2010 Flames Shine Early Then Fade At GSL Tourney

The 2010 Manchester Flames entered the GSL State Tournament as the #5 seed in the six-team field. The Flames caravan of players, coaches, and families made their way through the falling snow up to North Conway for the tournament being held at Ham Arena. Manchester had an impressive opening game before being shut down by the #4 and #1 seeds.

The Flames ended up winning their first game against #2 Rochester, 6-2 on Friday night. Then they lost on Saturday to #4 Keene, 4-0 in a game where their energy was way down and they did not have many shots on goal. Sunday morning they played in the semi-final against the #1 seed, undefeated Dover. The Flames battled but could not get more than a handful of shots on goal, and lost 3-0, ending their tournament run.

Despite the upending of almost every part of daily life since this time last year, this Flames team proved to be both driven and resilient, and they made huge strides forward over the last six months. They moved up two tiers from last season to this season, and they will be better for it.

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: #5 Flames 6 – #2 Rochester 2

I took more pictures of game one than any other game, largely because the productivity of the Flames on the ice was by far the highest of their tournament run. What a great night it was for them! Honestly, seeing the Flames come together as a 15 player unit with each of them actively contributing from start to finish was worth the trip north for the weekend.

Ham Arena, North Conway, NH. Day one of the GSL Squirt Majors Tournament.

: Opening face-off of the tournament for the Flames.

: This is what happens when you leave an opponent all alone in front of the net. Rochester takes 1-0 lead.

: Then, while shorthanded Teddy got to the front of the net and tied the game 1-1 for the Flames.

: Teddy on his post-goal skate around the rink looking for someone to celebrate with.

: Soucy gets a chance but just couldn’t get the puck to his blade.

: Defensive zone draw, everyone is on high alert.

: This line, I call them the “The Math Line” because 2+7=9. They were on fire in this game.

: Flames get together after the first period to discuss the matter at hand. Jax glances at Logan and tries to see what Logan is thinking.

: Sean pounds the puck into the net after assists from Teddy and Garrett to put the Flames up 2-1.

: Travis gets the old right pad loosened up as he kicks this shot wide.

: This shot hit the ‘goalie’s best friend’ and skipped wide.

: The Freight Train, Russian Bear, and Pear Tree all help defend out in front of Travvie Baby.

: Logan actually tried to catch this puck with his teeth and get a face-off to stem the tide.

: Teddy tries a high risk maneuver by trying to sneak in on the forecheck under the radar.

: Logan celebrates his goal from the left point.

: Jordan ventures into the offensive zone surrounded by opponents.

: Soucy fires a pass/shot toward Cam and the net.

: (Zoom in) You can barely see the blurry puck headed for Travis’ mask, but he made the save, despite the pain.

: I love father-son moments, and even coach-player moments. But Coach Tim asked, “How many fingers am I holding up?” Travis replied, “Dad, that’s not even how you hold up fingers.”

: Jax gets back to clear the puck from the front of the net.

: Coach Nick had these kids so fired up all night, that I was getting goosebumps just listening to the commentary.

: Gavin and Jordan worked the puck toward the front of the net for the Flames.

: For “The Math” line this sequence reads, seven from nine leaves two. As Ian gathers the puck and shoots in one motion.

: The goaltender looks back in desperation as Ian sees the puck in the net for a Flames power play goal.

: Jacob took a pass from the Mighty Fin and let this shot fly toward an opening in the defense.

: The pucks squeezes by the defender and gets inside the far post for the Flames sixth goal of the night.

: Soucy draws a lot of attention as he works for a shot or a pass to Cam going to the net.

: Teddy gets backed into while trying to get the puck to a wide open Sean. The Flames kept the pressure up all night.

: Garrett looks on and wonders, “Is Logan shooting the puck at me?”

: The International Man of Mystery keeps the puck in at the point before getting the puck to the net.

: Travis makes a stellar poke check to break up a play right at the goal mouth.

: Colby takes a shot toward the net while Cam and Soucy act out the interview scene from Step Brothers. If you read lips you can see Soucy saying, “Hello Miss lady”.

: The Flames salute their opponent and skate off victoriously. Travis frantically waves me down to say hello.

Game Two: #5 Flames 0 – #4 Keene 4

Saturday morning the Flames came out flat which is never a good sign. Not only that, Keene was hyped up and played a very good game, scoring two power play goals and another one shorthanded, cashing in immediately on Manchester mistakes.

: Soucy and Cam make a run for it, headed to the net against Keene.

: Teddy’s shot trickles toward the net with Garrett and Sean in pursuit.

: The Flames gathered. They listened but the giddy up was gone on Saturday morning.

: Passes to open players or empty spaces just missed all game.

: Sometimes the north-south route is closed and you must adapt and head east-west.

: The Math Line wins the face-off at center ice against Keene.

: Keene gets a breakaway behind the Flames defense, turning a turnover into a goal.

: As the game would go, this pass from Ian to Jordan just didn’t connect.

: Travis reaches out and snags this shot out of the air.

: The Flames head up ice. Cam is skating so fast that his last name scrambled on his jersey.

: Cam sends a pass over to Soucy, which led to a return pass at the goalmouth but it wasn’t to be.

: Travis stands tall and makes another save on a wide open Keene player.

: When the Flames don’t have their best energy going, these type of scenarios recur.

: As the player makes a nice move to the front of the net Travis stays low and agile like a wild cat.

: Leaving no room for a good shot, Travis shuts down the chance all by himself.

Semi-Finals: #5 Flames 0 – #1 Dover 3

Dover was undefeated on the season and ended up winning the title in overtime, 4-3 over Lakes Region. The Flames played them tough every time they played this season but could not score enough goals against their layered defense and excellent goaltending. On Sunday morning the Flames barely managed a handful of shots on goal despite and end to end battle over the balance of the game.

: The Flames line up for a face-off in front of the Flames faithful cheering them on from the friendly confines of Ham Arena.

: This was a sign of how things were going for the Flames when Cam’s shot just slid wide of the net.

: Soucy, Cam, and Jacob come so close to scoring again, but it wasn’t to be.

: Soucy hustles back to help while Travis stares down the shooter.

: Jax gets back on defense in a hurry to help out Travis.

: Travis just gets a piece of this scoring bid, kicking it wide.

: Travis takes this shot up high but hangs tough between the pipes for the Flames.

: Officially, the Russians have never won an Olympic curling medal, and it may be their approach of cutting directly across the curling sheets that is hampering their progress.

: Ian tries to get to the outside against Dover, but they always had players back on D.

: Soucy cannot get the puck over the goal line even with all of his effort.

: Then this happened, sending Soucy right into the post, which didn’t appear to be a legal hockey play.

: Coach Nick tries to rally the troops but when the Flames pushed on their gas medal they found that there just enough fuel in the tank.

: The Flames exit the tournament with a salute to their opponents.

In summary, the Flames improved mightily over this season. Like all of the teams faced this season, there were stoppages in the season for days and weeks at a time. There was mandatory testing to return to the ice, quarantines, inter-state play only, dressing at home or in the cold parking lots, and all kinds of disruptions and distractions. Even so, this group pressed forward. I look forward to the future for this group. I hope we are fortunate enough to keep this group together for another season of growth and development on and off of the ice.

If I were given a final take away of evaluation leaving the rink yesterday, I would say the following:

Friday night’s effort from every player on the roster was not only worth the trip but a sign of of what these players can do when they all contribute at their best level. Now how do they learn themselves well enough to know, player for player, what does it take to bring that effort every night to the rink.
A recurring concern of mine has been the lack of team play at times this season, but not in a selfish way. It has been more of a structured positioning and vision hurdle. They will get better at this I am sure but it was definitely a limiting step against the better defensive teams this season. I mark this as an awesome opportunity to get better collectively.
My last thought as the Flames skated back to the bench after their semi-final loss, was simply this: they need to do the things that they do faster. Intense defense, or layer after layer of defense takes time and space away, which results in the need to make plays and decisions more quickly than they do now. It will come.
Separately, as the season winds down, I hope all of the players are able to move on and play the other sports they love through the spring, summer and fall. Multi-sport athletes tend to experience long-term success with less injuries and remain active as adults. They also reduce the likelihood of overuse injuries while feeling less pressure and less burnout. Of course coaches would not complain about a team full of players with a gathering of cross-sport skills. Many college coaches lean hard towards recruiting multi-sport athletes over single sport athletes. Go and have fun! Be kids! Play it all and love every moment.

Finally, I just want to say that I love this group. The players, the coaches, the families, we are a truly blessed group.

I was humbled to receive this gift from the team over the weekend. It really is a great group. It’s been my honor to cover this group.

Then, there are always other perks that come with playing tournaments in beautiful places. Like this shot of the Saco River valley looking back towards Mount Washington.

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.

“We should be dreaming. We grew up as kids having dreams, but now we’re too sophisticated as adults, as a nation. We stopped dreaming. We should always have dreams.” ~ the late Herb Brooks.