We Can Do Better - 2010 Flames - 10 Days in February

February 03 – 12, 2023 – 2010 Flames – We Can Do Better. This is a story of 10 days in February. Hockey, skating, and rinks everywhere. The 2010 Flames played 6 games in this span, with a 2-2-2 record. Stick with me here, because I think we can do better.

This might take a little while but then again, I am recapping, and telling a story of 10 days in February. It starts with our whirlwind trip to Ohio to see our son, Sebastian, play his last two regular season hockey games for the Ohio Bobcats.

February 3rd – We (my wife, our twins, and I) drive to Boston in the early morning dark with falling snow and heavy winds ushering in the extreme cold that is on its’ way. Thankfully (sarcastic) our flight was moved to an earlier time. So when we got through security at Logan Airport and eventually to our gate, our plane wasn’t even there yet. Finally, it arrived, and we took off. No problems. Landed in Columbus with no issue, got our rental car, all good.

For some travel humor, we watched in amazement (and laughter) as a driver a few cars ahead of us drove the 4 floors of the concrete spiral exit with the SUV rear door wide open, angled well above the roof of the vehicle. Everyone was honking at this driver, flashing lights, whatever, but off they sped. We last saw this vehicle doing about 70 MPH on the highway, with the rear door still wide open, and people still trying to alert the driver.

We grabbed lunch nearby and made the 100 mile drive down to Cincinnati. We checked into our hotel and relaxed for a few hours before heading to dinner just off the campus of Xavier University. We hit the restaurant, Ichiban, which was not only crazy busy, but also crazy good. We had so much food and fun, that we thought we’d be late for the game.

From there we drove to the Sports Plus complex, also in Cincinnati, to watch Ohio University Hockey D2 play against Xavier. Ohio won handily and we got to take a few pictures with Sebastian after the game. The team hit the road back to Athens, Ohio on the team bus while we returned to our hotel. Since the game didn’t start until after 930pm, we weren’t back to our room until 12:30am after getting up at 4:45am to get to the airport. It was a long day.

The family all decked out in Ohio gear at the Xavier game.

February 4th – Since this was D2 Hockey Senior Day back at Ohio University, we had to get up and out on the road fairly early. We had breakfast at the hotel and hit the road for the 150+ mile drive to the OU campus. During this trip, back at home, the 2010 Flames were playing against the #1 team in their division, down in Marlborough, Mass.

So along the quiet ride on Rte. 32 across southern Ohio, they watched (my wife’s phone) and I listened over the Bluetooth connection to the Flames game. One of our parents had recorded the game on Facebook Live as there was no LiveBarn or LiveStream option in that rink. By the time, we pulled onto campus and found parking for Bird Arena, the 2010 Flames had scored three goals in the final 8:42, two of them with their goalie pulled, and tied the #1 team, 3-3. We were pumped! And Senior Day hadn’t even started yet.

The pregame ceremony at Bird Arena on the Ohio U. campus was very nice. We got to go out on the red carpet with the other senior players and their families. It was great. I stood there not quite believing that the early morning practices at Hemenway Rink and then skating for the Dunkin Donuts Muffins and all the years in between had flown by already. His 17th season of hockey was coming to an end.

The Ohio Bobcats were fired up for Senior Day, and they routed Xavier again. Our NH boy (young man) had one of the prettiest goals of the game.

We had dinner as a family, right in Athens with our three kids and our senior’s girlfriend. Later on, we went to a movie as a family in a historic theater right on the OU campus. It was a wonderful, and I mean full, day.

: Our senior Bobcat player, wearing the same number he wore at Goffstown High School.

: Bird Arena. Panorama before Senior Day ceremonies.

: Senior Day – Mom’s received a nice bouquet of flowers from their sons while on the red carpet at ice level.

: As our family leaves the ice after being greeted by Sebastian.

: Thank you, Sophia for taking our picture after the final game of the regular season. Bird Arena, Senior Day, 2023.

Sebastian’s goal on Senior Day. It’s a beauty!

February 5th – The 2010 Flames played an early game against the Monarchs, and we watched the game on LiveBarn from our hotel room. The Flames trailed early, 1-0 but came back to win big, 6-1. We grabbed breakfast in the hotel and we were ready to hit the road again. Secretly, my breakfast was supplemented by my delicious cookie from Insomnia Cookies on the OU campus. I saved it from the previous evening.

We walked the OU campus for quite awhile and visited our son’s rental house on campus. Then it was time to drive again. We had to get back to Columbus for our flight back to Boston. We did make a nice pit stop along the way though.

Sebastian drove his own car and we met him in Logan, Ohio for lunch. We ended up at The Olde Dutch Restaurant in Logan. The food was great! The service was friendly and complete with smiles. To say that we were all stuffed, was an understatement. Before lunch, and then again after lunch, we spent time looking inside and out at the Logan Antique Mall right next door. This place was great. Although, many of their items, I remember from my childhood yet somehow they are noted as antiques. Hmmm, that’s interesting.

We had so much fun at lunch and looking around that we thought we might be late for our flight. It didn’t help that we were saying goodbye to Sebastian until graduation weekend in a few months. Goodbyes aren’t easy, and we were in no hurry to leave.

We did make our flight. The jetstream was cranking winds toward the northeast and our flight back to Boston took no time. We were home by 9pm.

Teddy and I checked out some of the older buildings (early 1800’s). We checked out the trees, the old bricks and the new bricks. We confirmed that the old shutters on the 1816 hall still worked. We looked at statues, the lay of the land, and what we could see from the hilltop. We wondered how much better the view was from the hill in the late 1700’s when it was just part of the Northwest Territory. We had a great time.

February 6th – Jackie had figure skating in the evening over at Tri-Town Arena. I was at Sullivan Arena on the campus of St. Anselm College, covering the Goffstown Grizzlies high school hockey game. I was home by 10:15pm, another typical day during ice skating/hockey season.

February 7th – 9th – Flames practice Tuesday, another Goffstown game on Wednesday, but this one was out at UNH’s Whittemore Center. I took Teddy with me to the game and we were home by 9:15pm. Thursday Jackie had figure skating while Teddy needed to miss practice to catch up on a load of school work.

February 10th – Jackie was at the Ice Den Arena with my wife from roughly 9am-12pm for figure skating testing. Yes, she missed a day of school to be tested by three judges in her level of figure skating. She passed!

At 4:45pm I tuned into YouTube to watch Sebastian and the Ohio Bobcats play in the TSCHL (Tri-State Collegiate Hockey League) Tournament. This of course contradicted with our departure time for the drive out to Rochester.

So Teddy and I loaded up the van and we made the trip out to Rochester, NH for a 2010 Flames game against Rochester. The entire way out there Teddy watched his brother play on YouTube while I listened, hands-free. OU beat Louisville, 6-1 and advanced to the semi-finals. At Rochester Arena, the Flames and Rochester tied, 1-1. We got back home around 10:15pm.

Our proud skater holds up one of her judges sheets from the figure skating testing. This one was with ‘honors’.

February 11th – Saturday morning my wife and I took Jackie to the Ice Den again, for her Saturday figure skating of Power and Edge, show practice, and Learn to Skate instruction (there are many levels of LTS). We were back home in time to eat some lunch and get Teddy over to West Side Arena for his game against the Bridgewater Bandits. The 2010 Flames won the game, 2-0.

In the evening, at our house, we had YouTube on again, playing on our family room TV. Ohio University was playing the second semi-final against #11 (in the country) Kentucky. We watched and cheered as Ohio scored with 15 seconds left in regulation to beat Kentucky, 3-2.

At the same time, Teddy was out skating on the backyard rink from about 7pm until 10pm. Half way through that time a Flames teammate showed up and skated with him. They had a blast! Inside, a few of us watched a great hockey movie, entitled, “Happy Gilmore”. Another full day.

Photos from the Bandits at Flames game. Click on them. Zoom in. Enjoy!

: Brody pinches in low to help the Flames keep possession of the puck on offense.

: Brody takes a bouncing puck and safely deposits it into the corner of the offensive zone.

: Jaden flies into the offensive zone and rips a shot on goal.

: To be honest, I take a lot of pictures of Flames 63. He is almost always in motion, coming to or from the play. Or he is the play. It’s a good thing.

: I hope that these kids don’t soon forget the encouragement they receive and the inspiration that pushes them to new heights. And men, never forget those little reasons why you are behind the bench.

: Two keepers of the crease, passing in the open ice. Flames banner hangs, Flames logo brought to life, shift after shift.

: Mom, “How was your game Travis?” Travis, “Great, Mom! I made a few stellar saves. You know, flapping the trapper, kicking the cowhide. Goalie stuff.”

February 12th – Teddy and I left home before 8am to go to JFK Coliseum for a 2010 Flames game against the Bay State Breakers. The Breakers have the best win percentage in the entire league. The Flames played well, but Bay State cashed in on mistakes and got out of town with a 5-3 win over the Flames.

: Face-off against the Breakers at JFK. The Flames dropped this one, 5-3.

: Looking at our flag and the folks working the booth. And of course, playing some tunes. 2010 Flames at JFK.

: A panorama of JFK Coliseum. I like doing these because, maybe they are cool?

We were back home in plenty of time to eat something and fire up the YouTube again, as Ohio U. was playing defending champ, Indiana U. in the TSCHL Championship game at 12:30pm from Columbus, Ohio.

Teddy had another 2010 Flames game at 4:40pm and we needed to leave the house by 3:35pm or so. This should have been more than enough time to get through the Ohio game and then leave. Except that the OU game kept going and going. We left at 3:45pm, and once again had the game playing on a phone while listening hands-free on the way to the rink. Just as we pulled into the parking lot, Indiana scored a goal to their second straight title in the latter stages of the second overtime.

The Flames were playing a tough opponent in the Keene Cobras. The Flames came back to tie the game, 2-2, only to see Keene score with 12 seconds left on a nice play, a great save, a good bounce off the post, and a tap in goal.

We got home at 629pm. We did watch some of the Super Bowl, especially the National Anthem and some commercials. But after my wife and daughter went upstairs to watch something and possibly fall asleep, Teddy and I controlled the TV. We immediately turned to the NHL Skills Competition that we had recorded last weekend and watched that until he went to bed.

So there you have it. 10 days in February. We go to a lot of rinks just like many of you do. My joy, my wife’s joy, our joy, is truly watching our kids participate in activities they love so much. Their joy is our joy. And honestly, I wish their sense of joy and happiness, even contentment in their performance of skills was 100% transferable right to me. Not as in taking away from them, but to live that way again as a kid in this part of my life.

I admit it, I think we can do better. Our schedule is too much at times. Honestly, it’s too much many times. At least compared to the pace that most of us grew up with. I don’t know that one pace is better than another, but I know I wouldn’t trade the pace I had for anything.

Our kids need the time and space to be kids. It’s okay for them to be bored, a bored kid that has to think on how not to be bored, which almost always leads to something creative or active, or both. And other times it leads to daydreaming, self-soothing and pondering everything from the great big sky to the inside of their eyelids. Yes, I know that we can do better.

Saturday, February 04, 2023. New England Sports Center, Rink 6.

Score by period:

Minuteman Flames : 02 – 01 – 00 = 03
2010 Flames: 00 – 00 – 03 = 03

Flames goals in order:

Offensive zone face-off won by Gavin Petrie. The puck goes right back to Caleb Powers who shoots but the shot is deflected. Before the puck can reach a defender or goalie, Petrie fires the puck into the net. 2010 Flames on the board in the 3rd. Petrie from Powers…and himself.
Offensive zone face-off tied up by Petrie. Sean McGee pokes the puck through the circle to Chase Giampa going toward the corner. Giampa circles behind the net and tries to stuff the puck into the net. The shot is saved and leaks out to the slot where Powers spins (like a figure skater – not really) and flips a backhand shot inside the far-side post. The Flames had pulled their goalie. 3-2. 29.5 seconds left. Powers from Giampa and McGee.
Center ice face-off after the 3-2 goal. Goalie back in. Petrie again, ties up the puck at the center ice dot. The puck squirts free and Jaden Booth grabs it. Booth wastes no time heading to the offensive zone. Powers jumps on the ice as the extra attacker as the Flames pull the goalie again. Booth gets the puck deep. Chase Giampa presses the defender. The puck is sent around the end boards where Caleb Powers picks it up and flips it toward the slot. The puck finds Booth who fires a shot into the net while being upended on a nice slide tackle. 3-3. 12.5 seconds left. Booth from Powers. Wow!!!

I was in Ohio when all of this happened and we were thrilled! This was a great comeback by the 2010 Flames. I know this team doesn’t play their best skating game, and sometimes it takes a while for them to get going. But I have truly fallen in love with 4 seasons of never stop playing hard until the final buzzer sounds.

Sunday, February 05, 2023. Tri-Town Arena.

Score by period:

Monarchs: 01 – 00 – 00 = 01
2010 Flames: 00 – 03 – 03 = 06

The Flames definitely had the best scoring chances in this game, but the goal they scored was one of those ones that makes up for other plays that should result in goals.

Chase Giampa took a nice tough pass from Sean McGee and pumped it into the net. McGee had pressed the defender in the corner and he took the turnover, made a quick one-touch pass, and Chase did the rest. 1-1. Giampa from McGee.
Enjoying a 5-on-3 power play advantage the Flames took the lead. Caleb Powers had the puck behind the net and threw a pass out to the slot. Logan McCain was there and he wanted to pound a shot on net but the puck was deflected as he shot. The puck slid through the slot where Giampa grabbed it, shot, and took his own rebound into the net. 2-1 Flames, on the PPG. Giampa from McCain and Powers.
Lucas Ouellette worked the puck to Andy Soucy down low. Soucy and Garrett Warren played an odd game of back and forth with the puck before Soucy found Warren again, in the slot outside the crease where Warren put the biscuit in the basket. Power play goal, 3-1. Warren from Soucy and Ouellette.
Jordan Hawkes made a centering pass from the corner. The puck kicked off of Ian Kaveney’s stick as he was stick-checked at the front of the net. But it all worked out for the Flames as the puck went right to Gavin Petrie who shot the puck into the near side of the net. 4-1, another power play goal. Petrie from Kaveney and Hawkes.
Andy Soucy got the puck in the right wing circle and steered a pass to the slot where Lucas Ouellette received it skating backwards. Ouellette gently slipped a backhand shot into the open side of the net while retreating in reverse. Nice goal, 5-1. Ouellette from Soucy.
The Flames ended the scoring with a shot from the left point by Logan McCain. McCain’s shot didn’t go in but the rebound came right to Sean McGee beside the net and he fired a backhander into the net. 6-1 Flames lead, McGee from McCain.

Again, in Ohio for this one, but thoroughly enjoyed watching it unfold from a hotel room in Athens, OH.

Friday, February 10, 2023. Rochester Arena.

Score by period:

Rochester BlackHawks : 01 – 00 – 00 = 01
2010 Flames: 00 – 00 – 01 = 01

Flames goals in order:

Brody Phengsysouvanh attempts to clear the zone by lifting the puck up the right wing boards from the defensive zone. The puck shoots off of the boards and traffic to Gavin Petrie who sweeps the puck further up ice to Chase Giampa who is on the move. Giampa scraps his way to the net front with the puck and pushes it in for the tying goal. 1-1, Giampa from Phengsysouvanh.

Alright, the Flames played a pretty good game, but it was ugly in a choppy kind of way. The spacing was wrong, and everywhere a Flames player tried to stickhandle there was a BlackHawk player right alongside just pestering every move. With better spacing and certainly some quick, early breakout passes this could have changed things dramatically. This would actually play a theme, against the Flames on Saturday and Sunday. I will get to that later, but we can do better.

Teddy didn’t play the first period of this game as a result of missing practice on Thursday night to do schoolwork. That might sound tough you say, but I am in full agreement with coach on this. Teddy got himself behind on his schoolwork. This caused a completely avoidable knee-jerk reaction which he paid for dearly by missing hockey practice, which he loves. In doing so, this let’s down his teammates who are all equally encouraged and advised to take school, homework, and their effort in all things school seriously. Teddy had let up and it cost him.

I share this because it’s important to understand these things even as kids because these types of lessons will be applicable all through life. In hindsight, I should have never taken Teddy with me to the Goffstown game at UNH, but I didn’t learn the magnitude of this until the next day. He can, we can do better.

A panorama of JFK Coliseum. I like doing these because, maybe they are cool?

Saturday, February 11, 2023. West Side Arena.

Score by period:

Bridgewater Bandits : 00 – 00 – 00 = 00
2010 Flames: 01 – 00 – 01 = 02

Flames goals in order:

Teddy Beal and Sean McGee are wreaking havoc behind the net in the offensive zone. Beal falls down and McGee rips a pass from behind the net to the general area of the slot. The puck clanks off of Jaden Booth as he fights the puck and a defender for position. The puck is collected by Caleb Powers in support of Booth. Powers just lets a shot fly toward the net through some traffic and the shot finds its way into the net via the five-hole. 1-0. Powers from Booth and McGee.
After a few desperate attempts by the Flames to score an empty net goal, the puck is sent out to center ice. Teddy Beal is in hot pursuit along with a Bandit. They crash, fall, wipe each other out at center ice along the boards. Beal pushes the puck a little further along to Powers. Caleb loses the puck on a stick check but the puck goes right to Logan McCain who was already in motion. McCain gains the blue line and fires a shot into the empty net. 2-0. McCain from Powers and Beal.

Will Rosenbeck and Travis Ingalls combine to earn a 2-0 shutout win for the Flames. It was the sixth team shutout for the Flames this season.

On Friday night the 2010 Flames took 4 penalties and Rochester took 5. In the Bandits game the Flames took 6 penalties while the Bandits took 5. I point this out because I believe that the trend that started on Friday night continued through the weekend.

The trend was this. The 2010 Flames put themselves in tough positions as a result of not moving their feet. Their skating game was behind a bit and this led to holds, trips, and hooks. Of course the opponents style of game also contributed to this trend. These things don’t happen in a vacuum. Again, I am certain that we can do better.

Sunday, February 12, 2023. JFK Coliseum.

Score by period:

Bay State Breakers: 01 – 03 – 01 = 05
2010 Flames: 01 – 01 – 01 = 03

Flames goals in order:

Caleb Powers gathered the puck behind his own net and weaved his up the ice with the puck. As he crossed over the blue line and into the slot, moving left to right, he shot the puck back toward the left. The shot found the inside of the post for a goal. 1-0. Powers unassisted goal on the power play.
Gavin Petrie with an offensive zone face-off win in a 4-on-4 situation. The puck slid right back to Powers who ripped a wicked wrista into the net. Down, 3-2. Powers from Petrie.
Jaden Booth kept the puck in the zone while being stapled to the boards. Lucas Ouellette grabbed the puck and took a nice wrist shot toward the net. Teddy Beal was practically in the net and deflected the shot that somehow didn’t go into the net but slid in the crease to Petrie. Petrie scored on a shot from 4 inches away. Down, 5-3. Petrie from Beal and Ouellette.

Flames and Breakers both took 5 penalties in this game. It’s hockey in NH against a team from south of Boston. Yes, there was a lot of stick work and all such things. But come on folks. Nobody in the building is perfect, ever. I get frustrated too, and sometimes I will vocalize my displeasure. But seriously, listening to us, is actually worse than watching things being missed on the ice. Guess what, whether we say anything or not, the players still have to play through it. So, maybe encouragement is a good idea, or even silence, or a happy clapper. We can do better.

Sunday, February 12, 2023. West Side Arena.

Score by period:

Keene Cobras : 01 – 01 – 01 = 03
2010 Flames: 01 – 00 – 01 = 02

Flames goals in order:

The puck comes out to the right point and Jacob St. Pierre winds up for the one-timer slapshot, except he fouls it off. This actually works out because the puck goes right to Jaden Booth who fires a shot toward the net. Andy Soucy gets the deflected shot and can’t get a shot through, so he passes to Garrett Warren for the simple tap in goal. The Plan A’s all went awry, but Plan B worked out nicely, into the net. 1-1, Warren from Soucy and Booth.
Caleb Powers gets back on D while the 2010 Flames complete a line change. Powers flips an aerial pass/clear out of the zone and Teddy Beal catches the puck clean as it hits his stick and the ice at the same time. Beal skates up the left side, gains the blue line and rips a low shot. The puck hits off of a defender’s stick on it’s way to the net and changes direction, sliding right past the goaltender to tie the game. 2-2, Beal from Powers.

This was the epitome of not moving their feet. Flames penalties in order. Check. Matching something or other. Hook. Trip. Trip. Boarding. Misconduct (comes with boarding). Check. Rough. That’s 9 penalties. All I am saying is this, penalties are not usually called when you are in good position, or in a position of control. Conversely, chasing, leaning, reaching, grabbing to keep up, well these scenarios don’t usually bode well, call or no call. We can do better. It is within the team’s control.

Three thoughts from me, just because.

We are a “chase the puck team” which puts us constantly in the reach and react mode.
We attack from the back, a lot. This puts forwards back covering and defensemen retreating through traffic if the play breaks down. I am not saying this is a bad strategy for our team because it works a lot too, but maybe we are learning how much that costs.
When we chase the puck, we put people on the outside edges where it’s the least likely area to score from. This tires out players legs and is a lower risk area to begin with. But we do get called for a lot of penalties around the edges. Would extending one arm of a structured defense to the puck with everyone else in position cut down on penalties or cut down on scoring chances without committing penalties? I don’t know.

In the 6 games over the last two weekends, the 2010 Flames went 2-2-2, and they actually entered Sunday of this week at, 2-0-2. In the 6 games, the Flames scored 17 goals and allowed just 13. That’s actually pretty impressive. But in just the last four games they took 24 penalties, totalling some 53 minutes of ‘in the box time’.

You know, and I know, that referees and opposing coaches are talking up the fact that the 2010 Flames are a heavily penalized team. The eyes start looking for infractions to be called. And don’t get me wrong, our team does commit even more penalties than the ones that are being called.

Skate hard. Communicate everywhere. At least start from a structure designed by the coaches and work from there. You got this. We all got this. We can do better. And I know we will.

I make notes about hockey in a lot of different places. At least I usually know what the notes mean when I look at them later.

Here’s a little something to think about. I have seen referees react more to coaches and parents than they ever do to the players themselves, especially in the levels of youth hockey prior to high school years. I have witnessed this before, during, and even after games. The adults throw the longest shadow on these officials. None of the parties are perfect, but there is higher ground on which to trod.

You can find more 2010 Flames material in these pieces, here. 2010 Manchester Flames.

Hockey Dad – Time Flies – The Reason Why

One cold winter morning I woke before the light reached my sky. I walked into my son’s room to start the trek to a rink nearby.

The sweet and peaceful look I found still asleep gave me pause. I wondered if this was more for me, but I knew, for him it truly was.

Hours on the road, cold feet, rinks all over the place, gallons of coffee black. Went by in a flash, and I sit here trying to play it all back.

In the room, the bed is finally made, the scent of hockey long gone. I look around and wish there was another trek to start before dawn.

Thrills a plenty; Wins, losses, and growth. Decades run away, but I’m still here. Foundation laid, prices paid, grown now, I wish he was here.

Just one more kiss goodnight for a restful sleep, early again to rise. He is better than I, with humble pride, I smile, tears run from my eyes.

I’m a hockey Dad, and I love the game, but the kids are the reason why; We do what we do, year after year, the kids grow and time flies.

Look for their smiles and the joyous moments found with mates in their youth. Don’t criticize, but smile, and love to watch them play, the real truth.

The current look at my ‘hockey office’. So many hours spent in this space, tracking numbers and capturing season after season. (C) 1inawesomewonder 2023.

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.

“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it: If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.” ~ Jim Valvano on how to live life, during his ESPY speech.

“I started writing sports stories 20 years ago. I still do. I write because somewhere, in some game, a kid might be having the time of his or her life. That’s awesome to think about. It’s all about the kids.” ~ Steve Beal Sr.