoided another bullet when Jack Poitras picked the pocket of Isaac McGregor on the forecheck and Alden Swiesz was right there to take advantage. Swiesz had a great chance but missed the net with his shot. The period would end in a 0-0 tie.

The second period opened with both teams pressing their opponents and hoping for the smallest weakness to show itself so they could break through and grab a lead. At 2:56 of the period Poitras swiped the puck from McGregor and turned it into an instant scoring chance. Poitras skated past the left post and tried a wrap around shot as Amorelli was now out of position after defending the initial rush. Poitras got to the far post for the wrap attempt but McGregor made up for the turnover and made the save himself while clearing the puck. Just after the 4 minute mark the Grizzlies had chances from Grady Chretien and Colby Gamache on back-to-back plays but Daubney was equal to the task. Up and down the ice they played but if you noticed, the Bobcats constantly had their defensemen back with at least one forward, or more. The defensive layers were very difficult to penetrate.

Even so, at 8:40 of the period Chretien hit Gamache with a pass in the slot on a play that materialized from nowhere. But there was #32, Claden Daubney, to make the save on Gamache. The Bobcats came right back with a 2-on-1 of their own at 9:22 after Eric DesRuisseaux pinched in to keep the puck in the offensive zone, but John Kell and Liam Spurling broke free with the puck. Kell carried the puck up the left wing, and as McGregor slid across the ice to deny the shot, Kell dropped a pass to Spurling all alone be they couldn’t connect. Daubney made a sensational pad save at 11:04 of the period when Chretien shot a puck wide of the net but Drew O’Brien skillfully redirected the puck on net and Daubney’s left pad was just long enough to keep the puck out of the net. It was quite a positional save on a really nice effort from O’Brien. Just seconds later, Chretien created a turnover that allowed Luc Ouellette to skate into a wrist shot that was labeled for a spot just inside the near post before Daubney snagged it with his glove.

As the teams applied pressure and something seemed sure that it was going to not only bend, but actually break, the teams had chance after chance. At 11:47 of the period Oyster River had a clean 3-on-1 break and missed the net without a single pass. Isaac McGregor had pinched in for the Grizzlies and was caught in deep, but Theo Milianes had covered for him then whiffed on his centering pass attempt and the Bobcats were off and running. Alden Swiesz elected to shoot and missed the net. Colby Gamache made a brilliant pass from the corner that found Grady Chretien in the right wing circle but the puck got through Chretien and over to Liam Spurling. Spurling sprinted up the ice and made a nice self pass to get some separation from Eric DesRuisseaux but was forced wide. As Spurling swept a centering pass toward the slot DesRuisseaux and Chretien were back with their sticks low and parallel to the ice to block such a pass from getting through. Colby Wright was back on defense on the backside of the play too, but the puck hit Chretien’s stick and deflected behind James Amorelli to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead with 2:14 left in the second period. The reaction of the Grizzlie players on the ice showed their sense of deflation on the play even though there was plenty of game left.

At 13:16 of the period, the other shoe dropped when, on the very next shift, the Bobcats took a 2-0 lead. Andy Carlson skated up ice with the puck but Goffstown had McGregor and Xavier Bibaud back on defense and in front of Carlson, so nothing looked all that threatening. Carlson was forced to the right wing boards by McGregor and he threw an innocent pass to the slot. The problem for the Grizzlies though was that nobody was defending the slot, and that’s where Jack Poitras was. The pass had deflected off of McGregor’s skate and was behind Poitras. Poitras spun to receive the tardy pass as Bibaud was still wide of the play and David Martineau hadn’t retreated that deep yet. Poitras, in his spin, fired a shot that got through Amorelli and the lead was two. Coach Slocum pulled Amorelli in favor of Madeline Sage in what felt like more of a hope for a momentum change than anything else. James Amorelli played well, making 14 saves on 16 shots. As he skated to the bench, obviously disappointed in the result, the Oyster River players slapped the ice with their sticks as a show of respect and the equivalent of ‘tipping their caps’ to the worthy opponent.

Remembering that we don’t elevate ourselves by stepping on others, James Amorelli wasn’t the reason why the Grizzlies found themselves trailing 2-0 after two periods. Honestly, a bounce off of a teammate’s stick and another pass off of a teammate’s skate were largely instrumental in both of the Bobcat goals. On the other hand, the visitors had created a handful of odd-man rushes that mostly resulted in shots that missed everything. Sage made one save on the only shot she faced in the period. Daubney was 10 for 10 in the period.

In the third period, the Grizzlies continued to build offensive momentum. Oyster River was content to pack in the defense and let the Grizzlies moves the puck along the outside of the zone, and block every shot they could get in front of. With all of that, the Grizzlies were whistled for the only penalty of the game and sent Oyster River to the power play. Just after Grady Chretien almost dangled free for a scoring chance following a great pass from Colby Gamache, the Grizzlies almost cashed in while shorthanded. Gamache picked off the puck from Alden Swiesz and walked in only to be robbed by the blocker of Claden Daubney at 3:15 of the period. At 5:56 of the period Goffstown showed their incredible ability to turn defense into offense in a matter of a couple of seconds. Eric DesRuisseaux skated hard back to his own end to retrieve a loose puck under pressure while turning and firing a 2-line pass to Drew O’Brien at the offensive blue line. O’Brien made a super one-touch pass to Gamache who skated in with great speed and fired a quick shot on Daubney but he was able to make a nice sliding save on the shot. Half way through the period Isaac McGregor circled the net and fed a nice pass to fantastic frosh, Jackson Burke in the slot but again, Daubney made a positional save on the Burke bid from point blank range. Goffstown had one close call after another on offense but nothing was getting past Daubney on Saturday. With 2:07 left to play, the Grizzlies used their timeout and ended up pulling Sage from the net about a minute later.

Goffstown had the puck in the offensive zone with Gamache, O’Brien, and Chretien making passes, cycling the puck, and getting chances everywhere, but everything hit an opponent’s skate, was blocked, or got lost in the vast white landscape of Daubney’s pads. Then after tic-tac-toe passing and skate deflections, McGregor took a low hard shot from the left point, through all of the traffic, but that too was denied entry by a Daubney pad. Eventually, from his own right wing circle, in a heavy battle for the puck, Eric Donovan made good contact with the puck. In a desperate clearing attempt, the puck eluded traffic and rolled through center ice and all the way down the ice into the open net. The goal came at 13:56 of the period. Poitras would add another empty net goal with 9 seconds left, and win the quarterfinal game, 4-0.

James Amorelli made 14 saves on 16 shots in the loss, while Sage saved the 3 shots she faced in relief. Claden Daubney made 14 saves in the final period, and was 28 for 28 in the shutout victory. The Bobcats only allowed 34 goals in their 18-game regular season schedule, and they will play in the semi-finals against #1 Keene who beat Lebanon-Stevens-Mt. Royal, 5-4 in overtime on a Ben Brown game-winner. The other semi-final will feature St. Thomas and Merrimack. St. Thomas fell behind twice in their, 5-4, come from behind win against Somersworth-Coe-Brown. Dover mounted a tremendous effort against Merrimack despite missing several players, and lost the game 5-3. So the final four of D-II Hockey is set to play at Everett Arena on Wednesday, March 11th.

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Please keep an eye open right here for the season recap coming in the next couple of weeks. Thank you.

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After the game ended and the score sheets were distributed, I walked from the ice to visit among the players and coaches. I chatted briefly with the coaching staff. I congratulated many of the players for an exceptional season, career, or both. What I noticed most though, even beyond their polite thank you’s, was that the red lines on their faces weren’t just from the heat of exertion or the snug fit of padded helmets. The lines I noticed were markers of escaping emotions that had developed over hours and hours of hard work, constant team building, and the pain of not reaching their ultimate goals despite giving everything that they had to give. As I sped up my own pace so that I wouldn’t develop any red lines myself, I raced for the door to get to my youngest son’s youth hockey tournament game down in Wilmington, Mass.

On my drive alone in the dark, I thought about the game. I thought about the season, and the last five seasons really. I thought about the players present and past. I thought of the days in my life when I battled on teams in sports at the highest levels I would compete among, and I remembered my own red lines. I remembered the questions we asked ourselves and each other after it was all done. So, to the players I left outside the locker room this week, or any players over the last few seasons, please know that we are in complete awe of your skill and abilities to work together in any split second. We hold our breath and we jump from our seats all because we’re watching you. Your goals may not have included putting smiles on our faces but I can tell you quite personally, that there are not enough red lines combined to surpass the wins, your successes, and moments of sheer joy. So, I hold back my own tears and say thank you, because if it wasn’t for the kids and their pursuit of whatever each player values within the team dynamic, there would be nothing here to see.

I have thanked our talented photographers game after game because I, we, are so fortunate to have your participation so readily available to each of us. Thank you. Thank you also to the GTV crew for a wonderful live broadcast of the playoff game on Saturday night as well. Awesome job!

NHIAA Hockey:
Updated Records:
Goffstown (13-6-0)
Oyster River (13-5-1)