Saturday afternoon at West Side Arena in Manchester, NH the 2010 Flames jumped out to an early lead against the Bridgewater Bandits. The Flames would go on to win the game, 9-0. That being said, this wasn’t necessarily as lopsided a game as the scoreboard read.
Yes, the Flames did put up 9 goals themselves and they didn’t allow any goals. Actually the Flames didn’t allow that many shots on goal either. The thing is, that when the Bandits played with their best energy, and stayed out of the penalty box, they were tough to play against. I did hear the Bandits coaches talking to their players throughout the game, and they were fair but not lenient. They explained the direct correlation between the team’s efforts and the team’s results to their players, while it was happening. Often times that’s one of the great things about the lessons in sports. Lessons are taught, hopefully learned, and can be applied immediately. Often times with the test results available instantaneously, good or bad. Likewise, on the Flames side of the house, they applied lessons learned from the tournament last weekend and played with great energy and team spacing.
The Flames got on the board with their first goal scored by Sean McGee set by Gavin Petrie and Andy Soucy. Then Jacob Casimiro ripped a shot off of the underside of the crossbar and into the net to give the Flames a 2-0 lead. The goal was set up by Finley Dunn and Teddy Beal. McGee scored again, this time from Cam Desruisseaux on a great play, to make it, 3-0 Flames. Logan McCain made it 4-0 when he ripped a shot that found the back of the net while barreling down the left wing after a pass from Petrie. The Flames led 5-0 after one period when Soucy scored from Desruisseaux on another nice pass play.
In the second period the Bandits played their best hockey. Their goaltender made some tremendous saves, and the team in front of him played hard shift after shift. The lone goal of the period came on the Flames power play. They were 1 for 4 on the man-advantage for the game. Soucy scored the goal after a passes from Alex Panitz and Teddy Beal. The score would remain 6-0 after two periods.
The 2010 Flames scored three more times in the final period, despite switching up some positions and making more passes. The Bandits coaches reminded their bench that if they let up in their own intensity, the score could get way out of hand in a hurry. Then exactly that happened. The Flames scored three times in five minutes and the lesson was taught as warned. Panitz scored from Beal and Finley Dunn. Soucy netted another goal on a sweet feed from Sean McGee. The final score came from Desruisseaux on a set up from Panitz and Beal.
The good thing, aside from the win, is that the Flames played up closer to the level they were pushed to out in NY. That’s a good sign for this group.
Team Scoring:
Bandits: 0-0-0 = 0
Flames: 5-1-3 = 9
Will Rosenbeck and Travis Ingalls were not tested much in this game but they were up to the task when asked.
Please enjoy some pictures taken by Mr. Panitz from the action of the game on Saturday. Click on the pictures to enlarge them.