Only One – Goffstown Hockey

December 16, 2023 – Only One – Skate 3 –

For the second game in a row, the Grizzlies allowed only one goal. This time though, it was too much to overcome as the Alvirne-Milford Admirals skated to a 1-0 victory over the Goffstown Grizzlies.

I was not able to be at the game on Saturday afternoon as it conflicted with my daughter’s Christmas figure skating show. I did watch the game on video.

My takeaways from the game were as follows:

1. The Admirals are solid up and down the roster. They will hit you. They will take runs at you. They had an awful lot of hits that were up high on players.
2. The space between players where the puck is contended for, or the areas where plays are made shrunk for the Grizzlies. The threat of Admiral physicality did shrink the perception of time and space for the Grizzlies to finish scoring chances, in my opinion.
3. There were fourteen penalties called in the game. Eleven of them were called on the Admirals. There easily could have been more penalties called in the game. Liberties were taken.
4. Kian Corcoran played great in net. He was hung out to dry a few times but kept the puck out of the net. 42 saves is impressive in any league, but it doesn’t bode well for the team if they are allowing that many shots on a regular basis.
5. Kyle Bennett made his first career start in net for the Goffstown Grizzlies and he played very well. On many nights 28 saves on 29 shots would earn the team a win, but the visitors were unable to cash in on plentiful scoring opportunities.
6. Goffstown had countless chances on offense but way too many of them ended in the dreaded ‘stickhandle to oblivion’ scenario where one too many dekes led to the play being broken up and the chance gone. Yes, the Grizzlies have some talented offensive threats, but move the puck. Pass the puck. Give it up. Get it back. Make the defense defend many, not just one dangling puck carrier. One definition of dangle is: hang. And too many opportunities were hung out to dry, as in chance missed.
7. There were times when I noticed that the Goffstown players were less than urgent in their back check, as in, that’s your play not mine. Or, someone else will take care of that and I will get there when I get there. This certainly wasn’t all the time, but it did show itself, and Bennett made tough saves that he probably shouldn’t have had to.
8. Shoot the puck, or pass the puck on one touch. Corcoran played outstanding, no question. But when the Goffstown players got him moving east and west with passing, the receiver rarely got a shot away on one touch. Sometimes quick shots are better than gathering the puck and picking a spot to shoot at because the spot disappears with each passing fraction of a second. Only one goal allowed should equal a win.
9. Finally – This was an exciting game. Both teams were a threat to score. Both goalies came up big throughout the game. As for Goffstown, there were freshmen playing in the game all through the contest, in all kinds of situations, and that is great. The team battled right until the final whistle, and then to the second final whistle (icing call in the last second of regulation). There are things to correct. But there is much to build on.

• Grizzlies did not score.

NHIAA Hockey:

Scoring:

Alvirne-Milford Admirals: 00 – 00 – 01 = 01

Goffstown Grizzlies: 00 – 00 – 00 = 00

Shots on goal:

Goffstown Grizzlies: 12 – 14 – 16 = 42

Alvirne-Milford Admirals: 12 – 06 – 11 = 29

Goffstown Grizzlies Penalties:

1. Ellbeg (Roughing)
2. Caldwell (Interference)
3. Bennett (Trip)

Goffstown was 0-for-9 on the power play, while the Admirals were 0-for-2.

Kian Corcoran made 42 saves on 42 shots (1.000). Corcoran earned the shutout in just his second career varsity start.

Kyle Bennett made 28 saves on 29 shots (.966). This was Bennett’s first career varsity start.

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.