Written by For the second half of the weekend, the 2010 Flames headed up to northern New Hampshire with stops in Plymouth and Berlin. It was a beautiful, winter wonderland the further north we went. With the miles, the scenery, and the time spent getting to and from, all part of the experience, it was a long day with plenty of excitement and upbeat moments. As for the games, well, the Flames were doused and brought down to earth, losing three of four games over the weekend.
The 2010 Flames withstood a 6-1 beating at the hands of the Plymouth Jr. Panthers who remain undefeated in league play. Then heading further from home, up to Berlin, the Flames gave up 4 goals on the first shots they faced, came all the way back, only to lose, 7-5 to the Sabres.
Coach tries to get the team fired up after the second period, despite trailing, 6-0.
The Panthers are a good team, they have four players from last season’s Pee Wee 1 team as well. I thought that the Flames came out and played pretty well for most of the first period against Plymouth. Then in a few seconds, a point blank shot from the right-wing circle led to rebound which ended up in the back of the net. On the very next play up the ice, Plymouth scored on a rush up the left-wing, a cut to the middle and breakaway type goal. The Flames trailed 2-0 after one period, and even though there was no count of shots on goal, I would say the Flames had just as many, if not more, shots on goal than their opponent.
Plymouth exploded for four goals in the second period and the Flames didn’t offer much resistance. There was one official, a young man, who missed a fair amount, but I am sure he was doing his best. The Flames had a few penalties in the period which didn’t help their cause. After two periods, the Flames trailed, 6-0 and showed no signs of playing even as well as they had at the beginning of the game.
Coach Nick connected with the team during the intermission, at least at some level, as the Flames played much better in the final period. The Flames got back to more getting the puck to the net or at least getting the puck deep, and less trying to turn everything into an individual rush. They even back checked and made it difficult to play offense against. The Flames finally got on the scoreboard, when Desruisseaux scored from Soucy and Casimiro. The final score was, 6-1 and the Flames dropped only their second game of the GSL season to date.
Please click on pictures to open them up so you can zoom in and have a look around.
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- Caleb and Garrett attempt a rush up ice against Plymouth. The Flames didn’t take advantage of the room they were given during the game, with many shots being blocked or broken up as the puck was on their sticks too long.
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- Travis goes for a quick skate while I get a picture of one end of the rink. Great place for a hockey game.
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- I had to take pictures from across the rink at this section up behind the benches. I couldn’t afford the cost to gain access to that section.
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- To the Flames credit, they always seem to be working hard to get better. They always keep skating, trying, and working.
Snowmobilers come into the area behind nucar Notre Dame Arena. I noticed that many of them stopped out front, at The Lounge at Ming House.
After a nice combined little stop at Chase St. Market and Biederman’s in Plymouth, we made the ride up through the notch. It was a gorgeous afternoon for a ride through the White Mountains and into the north country. When we got to Berlin, the snowbanks were towering and still pure white. The parking lot at nucar Notre Dame Arena was full and the parking arrangements were quite creative. We found a parking spot eventually, and when we did we found ourselves parked just a few feet from one of the snowmobile trails that comes into town. But hey, it’s all good. I was secretly jealous of the folks cruising the trails through the beautiful area in and around Berlin.
I don’t know quite how to sum up the afternoon game against the Berlin Sabres. Berlin scored four goals in the first period, on just six shots on goal. One of the goals was scored from center ice when the puck bounced up into the top half of the goal after it also changed direction on the bounce. I didn’t think frozen pucks could do that. Two of the goals were a goal scorer’s dream when the player dreams of skating clean through the defense and then ripping a perfect shot into the net. The other one was a shot, a save, a rebound, a score. It was not a good day for the Flames goaltenders by any measurement. They did not tend net in a vacuum though. There was a lot of room in the crease area for opponents to pounce on rebounds and get more shots at pushing the puck into the net. At the end of the first period, the Flames trailed, 4-0 even though the shots were even at 6-6.
This picture shows that the Berlin team had at least trimmed their ‘on the bench’ coaching staff down from 5 to 4. Maybe the rest of them were standing on the boards?
In the second period, the Flames outshot the Sabres, 9-1. This also translated into goals for the visitors. First goal, Hawkes on a wrap around, and those of us standing at that end of the ice all wish we had a picture of Jordan’s face when he scored. Priceless. Seconds later, came the second goal from Powers on a wrist shot from the right-wing circle. Next, it was Warren from Petrie and Beal when the entire line worked their way to the net to cut the lead down to, 4-3. Then, right on time, the “Freight Train” McCain delivered on time with a goal to tie the game at, 4-4.
Just as quickly as the Flames had wrestled the momentum in the game almost completely to their side, they let it go. Berlin scored on the power play, on the first shift of the final period. 5-4. Then the Flames made a clearing attempt up through the middle of the ice. These plays make every hockey fan cringe because it’s where pucks go only to be stolen and promptly deposited in the back of the clearing teams’ net. That is exactly what happened. 6-4. Then another Berlin power play goal. This shot was another of the bouncing variety as the puck cleared the pad of the awaiting goalie like it had a mind of it’s own. 7-4. The Flames cut the score to, 7-5 when Soucy on a spinning shot in the slot after Desruisseaux won the offensive zone face-off back to Panitz who shot the puck into the slot. That was the final score, 7-5. Berlin had four shots in the period, three of them went in. Berlin was 7 of 11 on shots in the game. That is a shooting percentage that Shaquille O’Neal would have given anything for from the foul line, especially, or even from the field.
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- The Flames celebrate the sweet wrap around goal from Jordan Hawkes.
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- Lots of history in this building. More NH State Champions in Ice Hockey played here than anywhere else.
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- Looking up at a sunny winter sky and the looming hill that is Mt. Forist in Berlin.
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- After the game, the ride back through the North Woods and White Mountains offered this impressive sunset from the scenic overlook in Jefferson.
Scenic view from Jefferson, NH. Panorama.
Team scoring: Sunday morning.
Panthers: 2-4-0 = 6
Flames: 0-0-1 = 1
Flames scoring: Desruisseaux from Soucy and Casimiro.
Travis Ingalls (3 goals allowed) and Will Rosenbeck (3 goals allowed). The goaltending tandem didn’t have a very good day overall. The Flames as a team didn’t do a whole lot to help after the first 8 or 10 minutes of the game. Plymouth had too many, clean shots, rushes to the front of the net, and then they were first to many of the rebounds.
Team scoring: Sunday afternoon.
Sabres: 4-0-3 = 7
Flames: 0-4-1 = 5
Flames scoring: Hawkes from Gillies, Powers from Gillies, Warren from Petrie and Beal, McCain unassisted, Soucy from Panitz and Desruisseaux.
Travis Ingalls and Will Rosenbeck allowed 7 goals on 11 shots. Some goals were soft, some were freak luck, and some were just good goals that even good goalies don’t stop. These two have been awesome all season. They have bailed out breakdowns all season long and easily saved many more shots than they probably should have. Sunday was a balancing of the scale. It happens at every level of sport. I trust that we are still in very good hands.