Goffstown Hockey 2020-2021: Golden Slumbers

Hopefully this hockey season will go down as the most peculiar season of all time, and as the only one of it’s kind. Despite all of the misinformation and uncertainty, it was a near miracle that there was a season at all. I would be a complete fraud if I didn’t also promote the idea of how incredibly uplifting it was to play games, to embrace competition, and to know that the kids were simply able to play. Easily the happiest of my leisure activities over the winter, was watching the kids play. Kids playing the sport they love, as they should.

“Once there was a way to get back homeward

Once there was a way to get back home…

…Golden slumbers fill your eyes

Smiles awake you when you rise“

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The 2020-21 season and this recap will likely be (hopefully) one that stands out as different than all of the rest. I started getting this information together in February and on into March, like I always do. Unlike last season, the playoffs were played and Champions were actually crowned on the ice. But the way this season played out was unnerving for just about everyone.

For more than a year now, I have gone to sleep and awoken the next day, after day, holding on to a known fact, refusing to go away, way back in the depths of my mind. That fact was, that I never finished or published the season summary article for the 2020-2021 Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey Season. I knew that I would get to it because I couldn’t let that injustice stand. But, I didn’t know when. The further I got from the season, with another full GHS hockey season in between, as well as another youth hockey season, and so much life and loss, I worried that I wouldn’t pay proper respect to the GHS Hockey program and their 2020-21 season.

 

For the entirety of the 2020-2021 season I found myself in a battle for life and death, a battle along side my brother. He was called home to heaven on May 28th, 2021, at 6:22pm. Cancer. Now, a year later it is nearly impossible for me to grasp the depths of unity I felt with my brother through his fight and the other-worldly determination he willed to the front of his every waking thought to beat cancer. He had no chance. God was the only chance. But, God’s plan trumped our earthly desires, and my brother left this world while holding hands with his siblings and our Mother, together, as one family. My brother went home to see his Lord and Savior, as well as our Dad.

Time after time I sat down in front of my Chromebook to compile and to chronicle. To write. To share. To honor the Grizzlies Hockey players and their season. But I couldn’t write it. I knew what I had to do, but it wasn’t the time to do it. Not for me. I was circling my own wagons just to make it to another day. This article would just have to wait. Instead, I found notes like this one (below) that I had typed into my phone to share with my family.

“…Brigham and Women’s Radiology. Encology, 9am appt down on L2. Made it to appt at 917am. Traffic insane, most everything has gone wrong this morning. Undressed my brother and got him into Johnny so aides could wheel him where he needed to be. I stayed in the dressing cubicle and talked with Encology nurses on the phone. Radiation treatment done by 10am. Per Encology’s request I took my brother from radiation, outside into the cold, to the separate Brigham and Women’s ER entrance. Had to leave him there. One of the worst moments of my entire life. Can’t describe his look and confusion, told him he had to trust me… Received call from ER Nurse to come to ER at 1047am. Went to ER and was screened and cleared for entrance to assist…Talked privately with my brother. He wants nothing to come between him and cancer treatments. Had not been honest about his fall last night. Thinks … is fighting him about getting more care, but secretly thinks she’s right. Had to answer questions with PA and Nurse in front of … Answered honestly. Hopefully lovingly as well… He stepped in line and answered honestly about his fall, as far as I know of it…”

This was a small segment from one of the notes I typed while in Boston last year. I include this because it’s real. It is true. It happened while all else too, was happening. Life is being lived all around us, every single second of every single day, and EVERYONE is going through something. I don’t know why I am still here and my younger brother is gone, but I completely trust God’s plan. I pray for God’s direction and inspiration to share truth and connect people to themselves and to the greatest moments that we so often almost forget to be present in. Maybe that, among other reasons, is why I found my way back to this article.

 

 

See, to me, maybe to all of you, each season is not just a series of dates that fall between a beginning and an end. It’s a precise timing of multiple ages, abilities, competitiveness, maturity, individual players, personalities, various skills, leadership, coaching and direction, and even more, all coming together in one place at one time. The moments that unfold along the path of personal development and team competition are not only unique, but they are not capable of being repeated. This is why each moment is so precious. This is why taking the next right step as a player, as a coach, as a team, is so important. I track a lot of things but I cannot begin to even guess how many ‘right steps’ it takes to make a successful season. This is where I have a difficult time, plodding through the magnificent and the memorable to tell an accurate and worthy story. Whether I get to it all or not, we have so much to be thankful for.

There was a Senior Night as there should be. And I captured the sentiment something like this:

“After a season full of uncertainty, anxiety, and a literal, almost daily, lesson that in life there are no guarantees, the Goffstown Hockey team was able to have it’s senior night ceremony. The Grizzlies were the home team, oddly, on the home rink of their opponent, the Manchester Central-West Little Green Knights.”

The opening face-off came just moments after the ceremony had wrapped up…Honestly, I am thrilled that games have been played and completed. I thoroughly enjoyed that our hockey family got to be together on a single special night to celebrate the seniors, the team, the sport, and just the joy of being together. It was truly awesome to see so many smiling faces in one place, at one event. Let these simple truths not be understated because it us, people warmly engaging other people, that make the world go round. Never take that for granted, and if you do, I would invite you to ask any of the senior parents and families from last night how good it felt to be among friends, smiling, and soaring on the uplifting flow found in the joys of togetherness…”

The Grizzlies graduate six seniors from the program this year. Thankfully we were able to celebrate Luke Chase, Eric DesRuisseaux, Grady Chretien, Sean Hunter, Calvin Sage and Madeline “Maddie” Sage and their families back on Saturday, February 27th, on Senior Night. It was an awesome night! We will miss these six players on the ice in the coming season. They won 47 league games over their four seasons wearing the Grizzlies’ uniforms. Your class produced the all-time wins leader among goaltenders, the most career goals scored, and most career points. And If I am being honest, another one of the great classes of volunteer families. Yes, it will take me some time to make adjustments to seeing some other player wearing the uniform numbers that we recognized you in these last four seasons. The pleasure has been all ours. Your contributions to the program have been many, and not one of them could ever be wrestled from you. Thank you. May the rest of your senior year, and beyond, have many more highs than lows. May you glow in the glory of these seasons for always. Keep the faith, make good choices, hold onto hope, take the next right step, and absolutely live life. To each of you, all the very best. The best is ahead.

 

 

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With so many of life’s ‘in-person’ or ‘hands-on’ experiences on hold throughout this season, the Goffstown players went about their Charity of Choice this way:

Charity of Choice 2021: Goffstown Food Pantry

Over the last several seasons The Friends of Goffstown Hockey has asked each senior class to participate in a “charity of choice” event as a legacy project. The concept was designed, in part, as a vehicle by which the team could give back to our community. A community that has been supportive of The Goffstown Hockey Program. One definition of a Legacy Project reads simply like this. “The concept of legacy is a powerful life tool for all ages and a catalyst for social change. Legacy is about life and living. It’s about learning from the past, living in the present, and building for the future.” This year being a bit different and not being able to work in person the team chose to donate to the Goffstown Food Pantry. So, this season the seniors along with the rest of the team gave back to the their local community by way of a food drive to supply the local food bank. They collected food in the spirit of giving to those in need. Many in our community are in great need this year and any support we can give them will be greatly appreciated. What they were able to collect through donation provided families with some sense of comfort while filling a definitive need. Goffstown Grizzlies we thank you for your support in this effort.

 

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I know that nothing in team sports happens in a vacuum, so the achievements of some are most appropriately a reflection of the many. I do know that whether kids are on the ice or not, it still takes all of them, every single one of them to make up the dynamic that becomes the show that we all can’t wait to see. So, even though some show up on the score sheet and others do not, all have a hand in the results seen by everyone. Behind the scenes, distant from a winter Saturday night before a packed house under the bright lights, there are practices, friendships, rides given and received, team events, bonding, quiet conversations away from the lights that keep each other on track, relationships off the ice and in the classroom year after year, pond hockey, team dinners, and so much more. This effect with one to another cannot be understated. It’s hard for some to grasp this especially when they are younger and as they grow, but hopefully they pass these lessons on. Some players had to step into the largest roles of their hockey careers, while others maybe had to realize for the first time, that there’s a lot more at stake here than personal ups and downs. The line is so very thin between all-in and going through the motions, then, in the blink of an eye, the season is done. All of it adds up to the team dynamic, and when it functions on all of its cylinders, it’s beautiful.

I have to add to this. While every single season of team sports deals with the above and more, this season and the adversity that accompanied it was on a whole different level. There was so much uncertainty. Every single night you could have gone to sleep only to wake up the next morning and find that your hockey season, or even hockey career, had come to an end. It almost happened. A remarkable observation about our youth is just how resilient and adaptable they are. After more than a month of delays and serious questions as to whether there would even be a season, the Grizzlies played games for two weeks. Easily, it was the worst two weeks of high school hockey for these six seniors, in their entire careers. Goffstown played the first six games of the season like they were shell-shocked or had seen a ghost, or both. They skated tentatively out of the gate to an 0-6 record in a fifteen day span that saw them get blasted on the scoreboard by a 31-14 count in those games. This stretch ended with a 7-0 drubbing by Merrimack over at West Side Arena. They wouldn’t play another game for 2 whole weeks, thanks to sickness and quarantine.

 

 

Meanwhile, St. A’s took their ice out. They were done trying to host hockey. The Grizzlies managed to play just two home games this season. Well, home games that were played on their home ice. The rest of their ‘home’ games were played at JFK, Tri-Town, and The Ice Den. Talk about anxiety and uncertainty. Everything was a road game, and without a team bus. The team was shut down for two weeks. Players were sick. Coaches were sick. Families were sick. I was sick.

Then, after all of that was done, the team returned to the ice, whether they were ready to play or not. I don’t know what happened, but after the two week shut down, this team was a different team. I have never done this before in my articles, but all you stat geeks out there, look at the difference between January and February. Players were still injured, sick, or out because of convoluted quarantine and clearance protocols. But look at the two goaltenders numbers in February! Unbelievable! I mean, with all that was going on around them? Are you kidding me?!?! Outstanding commitment to themselves, to the game, and to each other. The whole group was amazing! It only took a few minutes of watching their games that followed the shut down to notice that this team was the Goffstown Grizzlies. And they were playing hockey the way the Goffstown faithful have been used to seeing year after year. Truly, they made it worth while to be out and about, and to get behind something outside of the negativity that rained down on all of us for two plus years. To cheer for something so pure and uplifting; it felt so good again. I hope no group ever has to go through what they went through, ever again. But with limited fans allowed, and subsequently limited GTV coverage, Facebook Live became a thing, and we rallied around the team. Or maybe it was the team that led us to rally. From the depths of uncertainty, sickness, and what appeared to be aimless direction on the ice, this team went 6-2 over their 8 games, earned a playoff spot, and won a playoff game. Maddie Sage finished her career with more wins in goal than anyone before her. Grady Chretien broke all kinds of records while winning player of the year. Luc Ouellette came out of nowhere and earned Honorable Mention on the All-State team. The team, and this collection of individuals somehow pulled together to transform their own season, in real-time. It was outstanding, and the numbers reflect the same.

 

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I have written about being part of a team many times, over many years, and I would still find it difficult to say that there are many better ways to learn about life, to learn about the depths of yourself, than to play for something bigger than yourself, on a team, in pursuit of a common goal. Even when we aren’t personally sure we want to put the effort in on any given day, the commitment is necessary as others rely on each person bringing their best every day. Commitment is a good thing. And the memories of the experience, quite frankly, can be everlasting.

The hockey program at Goffstown isn’t that old and never gets much respect among larger schools, or more historic hockey powers in the area. For some reason, I have worked many hours over the last six years to reconstruct the history of Goffstown’s hockey program, or at least tie it together, and I have come across all kinds of numbers, scores, and players from the past. This season, two players finished their climb up the hill and will leave the Goffstown Hockey Program as the All-Time leader in wins by a goaltender, and All-Time leading scorer. 

 

 

I remember little Maddie Sage coming up through middle school and her feisty mother, with all their hopes, dreams, and the blind confidence in the course they were on. Well, we have been blessed by 20+ years of tremendous hockey players and hockey families, and the Sage family is right there with the best of them. It has been a genuine pleasure to interact with the entire Sage family these past few seasons. Your commitment to each other and to the program have been nothing short of above and beyond. Okay, back to #23. Maddie won 10 games as a freshman. She had at least 3 wins in each of her four seasons. She never had the best save percentage but she made 692 saves in her 41 career appearance both of which are the most since Colin Holt graduated in 2016. All she and her teammates did was win. She leaves the program with an all-time best, 22 wins. She was 22-10 in her career, with 2 shutouts. She will be missed and most definitely remembered.

Then there was this little blonde kid who racked up 25 goals as a sophomore but split time between the 2nd and 3rd line. Everyone knew that Grady Chretien was a really a good player, but I don’t think anyone knew that the ceiling on his effort and ability was as high as the great blue sky itself. Grady just kept getting better and then willing himself to heights none of us even conceived. They say the great players often make everyone around them better, and I believe this to be true of Grady. For four seasons he kept popping up in exactly the right places on the ice, and anticipated the next play like nobody I have seen at this level. Grady’s numbers are simply eye-popping, and maybe what multiplies the numbers for me is the way he carried himself on and off of the ice. That, and the fact that he only had 11 career penalty minutes. Grady Chretien, #7: 81 games. 107 goals scored. 44 assists. 151 career points. 15 career hat tricks. He was a plus 64 for his career. Unbelievable. Grady Chretien was named the NHIAA Division II Player of the Year, the first time ever by a Goffstown hockey player. He also became only the second player in program history to make the 1st Team All-State twice. The only other player to do so was Riley Palmer in 2009 and 2010.

 

 

Maddie and Grady, two of our greats! Even though they didn’t get a Christmas Tournament in their final season, and the regular season was six games shy of a regular full schedule, they left as the best. That’s nine games they didn’t get to play, which would have likely only elevated their numbers and status among the all-time greats. Thank you both for your commitment to excellence, to yourselves, and to the Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey Program. We are all better for it. It has been my sincere pleasure to get to know you and your families over your careers.

Thank you to the players who tryout, suit up, and lead us down the exciting road of high school hockey every single season. Thank you coaches for taking what you have and working the raw and mixed bag of skills, personalities, and maturity into competitive, winning teams almost every single season. Better yet, the way the Grizzlies play and carry themselves on the ice is better than most. Folks, this is a privilege. Count yourselves fortunate to be here, in this program.

 

 

Colby Wright, Lucas Ouellette, and James Amorelli it will be your turn next season. You will be the senior class that the younger players and incoming freshmen look up to. I almost guarantee that; ‘Who’ you are, and ‘How’ you are, will impact your teammates and even the very future of the hockey program. I am completely serious. Think back to those very first tryouts and practices, your freshmen season. How were you treated? How were you welcomed? How were you included? Think about it. I bet you still vividly recall moments that you will embrace forever; or memories that you can’t try to forget fast enough. So, know that someone is always watching, and the line between greatness and giving up might hinge on a single act of kindness, inclusion, or humility. Our example is always. You players in this class have made incalculable progress from your first strides on to the Sullivan Arena ice sheet on some 5:30am practice time not that long ago. Truly, your improvement collectively and individually has been nothing short of amazing! It is a joy to watch you play. Keep raising the bar on the ice, in the room, and off of the ice. It’s your next right steps that could perpetuate the GHS Hockey Program to heights not yet seen for Grizzlies fans everywhere.

It might be hard to believe, but you sophomores will soon be entering the second half of your high school careers. That’s awesome! You trust old guys like me when I tell you that these moments go by way too fast, and many of you will long for these very days for the rest of your lives. So, thoroughly enjoy them! But never lose sight of the significance you play in the history of your school and our community. They say that many hands make light work, and even though raising the bar might be hard work it’s possible if you all are on board. Jake Webber, Brandon Bograd, Jake Klardie, Jack Wilkinson, Corbin Huntley, Xavier Bibaud, Brennan Pierce, Annie St. Cyr, David Martineau, Jackson Burke, and Ethan Santoro your leap from freshmen to sophomores was noticed all through the rinks of New Hampshire this season. I honestly cannot wait to see where you take your own games and your teams’ direction over the next two seasons! Most hockey folks say that the biggest jump in skill, progress, and effectiveness on the ice in high school hockey players is made between their freshman and sophomore seasons. That is probably true for many, but I think the class in front of you would beg to differ. Not only that, I think you are capable of at least that. While it’s nice to have a break from the pace at which we hurry through the seasons that we miss so much from the time they end until the time we end, I look forward to seeing you all making history next season. Thank you for your commitment to the program, to your teammates, and to yourselves. Stay at it. The best is ahead.

 

 

Then there were the freshmen. This season, of all seasons, showed just how it can be so difficult at times. Owen Matatall, Nick DiMarzio, Andrew Skora, Nick Caldwell, and Aiden McKelligan. First, hang in there. Second, you have three more seasons to show the world what you are made of. That is an extraordinary opportunity! Use it wisely. It might seem forever away right now, but what you are doing today, the choices you make are what impact results, not what has happened prior to now. If you need any incentive, look at the class of seniors you played with this season. So just imagine where you all can take this! Way back when, my freshman year seemed to me like I was always looking up, not like ‘things are looking up’, but more like I am small and looking up or I am looking up at the heights these older athletes before me have taken this sports program to. Not to worry though, because we all progress if we decide to. Remember, it takes each of us to make the difference for all of us. That’s you. Then make choices that put you in the best position to be your best as a player, a teammate, a student, and a citizen. Thank you for coming out to play hockey for the Goffstown Grizzlies. Make the most of every chance, and if that’s not enough, make more chances.

It truly has been my complete joy to walk into Sullivan Arena these last six years. Honestly, it continues to be one of my happy places. Having one of the best venues in NH for hockey doesn’t hurt. Well, then there are the people, the players, the coaches, the families, the hockey community in our school district, and the friends we have added over the seasons. Add all of this together and it’s a wonderful atmosphere to be a part of. Let’s remember that this is high school varsity hockey and not a, ‘everybody must play’ sport. There are coaches in New Hampshire that have been coaching high school hockey for more than 40 years, some at the same school. So, yes this is about winning and losing, on and off the ice. Players come and go. Classes graduate and wide-eyed freshmen hold on for dear life, if not their lunch, as their high school varsity careers begin. Then before you know it, time is up, and each year, you really have no idea what you’re going to get. So, to maintain a high level of performance, to have kids line up to play (maybe for the first time), to fight through injuries and adversity, then just maybe the staff is doing a lot of things right.

Here’s a look at some measurements that were gathered this season. Honestly, these are numbers from the sheets, but only a part of a much bigger picture.

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2020-2021 Season Leaders

 

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Folks, if you haven’t figured this out already, I get caught up in the numbers. I love that sports are measured. Because measurement is really about charting progress, gauging improvement, or even creating a timeline of success in any given area. As much as I get caught up in the numbers, I get totally lost in the kids. The people. The group. These young men and women were a tenacious group, they were fearless, they were better together than individually, and a pure joy to watch. I still cannot get over the ‘in-season’ turnaround we all watched this season. It’s a credit to each of you, players and coaches. Perhaps there were speeches and discussions that took place that none of us are aware of that roused thrilling life from the left for dead look through six games. Maybe it was a few leaders took the wheel and everyone else just jumped on their coattails and rode the rest of the season with a wild abandon that was contagious to all. I don’t know what changed, but it was awesome! Each and every member of this team should be proud of themselves and their team. They should recognize that it’s not about any one of them individually, but about the entirety of the hockey program. As it should be. They should confidently hold their heads high and take tremendous pride in the honor of wearing Goffstown across their jerseys. It’s all about the kids.

 

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The NHIAA Tournament was a little weird this season. I am glad there was a tournament in the first place. Since sickness was aware of geographical spacing, the tournament field was broken up by regions. The Grizzlies earned a #2 seed in Region 4. Whatever that means. Goffstown played a home play-off game at The Ice Den and came from behind to beat the Portsmouth-Newmarket Clipper Mules, 5-3 to advance to the Quarterfinals. They ran into the always tough #1 Oyster River Bobcats, and lost, 7-2 outside at Jackson Landing. It’s always tough to end a season on a loss, but that is sports. The final score of the final game is not how you are defined. I believe that the process you undertake to reach the goals and achievements that you do is the ‘who you are’. I like to say that: Nothing happens by accident. Habits are the actions that we take to turn something possible into something probable. Let me say that again: Habits are the actions that we take to turn something possible into something probable…Success is sustained by daily action. Starting a short high school hockey season at 0-6 was not the way to make the post-season, but neither was it what defined your efforts, commitment, or your season. Success is sustained by daily action. That is good on all of you.

 

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No matter how long I wait, the time has passed. The memories are ours to carry, and they will live on, especially if I have anything to say about it. I love that our kids battle, play hard, and succeed way more than they fail, regardless of who thought they could or couldn’t. I love that they are good kids. I hope that continues into next season and for many seasons to come. Folks, Goffstown has a really good hockey program, starting from the coaching staff right through to the manager. I don’t care what anyone outside our community says. This program is solid. Perhaps one day soon, the Grizzlies will lift a hockey championship Trophy over their heads, and skate a victory lap around the ice sheet, but even if they don’t, they are winning more battles on and off the ice than they are losing, by a long shot. And that is how this group, these Goffstown Grizzlies go about their business, whether anyone else thinks they can or not.

They say that all good things must come to an end. Seasons end. Careers finish. Selfishly, I long for seasons to freeze in time with the faces and spaces full of life and the breathtaking excitement of what will happen next pumping through each of us. But, I know that the beginnings and ends of life have their place and even add to the joy that is the return of a love lost for a time. As a former athlete, a parent to six more athletes, a writer and observer of hundreds more athletes over the years, my heart truly aches for the yesteryear in some ways. Finality has never been my favorite, but I truly do appreciate the accomplishments garnered in time frames that never fun forever.

 

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“Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time
Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time…”

 

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Seasons ending are not my strength. I struggle to find a new routine when they are done. I wrestle with the ebb that is an open calendar and how it affects the camaraderie and security found within a group, a team, a family. I battle for words and thoughts to contrast the finality of seasons, school years, graduations, childhood, and lost loved ones. I have contended with these since I was a young school boy. I fretted the end of those golden slumbers of youth, before the weight of adulthood made it’s presence felt. On days like these, at season’s end, I find that I am still very much that young school boy. In some ways, I hold on to all that has happened before our very eyes by being the author of the words, the keeper of the records, the thinker of the thoughts, and the collector of the memories in pictures and descriptions. No matter what though, I cannot halt time nor bring it back around. I am forced like all others, to move along. To move forward. But lingering for awhile until I do step forward, I often will squint my eyes as tears form, creating a blurry frame of what I still see in my mind’s eye. I fight the pull that is my heart racing like it has suddenly found a better place to be. And I let my mind trail behind, grazing on the lush pastures of smiles, joyous occasions, and achievement earned by those who had yet to believe they were able, until they did it. All of it done, often created from not much at all, in the presence of me, of us, along life’s high speed highway. I feel I could write about this sentiment, maybe forever, because forever is the only limit on how long the memory of these things should last. The pain is only powerful because of its’ proportion to how strongly I feel about these people, these moments, and better yet, that they were shared outside of my self. In the end, the pleasure is mine. Truly, mine. I fall every time, for the hope, for the mystery of the yet unknown and unseen. I will always fall for it, because there are not many things in a lifetime that are better than buying into some cause greater than yourself with every fiber of your being. Thank you letting me ride along with all of you.

Such is life. Such is sport. As it should be. The good Lord has been generous enough to allow me good health and good timing so as not to have missed  very many Goffstown hockey games over the last six seasons. I am thankful for that, as I am the fortunate one. Here, I say, goodbye to another season that captivated all of us during it’s short run. Thank you for all of your support. You all have been so very good to me. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

 

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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.