Tournament Hockey: Goffstown 2 at Portsmouth-Newmarket 3 (OT)

Grizzlies Go Down, But Not Without A Fight

Goffstown played their way to a 9-8-1 record in the regular season. Honestly, I don’t know of anyone who would have predicted Goffstown to win 9 games, or even to finish in the top six in the Division II standings. Yet, they did it, earning a #6 seed in the post-season. They played a very good Portsmouth-Newmarket team in the Quarterfinal on Saturday.

This season marked the first time that I missed a Goffstown playoff game in 7 years. I was in Wolfeboro watching my youngest son play tournament hockey on Saturday for his 11-yr old team. Missing Grizzlies hockey games is strange to me. My run with Coach Slocum and the Grizzlies, as a friend and supporter of the team, has been a near full-time gig during each of the seasons. This season was probably the most pressing for me personally, covering two teams, all the time, and trying to be in two places at the same time for much of the hockey season. So, I wasn’t there on Saturday, March 5th, to witness a packed house thrill to the up and down action all afternoon. I didn’t see Luke Suhesky score the game-winner with 0:25.9 seconds left in the first overtime period, to give the Clipper Mules a 3-2 win, and their first Semifinal berth in 19 years. I will do my best to dress this account up and present the game with hopes that I do it some justice. Please stay with me. A little later in this piece, I will get to the commentary of the game, that I heard from people all over the hockey spectrum.

Brandon Bograd gets the Grizzlies on the board first. On the first shift of the game. (Jen Webber Photography)

Either way, Goffstown finished their regular season on February 18th, while most other teams played until Feb. 26th. This was due to scheduler issues at Sullivan Arena at St. Anselm College. By the time the Grizzlies took the ice on Saturday afternoon, March 5th, they hadn’t played a game in more than 2 weeks, not an ideal way to start a run at the tournament. It’s actually ridiculous, really. Making no excuses, the game went on.

Jake Webber made 44 saves on the day. (Jen Webber Photography)

Jake Webber was named as the starting goaltender for this season’s playoff game for the Grizzlies, as he was last March out at Jackson’s Landing. I should probably talk to Jake about this sometime, but I am guessing he was chomping at the bit to get the taste of last season’s Quarterfinal performance out of his mouth. No different I bet, from the other end of the ice where Jack Bussiere wanted to improve on his 38 saves on 43 shots in last year’s loss to the Grizzlies in the Prelims.

So, they lined up, dropped the puck, and played a tremendous game. Goffstown wasted no time, getting on the scoreboard only 22 seconds into the game. Brandon Bograd continued his tremendous Junior season, scoring his 11th goal of the season. Luc Ouellette tipped the puck back to Xavier Bibaud at the blue line and the defenseman whipped a pass to the left-wing half wall. Max Ouellette received the pass and quickly fired on net. The shot was on the mark but Bograd deflected the shot with the blade of his stick and the change of direction was enough to get the puck past Jack Bussiere in net for the Clipper Mules. It was a really nice play.

Later in the period, Portsmouth-Newmarket answered with a goal of their own. Goffstown had a couple chances to move the puck up and out of their own end but the Clipper Mule pressure kept the puck in the zone. As the puck skipped back to the right point, Damon Chase kept the offensive possession alive by pushing the puck along the boards to Caleb Pendleton. Pendleton ripped a quick shot toward the net. It was innocent enough, but the puck hit the defender before getting to Jake Webber while both Xavier Bibaud and Brennan Pierce were right there with him. Somehow, neither Grizzlie player could control the bounce and the puck eluded all of them. The puck came right to Finn Bussiere who stood behind the defense and flipped a backhander into the net. The first period ended with the score, 1-1, and the #3 seed on the power play. Goffstown trailed in shots, 9-8.

Luc Ouellette, senior captain, always ready to meet a challenge head on. (Jen Webber Photography)

The Portsmouth-Newmarket power play still had 90 seconds left on it, but they only used 23 seconds to take advantage of their opportunity. They gathered the puck behind their own net and it went something like this. Patrick Slover settles the puck behind the net for Finn Bussiere to take on the run with no Grizzlie player within 50 feet. Bussiere up to Luke Suhesky on the left. Suhesky drops it back to Bussiere as they come up the ice. Two Grizzlie forwards go after Bussiere who hits Suhesky with a pass as he approaches the offensive blue line with speed. The play was very close to offsides, but it also gave the Clipper Mules an instant 4-on-2 break. Suhesky kept the puck, went around Bibaud, and with no pressure from the inside, he patiently held the puck He outwaited Webber and slid the puck inside the near side post. Suhesky from Bussiere and Slover on the power play to take a 2-1 lead. The period would end with the Grizzlies trailing, 2-1 despite a barrage of 17 shots in the period against Jack Bussiere.

You never know how things are going to turn out. High school hockey players usually have been playing hockey for upwards of ten years, or more, by the time they get to their senior season of high school. Senior seasons for many senior players had already ended, and their stories had been written. There is no guarantee that a player’s senior season will be their best season. And in the last two years, we have seen that there was no guarantee of anyone having a season at all. Goffstown’s senior captain, Luc Ouellette was in uniform and on the ice for Goffstown’s Quarterfinal game thanks in part to his record as a clean, hard-nosed, gentleman on and off the ice for the past four seasons. He was on the ice because of excellent officiating and timely, effective, communication with an opposing coach from two weeks earlier. Seasons, careers, and storybooks all come to an end ultimately, and in sports someone always ends up with a loss. But before any of those things happened, Ouellette answered Suhesky’s brilliant dash on his 2nd period power play dash with a fantasy dash of his own.

Colby Wright wrists a shot toward the net, or toward Jen. (Jen Webber Photography)

Colby Wright took control of the puck back at his own goal line and eased the puck a feet up from the corner to Luc Ouellette along the boards. Ouellette actually took the puck with his progress moving in the wrong direction. He got himself turned around and started up the ice. He surveyed the ice as he moved forward, and made a move past Noah Foster at his own blue line, before exploding through center ice. The Clipper Mules basically took away the pass options, perhaps looking to pilfer and go. So, Luc kept the puck and faced three defenders as he raced into the offensive zone. Deciding to shoot rather than attempt a dangle through three defenders, Ouellette unleashed his lethal wrist shot from the top of the circles. The shot found the net and with 10:26 left to play in the third period, these Grizzlies that never seem to go away, had tied the game, 2-2. Regulation time ended with the score knotted at, 2-2. Jake Webber had 27 saves and Jack Bussiere 34 saves through 45 minutes of hockey.

Portsmouth-Newmarket came out in the OT and went to work, firing everything at the net with 18 shots on goal. Goffstown managed 8 shots on goal themselves. Make no mistake, both teams had chances to score. Great chances. Both fan bases had good reason to be on the edge of their seats. As time wound down and it looked like the game just might go to a second OT, another senior season was pushed to the next game. After a thrilling near miss for the Grizzlies at one end of the ice, Jake Webber made a save at the other end to force a face-ff with 0:32.2 left in OT. Finn Bussiere won the offensive zone face-off to Caleb Pendleton who raced to Gretzky’s Office behind the Goffstown net. As he skated with the puck he flipped a backhand pass out to the slot where Luke Suhesky had glided in from his left-wing stance on the right-wing face-off circle. Suhesky fought the traffic and a scrambling Webber to push the game-winning goal into the the net with 0:25.9 seconds left to play. What a game! A thriller, no question about it.

The goaltending was brilliant. The action was fast, clean, and thrilling. All afternoon. What a treat to hockey fans. I can honestly tell you that I heard accounts of this game from Goffstown fans, from Portsmouth fans, from other coaches, and fans that had nothing much to do with either team. The collection of what they said went something like this.

• Great game
• Fast paced
• Action packed
• A ton of shots
• Spectacular goaltending
• Clean play
• Good sportsmanship
• Tremendous flow
• Two good teams playing excellent hockey
• Nothing to be ashamed of
• Either team could have won and advanced

Remember the time that Luc went through everyone and ripped a wrist shot for the tying goal in the 3rd period of a playoff game? (Jen Webber Photography)

I had the pleasure to talk with Coach Brown from Portsmouth-Newmarket the other day. I shared with him the commentary I shared above, from so many different people and places. He agreed, and he was quite respectfully humble about his contribution as coach as well as the performance of his team. I enjoyed our chat, and by the time I had a chance to write this, he and the Clipper Mules had already upset #2 Oyster River, earning a trip to the Finals.

Back to Saturday’s overtime thriller. I don’t know about you, but I not only would have wanted to be at that game, I would love to know forever, that I played in that game. For those of you who didn’t get to play during the game, be proud to be counted as one of the ones dressed for the game. Keep crafting your game and working like your future depends on it. It’s the next right steps that you take which will determine where you go from here. The future is bright, and the best is ahead.

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.