Written by The Grizzlies traveled to Nashua to play in the home opener for Hollis-Brookline-Derryfield School (HBDS) last night, looking for their first win of the season. It didn’t turn out the way that they would have liked it to, in a tough 5-4 loss to the HBDS Warriors.
Goffstown fell to 0-5 on the season, suffering their third one-goal loss of the season. They are close, but not able to get over the limiting steps just yet. After watching the game, I had a lot of words floating around in my mind, and not many of them were nice. I wanted to yell at someone about ‘sense of urgency’, or ‘I got it, you take it’, or maybe ‘attention to detail’, possibly an old favorite, ‘they want it more than you do’, and even ‘just make good hockey plays’. I don’t know for sure if it was my Mom who told me long ago to, “sleep on it”, or if it was a suggestion from Meatloaf, but I did sleep on it before writing anything at all.
Here’s the deal. Goffstown has a talented hockey team. Maybe they are on the young side but that’s not much of an excuse when you have good players up and down your roster. They have goaltending for days. They have a defensive corps that could shut teams down if they find their stride. They have one of the best pure goal scorers I have ever seen in NH hockey along with several other offensive weapons that can either skate past you, run over you, or just plain outwork you. Maybe it’s time to reset and play to the collective strengths of the team.
-
- Grady Chretien added two goals to his impressive career totals. (Sage Photo)
-
- Calvin had a nice goal from the slot against the Warriors. (Sage Photo)
I know almost everything in life these days is out of sync, but I don’t want that to be an excuse either. Because at the core of all of it, it comes down to the ‘fight in the dog’, the face in the mirror, and the accountability to one’s self. Thus far, there has been an accountability issue as far as I am concerned; accountability to each member of the team. A teammate, to me, is one who actively participates, responsibly contributes, and executes their role to the highest level they can, all for a collective cause that is bigger (and better) than any one of the individuals. It’s team, and I personally believe that hockey is the greatest of the team sports.
Goffstown at HBDS. NH high school hockey. (Sage Photo)
Okay, so the game went something like this. HBDS came out flying! They were hyped up to be playing hockey, rightfully so. Before that, the folks at Conway Arena and the HBDS staff did a great job of including our National Anthem and starting lineups before opening the game. Where was I? Oh yes, Jacob Roy ripped a laser of a shot off of the famously named ‘Post-Crossbar Combo’ at 2:45 of the period. Then the Warriors scored a goal at the 4:00 mark, but after a lengthy discussion about something or other, the goal was overturned. Then at 12:16 of the period, the Grizzlies had one too many skaters on the ice and were called for the bench minor penalty. HBDS cashed in almost immediately when they won an offensive zone face-off following a nice Maddie Sage save on a redirection, and scored. Sal Vella won the face-off back to Paul Vachon. The Grizzlies were slow to their defensive coverage, and in a split second Vachon ripped a shot from the circle and the Warriors had a 1-0 lead.
Nothing came easy in the game against HBDS, but Jackson Burke did score a goal along the way. (Sage Photo)
In the second period, the Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the Grizzlies failed to clear the puck from their own end. Jacob Roy kept the puck in at the blue line and ripped a shot that hit a Goffstown stick and skipped over Maddie’s pad and into the net at 1:45 of the second. The Grizzlies answered at 3:55 when Xavier Bibaud’s long pass was tipped and slowed by Jack Wilkinson onto the stick of Jackson Burke. Burke took the puck into the offensive zone, made a quick move, and drilled a shot up that made the water bottle jump on top of the net. 2-1, HBDS. Up next, Quinn Silvio took a clearing attempt from teammate Michael McLaughlin and sped up the left wing for the Warriors. The Grizzlies defender, back all alone against the 2-on-1, elected to take away the pass and leave the shooter (Silvio) to the goaltender. Sage slid over to take away the angle but Silvio’s shot was perfect, hitting the underside of the crossbar and tickling the twine. 3-1, HBDS at 6:07 of the period. Calvin Sage then tried to even things up for his sister Maddie when he pounded home a goal set up by the hard work of Luc Ouellette (assist) and Grady Chretien, at 9:10 of the period. 3-2, HBDS. Chretien would get a good, hard shot away at 13:39 of the period only to see (and hear) it clank off of the post, two inches from tying the game. The period would end with the Warriors holding a 3-2 lead.
This is not easy to do. Do not try this at home. Grady Chretien and Sal Vella pull off a beautiful rendition of the “équilibre de face off”. (Sage Photo)
The Grizzlies had power play opportunities late in the second period and again, early in the final period, but could not muster much of anything resembling an attack. Then, at 8:10 of the third period when Sage made a point blank save on Cole Gleresh, the rebound came right to, a wide open, Sal Vella at the post and he made no mistake, scoring the goal for the Warriors. Just over a minute later, Grady Chretien broke up a play at his own blue line and was off to the races. Chretien flew up the ice with Torin White doing everything but committing a penalty before he was able to fend him off and bury a shot inside the far post at 9:13 of the period. 4-3, HBDS. Then, as if the goal had made the Grizzlies temporarily invincible or something, the Warriors answered the goal in just 11 seconds. Jesse Gertz was denied by a Sage save but then was allowed to swipe at his own rebound and the puck deflected up and over Maddie’s shoulder and into the net for a 5-3 lead. Goffstown pushed their offense up a notch but could not cut into the lead. In a sequence that doesn’t happen too often, Conor Sanborn started by pounding an absolute rocket of a slapshot from the high slot that got past Sage but hit the crossbar and caromed away. Grady Chretien ended up with the deflection after a quick pass from Brennan Pierce and beat Rylan Morgan with a shot that hit the far post and stayed out of the net. These two plays happened in continuous action, just about 6 seconds apart.
With 1:09 left in the game, and the visitors trailing by a pair of goals, Goffstown pulled Sage from the net for an extra attacker after the Warriors iced the puck. Not a whole lot came of the entire ordeal until the final second of the game. Chretien fished a puck out of the skates of Jack Lager and sped into the offensive zone (it was probably offsides) before ripping a shot from a near impossible angle over the shoulder of Morgan who was hugging the nearside post and into the net as time expired. The goal counted, clearing Morgan’s shoulder with 0:00.1 left on the clock. Despite the incredible goal from a terrible angle, the Grizzlies lost, 5-4.
Goffstown had 26 shots on goal and HBDS had 25. Morgan made 22 saves while Sage made 20.
Goffstown plays next on Saturday afternoon at 4pm against Merrimack at West Side Arena.
Updated records.
Goffstown (0-5-0) vs. Hollis-Brookline-Derryfield School (1-0-0)
Conway Arena, Nashua, NH
Wednesday, January 27, 2021. 7:06 PM Start:
Summary:
Goals:
Goffstown: 0-2-2 = 4
HBDS: 1-2-2 = 5
Shots:
Goffstown: 05-08-13 = 26
HBDS: 07-08-10 = 25
Scoring:
1st HBDS at 12:52. PPG. Paul Vachon from Sal Vella.
2nd HBDS at 1:45. Even. Jacob Roy unassisted.
2nd Goffstown at 3:55. Even. Jackson Burke (3) from Jack Wilkinson (2) and Xavier Bibaud (2).
2nd HBDS at 6:07. Even. Quinn Silvio from Michael McLaughlin.
2nd Goffstown at 9:10. Even. Calvin Sage (2) form Luc Ouellette (3).
3rd HBDS at 8:10. Even. Sal Vella from Cole Gleresh.
3rd Goffstown at 9:13. Even. Grady Chretien (5) unassisted.
3rd HBDS at 9:24. Even. Jesse Gertz from Jack Lager.
3rd Goffstown at 14:59. Even. Grady Chretien (6) unassisted.
Special Teams:
Goffstown Power Play: 0 for 2.
HBDS Power Play: 1 for 1.
Saves:
Goffstown: Maddie Sage 20 of 25. (43:51)
HBDS: Rylan Morgan 22 of 26. (45:00)
The beginning of every article. (C) 1inawesomewonder 2017.
The thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the individual contributors, mostly mine, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the schools, coaches, players, or characters listed in any of these blog posts. Or, maybe they do, but you would have to ask them directly.
Either way, “It’s a great day for hockey” ~ the late “Badger” Bob Johnson.