NH Whalers 2010 - Four Straight Wins

June 10, 2023 – NH Whalers 2010 – Four Straight Wins. On Saturday, the 2010 NH Whalers swept the Greenwich Division, after four straight wins. They earned the #1 seed and a trip to the title game.

After the short break at the hotel, we were off to the second game of the day. We were heading back to Smithfield. We were playing the Southampton Penguins again. The NH Whalers had already buttoned up the #1 seed coming out of the Greenwich Division, but they wanted to keep playing good hockey either way.

The Southampton Penguins have an excellent goaltender and beyond that their depth is lacking some. This is observation, not a negative. These are spring/summer teams and playing more hockey should help all the teams get better as long as they give their all and are led in a good direction.

So, Southampton you say. Don’t famous rich people live in the Hamptons? Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929) and Carl Yastrzemski (1939) were both born in Southampton. Brooke Shields has a nice place in Southampton I am told, so does Howard Stern, but neither of them played for the Penguins over the weekend.

Back at Smithfield. Opening face-off for the NH Whalers fourth game of the tournament. A tournament that had started for them just 30 hours earlier. On another note, it’s amazing how many things we can squeeze into 30 hours.

You never know how things might go when you play against a really good goaltender, especially if that goalie gets into a rhythm, on a roll. Well, the NH Whalers and Logan McCain didn’t let that idea get established. He scored on a sweet backhand early in the game. And the Whalers put up 6 goals in the first half despite 57 saves for the Penguins goalie.

During the second half of the game the NH Whalers passed the puck much more, and tried setting up different kids to score. They had taken their foot off of the gas. They had done the work over Friday and Saturday to earn four straight wins. They won, 8-0, and the Penguins goalie impressed all of us, even so.

Let’s get to some pictures…Please enjoy. It’s all about the kids. And my hope is that the kids get to see themselves in some decent hockey pictures along the way.

Here we go…

Click on the pictures to zoom in and have a look around. Pictures really do contain so many little details and surprises.

: If you wanted to make sure that your team had a good start to the game, then you would have been thrilled by this nifty backhand from Logan McCain.

: Genesis sang a great song about a lonely man on the corner, but in Smithfield the man in the corner was not lonely, just Connor.

: They are all lined up, with Powers, St. Pierre, and centerman Chang. Drop the puck, looky here, just winning draws like it ain’t no big thang.

: The offensive pressure from the Whalers was pretty much non-stop all weekend. Powers let a shot fly here.

: Having Jax back on D was like having a security blanket. Then again, he took a few skates through the O-zone just for a look around.

: Here Jax pulls his feet in close to make the sharp turn while maintaining speed. I am pretty sure he learned this during his younger years on the Russian figure skating loop.

: Jordan might come and go quietly at times and maybe even subtly sneak by folks. But if ever there was a giveaway, it’s his eyes. I love it.

: Then, from out of nowhere, skating right into the slot, came Logan Ercha wearing my favorite number.

: He deked, paused, and then beat the stellar keeper with this little backhand tuck under the pad and into the net. The Penguins had no answers.

: Keanu coming in from out back, Logan and Aaron celebrate the beauty of a goal, eh! Here’s looking at you.

: One of the Reilly boys gears up for some puck contact as “The Count of Courchaine” fires a shot into the crowd.

: I take full responsibility for this capture of STP in slow motion. I saw playing ‘Simon says’ with some of the players during the game. And I yelled out, “Now, do slow motion!” STP did it, but I didn’t say ‘Simon says’. Liam was already in this pose so he was already in slow motion.

: Logan McCain ponders his options for this next shot and almost nods off to sleep in the process.

: Jaden played all weekend on a bum leg, but still showed his speed. He is so fast that he traded gloves with the defender while handling the puck, turning the corner, and creating offense for the Whalers. Quicker than the eye. Nobody even noticed.

Celebrate another NH goal. The other team’s coach thought the puck was played with a high stick. The refs didn’t think so. Good goal.

: Liam, “Hey guys! Thanks for coming down here to see me. Oh, did I make a save? Fantastic! Want to hang out some?”

: Sean McGee got the puck, and then his afterburners kicked on and he got behind the defense.

: As he down shifted into the slot area, he relaxed knowing that he would no longer skate through the endboards like a cartoon character.

: Actually, McGee was exhibiting patience as he out-waited the goalie before making his move for the gorgeous goal.

: Keanu works the outside lane before making a last second cut to the middle of the ice.

: On this play the NH Whalers ran the D-back option where the two D-men go on the offensive. Courchaine carried the puck and had the option to shoot or pitch the puck to Booth for a shot, or a first down.

: Caleb yells at the top of his lungs, “Hey guys! Look! I’m playing forward! I’m in Krejčí’s office! Get open! The ref, unimpressed, corrects, “Hey! It’s Gretzky’s office. And for the love all things holy, use your inside voice!”

: Hey wait! Is that Powers Boothe the famous actor? No. It’s just the Whalers, and they have the opposing coach scratching his head.

: For the last few minutes of the game Lucas offered to carry Liam on his shoulder so he could feel like he was more involved in the game. Lucas shows great balance and strength while making this pass with Liam along for the ride.

: This might be the best picture of Liam that I got all weekend. Teddy was on 7-second delay so as not to disrupt the team celebration.

After the fourth game, my son wanted food, some time in the hotel pool, and maybe some time to play some NHL22 with me. We had pizza delivered (I made him call it in – you know, to work on some interpersonal skills). He did fine. Then he and I went to the pool. There were several people there, but it was still pretty quiet.

Eventually, it was just my son and I at the pool. He just wanted to swim, dive deeper, and play his own creative mental game. This is my favorite time for him. There is no screen. There is no entertainment. There is no competition. Every idea is his. Every game is his creation. Every second is his. This has to be among the greatest minutes there are for his brain, for his well-being. He self soothes. He loses himself in his own imagination. It’s beautiful.

The previous paragraph largely describes my entire childhood. Minus the pool. I literally spent hundreds and hundreds of hours processing life at my own speed, outdoors. With every dream playing out on the stage that was our families entire property, I covered every inch of it. I had no idea what I was doing then, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. And seeing my son in that state warms my heart. I smile inside and out. It’s all about the kids.

You can follow other NH Whalers 2010 Hockey stories, here.

You can also follow this blog here. I write a lot about hockey. It’s a long season. It’s not all just about the hockey, but rather about lessons and takeaways that come up throughout these seasons. Yes, I am biased. I am biased toward the truth and the right way to do things, whether anyone is watching or not.

The players play the games. The kids score the goals and make the saves. Most of the time, the kids band together for something that is bigger than themselves; the team. The kids do so many things right on any given play, on any given day. I have found that more often than not, the kids pleasantly surprise us all. It’s awesome. It’s all about the kids.

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.