2010 Flames Win in Hudson and Drop One at Home in GSL Play

Following a resounding loss at Lakes Region yesterday afternoon, the Flames were down in Hudson, NH by 730am this morning trying to bounce back from defeat.

Manchester didn’t play their prettiest game of the season but they played with high energy and intense defensive pressure on their way to an 8-2 win over the Cyclones. The Flames held the puck in the offensive zone for minutes at a time in this one, and swarmed the net with passes, shots, deflections, and rebounds. Several different players figured into the scoring in a balanced attack.

This afternoon the Flames found themselves back at West Side Arena to play the #1 team in the division, the Granite State Wild, who are also known as Dover 1. The Wild are a strong team and they are definitely better from top to bottom than Manchester but the battle was intense. The Flames dropped the contest by a score of 3-1 and were outplayed in most areas of the game. The thing that is hard not to like though, is the level of compete from this Flames team. They are not the most skilled, nor the best structured, but they just keep playing their hearts out and that will pay off in time.

Between the two games I captured 200+ pictures and decided not to bore you with all of them. Actually, they (the pictures) aren’t all first round picks if you know what I mean. Here are a few dozen from the games today. Please take time to look them over, zoom in, and enjoy. It’s all about the kids.

From Cyclones Arena – Flames 8 Cyclones 2

: This here is Garrett who came over and asked me if I would do a picture of him with some quotes of his thoughts. Sure thing.

: Garrett’s thought, “Seriously?!?!? If you’d just keep the puck in the zone I wouldn’t have to slog my way to center ice.”

: This here is Travie Baby. You probably couldn’t hear him but in this shot he was singing “…One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever know It’s just no good anymore since you went away Now I spend my time just making rhymes of yesterday…”

: “Hey look! I can go to the puck without even looking at it”. Soucy is like, “Are you sure about that?”

: Today’s letter is “C” as in Colby, who was right in front of me for a little while.

: Colby goes sumo mode and Teddy is out of there in a flash.

: What the camera crew trailing an official and recording a ‘reffing’ documentary sees while trying to stay out of the way.

: Great rush around the corner by Sean. That’s a big flag!

: I spy with my little lens someone looking back at me like he knows I am there.

This segment brought to you by your favorite “crunchy” peanut butter brand.

: Soucy turned the corner only to suddenly discover a large obstacle.

: Cam also wanted in on the fun and had a similar outcome.

: Foreground: youth hockey game. Background: parent sits alone. My Mind: “See the lonely woman there in the section, What she’s waiting for, I don’t know, But she waits everyday now. She’s just waiting for something to show…” You know the song, sing along to Genesis.

: Soucy reads the moment, correctly, and leads an impromptu fitness class to kick start those New Year’s resolutions.

: Sean makes good time through center ice and enters the offensive zone right on time.

: Jax steps into a shot and you’ll notice that he has changed up the color of the hockey tape on his blade.

: Logan wonders, “is that camera guy still changing words to that old Genesis song?” Yup, …”Looking everywhere at no one, she sees everything and nothing at all – oh. When she shouts nobody listens (except the Russians), Where she leads no one will go…”

: This is PearTree. Nobody is certain what a PearTree eats for breakfast but whatever it was today, he was on fire!

: Jax does the ole ‘gather and shoot’, which, by the way, is nothing like the ole ‘bend and snap’.

: This is Teddy. He’s never quite sure where he’s going but he’s going to get there fast.

: Cam is thinking, “Everything right where I need it.” Background.

: The Mighty Fin had a little fun at my expense as she skated over and tripped me.

: Don’t try this at home. Balancing a puck on the blade of your stick at full speed.

: Teddy does some pairs skating with the opponent’s goalie in the preliminary short program round of competition.

From West Side Arena – Flames 1 Dover (Wild) 3

I took an awful lot of pictures and may have run out of words for all of these. Please enjoy them anyway. It was a great game with a lot of action and tense moments.

: Garrett, Cam, and Teddy line up for a face-off against Dover.

: Soucy gets a really nice feed from Sean but couldn’t cash in.

: Gavin fires a shot toward the net for the Flames while Teddy follows.

: Cam got a shot off before belly flopping. The shot went just over the crossbar.

: Coach gives an inspiring speech referencing the old days when he was Arthur Fonzarelli on ‘Happy Days’.

As if the game wasn’t intense enough already, this sequence seemed to last for several minutes. A nice pass, a point blank shot on net, a save, and a rebound that bounced off of the far post.