Shift After Shift

Skate 3 Red Rink – September 24, 2023 – Shift After Shift – 2010 Flames (MRYHA)

The 2010 Flames amassed a massive amount of shots on goal in a pair of weekend games down in Mass. The visitors were able to earn wins in Bridgewater (on Saturday) and then in Tyngsboro (on Sunday morning). The combined score was 13-2. The amassed shots on goal total was 91 for the weekend.

It’s all about the kids. I have always tried to keep the focus of youth sports on the youth. Truly, I encourage others to do the same. Lots of adults pay lip service to the idea, but far fewer actually behave that way or teach their kids a proper example of how to carry themselves. Often times, it’s more likely that adults say some of the right things, then follow it up with behavior that is helpful to no one, if not detrimental to many.

Some parents get loud about things that don’t require volume. They coach their kids from the stands which of course means that in that light their kid is somehow above the team dynamic (in the parent’s mind) of coaches and a roster full of players that also earned their spot on the team. So, while Johnny or Jane’s personal development is important, their ability to thrive in a role defined among the team, and being a great teammate to all, while being a coachable kid is paramount. That equation doesn’t need Dad or Mom interfering with the precious timeline that is development through team sports.

The kids playing their game in the sport they love (hopefully they love it, not just Dad) while having fun and making friends that literally have their back in moments of competition, that is beautiful. And our kids, as well as the opponent’s kids, all gaining from the experience while learning the right way to go about competing, overcoming adversity, and embracing teamwork. That is why we attend these games, to watch and to encourage the kids. All of the kids.

Then again, I missed Saturday’s game down in Bridgewater, Mass. as I spent the afternoon helping my mother with some things around the yard, the old homestead. But I am sure my wife and daughter were doing the watching and encouraging brilliantly.

The 2010 Flames won the game, 5-1. Shift after shift, they got better. They piled up 42 shots on goal while allowing only 12 shots against the firm of Rosenbeck and Ingalls in net.

Flames goal – Mooney scored on a nice turn around shot in the slot. This came after a Petrie offensive face-off win. St. Pierre kept the puck in at the blue line and threw a puck toward the net. Beal was near it but Mooney spun and fired. Goal. Mooney from St. Pierre. 1-0.
Flames goal – Lazzaro recovered a loose puck in the D-zone and banked the puck off of the side wall for a teammate. Powers grabbed the puck while curling toward the blue line, and he was off. He skated into the offensive zone, shot, grabbed the rebound and wrapped around the net and tucked puck inside the post. Beauty, eh! Powers from Lazzaro. 2-1. GWG.
Flames goal – After a sweet feed from Drumm, Warren was robbed by the goaltender from point blank range in the slot. Warren was toppled in the crease and Powers skated through, grabbed the rebound and lifted a shot over the pile, inside the post, for the goal. Powers from Warren and Drumm. 3-1.
Flames goal – The Flames got back on D and broke up a Bandits chance. Santitto disrupted the scoring chance, forcing a very weak shot toward the net by the Bandits. The puck was retrieved by Powers in front of his own net. Powers hit Beal with an outlet pass up the left wing. Beal skated in, held the puck til the last second until firing a pass onto Mooney’s stick for a tap in goal on the fly. Great end to end play. Mooney from Beal and Powers. 4-1.
The Flames final goal of the game came when Booth pounced on a loose puck at neutral ice and flew over the blue line and straight toward the net. The shot attempt hit a defender but came right to Drumm who was on the move. Drumm made a little shift and ripped a shot into the open side of the net. Drumm from Booth. 5-1.

Thankfully, for me, this game started quite late and I was able to get home and fire up the ole LiveBarn in time to watch the game. It looked to me that the Flames got better as the game went on. By the final period, the 2010 Flames were a legit threat to score, shift after shift.

Bridgewater Bandits: 00 – 01 – 00 = 1

(MRYHA) 2010 Flames: 01 – 01 – 03 = 5

As always, the 2010 Flames couldn’t win games if they didn’t have netminders to keep the other team from outscoring the Flames. Rosenbeck and Ingalls combined in the crease to get the win. These two will do anything to keep the puck out of their net, and they would give it everything they have to help the team win.

On Sunday morning, it was a quick, cloudy, it not damp, ride to Tyngsboro, Mass. and the good old barn, Skate 3. So, just like Canada spells center, “centre”, or they add (appropriately) “u” to words and make things taste much better when flavor becomes “flavour”. Wikipedia says that the town where Skate 3 sits, is spelled two ways. Both Tyngsborough and Tyngsboro are acceptable. I am thinking that the Queen’s english took the time for the “ough” even with quill pens, while here in America, we found shortcuts as we have been in a hurry for hundreds of years. Even Google sees it likes this.

On the game’s very first shift, the 2010 Flames scored. The Mooney-Giampa-Drumm line pressed the play and Mooney dug a puck off of the end boards and flipped the puck to Giampa who came from behind the net to tuck the puck between the goalie’s skate and the post for the goal. Giampa from Mooney. 1-0.
During a shift that possession of the puck seemed quite elusive, the Flames were still able to put the puck in the net. Powers flipped a puck toward the net, and the rebound bounced out front. Beal and Ouellette were both there to gather it. It looked like Beal (right shot) hit the puck first and then Ouellette (left shot) slammed the puck into the net right at the post. Ouellette from Beal and Powers. 2-0. GWG.
Drumm heard the call from the bench and finished the line change. Beal rushed onto the ice and centered a pass from the right wing corner. The puck tipped off of Ouellette’s stick slightly before sliding into Soucy’s wheelhouse where he sent the puck flying into the net. Soucy from Ouellette and Beal. Great play. 3-0.
All Drumm. Drumm got spilled on the way through the offensive zone and made IHC pay. He delivered a heavy (clean) hit and swiped the puck from the defender. Then he spun and fired the puck off of the goalie, and in. From below the goal line. Drumm unassisted. 4-0.
Lazzaro was motoring through the offensive zone. Petrie had covered the left point and the clearing attempt came toward him. In traffic, Petrie tapped the puck between the IHC player’s legs right on to the stick of the curling Lazzaro. Lazzaro grabbed the puck in stride, skated to the slot and ripped a shot into the top corner for the goal. Lazzaro from Petrie. 5-0.
After a few chances on the shift, Giampa snapped a shot inside the far post. The pass came from Mooney and Drumm who, along with Booth, had worked the puck around the boards until they could get the puck to the middle. Giampa from Mooney and Drumm. 6-0.
All the Flames made plays on this goal. Lazzaro hustled back on D to get the Flames the puck. Then Hawkes hit Powers on an outlet pass to break the puck up the ice. Powers was in deep so Petrie went to the corner and grabbed the puck. The puck squirted free and Kaveney batted the puck back to Powers who flipped a shot up and over the glove for a nice goal. Powers from Kaveney and Petrie. 7-1.
Santitto read the play from way out along the blue line. He jumped in and kept the puck alive to Ouellette. Ouellette fired a backhand toward the net that Soucy tipped and Beal slammed into the net. Beal from Soucy and Ouellette (with a nod to Santitto). 8-1.

The 2010 Flames had 18, 22, and 9 shots respectively over the course of the game. The tandem of Ingalls and Rosenbeck faced 13 shots and saved 12 of them. Team effort from top to bottom.

(MRYHA) 2010 Flames: 04 – 03 – 01 = 8

IHC West Orange: 00 – 01 – 00 = 1

The 2010 Flames return to the ice for a pair of practices this week and then they play a home double header on Saturday against Providence. They play Bay State at home on Sunday evening.

Please enjoy some pictures from Sunday’s game played in the Red Rink at Skate 3. I wasn’t going to bring my camera this morning because, well, the camera and lens are older than anyone on the team and the Red Rink isn’t the best place to take pictures usually. But the glass in the corner where I was standing was better than many other places so I gave it a shot. I definitely got some close-ups.

I love watching our kids play. I am so fortunate to look through hundreds of pictures that ‘don’t make the cut’ each game and see the faces, the fun, the intensity, and the sense of team in each of our players faces. It’s truly my pleasure.

Please click on these pictures. There is more to see than a thumbnail reveals. Zoom in. Enjoy. It’s all about the kids as they work shift after shift on making good hockey plays.

: Opening face-off 09-24-23 at Skate 3 Red Rink

: 22 Turns the corner

: Teammates look for each other

: In hockey you gotta get to the paint

: Hockey keeps everyone in motion

: Some days you gotta figure out how to get by the occasional hip check…

: …Then, get after it!

: By the Powers vested in me, power through

: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so then, what are eyes in the grasp of the photographer? A window to the source of the being

: Oh, those days, when all of us, one day, all of us could fly

: Only an optical illusion can hide 87 on the ice

: Watch a game at ice level and appreciate your player even more

: If there was a Moon over Miami, can there be a Mooney over Skate 3? Tyler had a pair of assists in this Flames victory.

: I wish I had a picture of the next split second. The opportunity was not missed.

: A close up of Lucas because Dad wanted pictures “of the weekend”. You know how us Dad’s are.

: From a long way away Will held the fort

: Yes, 8 that was awesome!

: Some day in high school if you stick with Math you might get a question like, “If there are 2 Flames for every Islander and both teams have the same number of players on the ice, what is the value of those Flames?” Answer: Priceless

: Seriously, where can you figure so many things out at break-neck speed and still get another shift without repercussion anywhere else in life? These are the days! And awesome days at that!

: You lean, I lean, we all lean together

: Oh, the eyes. So telling. So true.

: Dressed appropriately for the Red Rink

: He’s serious and I was just standing in the corner like so much of my childhood

: When you are caught up ice, there is the option to hustle. Check.

: We had a stoppage so now we’ll collect our breath for a second and drop the puck so it’s fair for everyone

: 20 winds up and pounds a shot off of a teammates thigh, but it’s part of the game

: #6 loves to be the target of friendly hockey fire

: This clearing attempt would have hit me in the left side of my ribs but I stood tall and took the picture anyways

: 7, “Remember that time I tipped a nifty pass to you through the defenders legs and you rifled a shot into the net?” 37, “No, because that memory is still happening. Geesh, Bedford kids!”

: No action in 10 minutes? Sorry. Get ready!

: Take it for what it’s worth, I mean the picture, which in this case is roughly words 1,000 words. Imagine how valuable that could be on a school paper.

: You boys skate on by cuz I got this one

: If you are on a true team, lean in, all the way, your mates will hold you up

: Here we see the defenseman, Lazzaro retrieve a puck that was not going to create an ‘icing’ situation. If you don’t know what that means see me after class.

: Our kids gather at the bench of “roll the lines, play in every scenario, and see where that gets you”. So blessed.

: The best way to cover the maximum amount of my blade is to have the long plane of the puck parallel to my blade. Whatever.

: Here’s how this is going to go. We have the lead. I will have the puck. You won’t. Smile.

: I have to stay off the ice during play. Hey guys.

: Hi, my name is Hawkes and I’m here for a tour.

: #12. Flex. Shot. Loud noises.

: When behind the net get the puck to the front of the net. Done.

: Making plays. Taking chances. Living to play hard and fast. Awesome.

: And I in my corner am the fortunate one, for these days are fleeting and I stand in awe

: This is a little move I learned when I spent a summer loading hay in Brantford, Ontario

: Remember when it wasn’t this way. Enjoy now when this will be a remember when.

: Options assessed in milliseconds. Constant motion. Who needs electronics?

: And all at once everyone was looking this way

: Looks like the play is coming through this corner again

: Hey 8! Imagine if there was a day when you dared not to be great? Ya, me either.

: Strip away the red jerseys all around you and where would you be then. Together is a great place to be.

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

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.