Since Christmas – Goffstown Hockey

Since Christmas – Goffstown Hockey

Brian C. Stone Memorial Christmas Tournament – JFK Memorial Coliseum

Goffstown at Lebanon-Stevens-Mascoma

Since Christmas the Goffstown Grizzlies played three games in the Christmas Tournament and then a league game against Lebanon-Stevens-Mascoma on January 3rd, 2024.

They have two more games before returning to Sullivan Arena (seen below) on January 27th.

Tie game. Third period. Sullivan Arena. Goffstown Grizzlies hockey on a Wednesday night before Christmas. What a great place to be. (Photo by Meagan Tarrier)

Between family Christmas celebrations in Connecticut and NH, and sickness that bounced around our family like a pinball, I missed the Brian C. Stone Memorial Christmas Tournament this year. I love going to those games and I hope to be back for the 2024 tournament. I also missed the road game against Lebanon.

But, since Christmas the Goffstown Grizzlies were pretty busy. They played three different Division I opponents during the Christmas tournament. They lost all three games, while mixing up the goaltending duties, and getting some valuable ice time for players up and down the roster. A couple of players also sat out the tournament to recover from injuries too.

I watched games on the Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey Facebook page, I watched games on YouTube, and I check out video on Hudl as well. I tracked the games pretty much as I would have had I been in the arena for the game. Here is a quick recap.

Game one – Goffstown hockey lost to Concord, 9-0. Concord is a perennial powerhouse in NH hockey so this really came as no surprise.

Game two – Goffstown lost to Trinity, 3-0. For most of this game I thought Goffstown had the upper hand. They possessed the puck a lot, but they didn’t appear to truly value the possessions as much as I thought they could have. Possessions led to nothing at all several times, just from being sloppy. I don’t know a better way to say it.

They did out shoot their opponents. The Grizzlies also had a number of great scoring chances. Trinity went 3-for-5 on the power play, scoring one goal in each period. That was the difference in the game, as it related to the score at least.

Game three – Goffstown lost to Bow, 7-4. Tough game to play after going 0-2 over the first two games. Here is how the scoring worked out in the Bow game.

1. Tyler Lessard swept in over the blue line and kept the offensive possession alive by smacking the puck off of the half wall in the offensive zone. Zack Tarrier grabbed the puck, spun, and sent a pass through the slot to Owen St. Onge. St. Onge used a quick shot over a ‘dust the puck off for an accurate shot’, and the puck got through the goaltender for the Goffstown goal. St. Onge from Tarrier and Lessard.
2. The Grizzlies had possession of the puck and Gavin Diodati battled in the corner to send a pass out through the slot. The puck found Dylan Ellbeg wide open. Ellbeg took a shot but fanned on the puck. He worked this to his advantage by getting closer to the net for a quick shot that was saved. But the rebound came right to Lessard and he promptly pounded the puck into the net for the goa. Lessard from Ellbeg and Diodati.
3. This was a power play goal for Goffstown, their first of the season – Ellbeg circled behind the net and fed a nice pass to Austin Campbell at the right point. Campbell shot the puck quickly and the puck sped just past the net and off of the end boards. This was not a bad thing because the carom came right to Connor Bernard on the other side of the net. Bernard promptly deposited a backhand shot into the net while Diodati was also in front, giving the goaltender a couple of things to think about. PPG – Bernard from Campbell and Ellbeg.
4. The fourth goal was a confirmation of good hockey plays – The good plays were as follows. Lessard enters the zone with speed, circles the net, and makes a good pass to the right point where Griffin Wilkinson was stationed. Wilkinson got rid of a quick shot toward the net. The shot was headed for some traffic in front of the net. Zack Tarrier was in the slot, out in front of the net, and he tipped the shot which changed the puck’s direction and slipped past the goalie. Tarrier from Wilkinson and Lessard.

Alex Veary and Jake O’Neil shared most of the duties in net for the Grizzlies during the tournament. Veary faced 47 shots, O’Neil saw 42 shots, and Kyle Bennett played one period and faced 9 shots.

The Goffstown hockey team traveled to Lebanon to play their first game of 2024. This game was back and forth all night. Both teams showed that they could create scoring chances and both teams were a threat to score on any given shift. The game was tied 1-1 after one period, and 2-2 after two periods. Then it was 3-3 in the final period with just over a minute left to play. Incredible finish to great game. This was a well played game by both teams.

Here is how the game finished and how the Grizzlies scored their goals.

1. Grizzlies get on the board – Sam Chapman made a nice pass out to the point and Brock Bennett got a good shot on goal. The shot was saved, but Tyler Lessard was right there to put the rebound into the net. Nice play. Good goal. Lessard (4) from Bennett (1) and Chapman (2).
2. Goffstown PPG – Bennett made a real nice play at the left point to keep the puck in the zone. Then he followed the puck to the corner while Zack Tarrier covered the point. Bennett worked the puck free for just a moment that was long enough to get the puck to Lessard in the low circle. Lessard was moving toward the net and his quick shot found the strings for the goal. PPG – Lessard (5) from Bennett (2).
3. Third period goal to take a brief lead – Lessard’s shot was blocked in transition, but he got it back in the corner and sent a beautiful pass to Tarrier skating through the middle. Tarrier ripped the shot into the net and the Grizzlies had a 3-2 lead (for 54 seconds). Tarrier (4) from Lessard (4).
4. With 1:05 left in the game Chapman shines again – After getting the OT game-winner before Christmas that would qualify as enough to satisfy a memorable season, but somehow this might have been even better. Here’s the scene from Campion Rink: The Grizzlies were shorthanded, and hemmed in, desperately defending in their own end. Sam Chapman let one D to D pass go by, but he was ready for the return pass. He picked it off and sped out of the D zone with the puck. Both Lebanon defensemen were in good position, so it was a 1-on-2 semi-break at best. Actually, it was no break at all. It was one skater skating into a tandem of defenders ready to chew him up like a  buzzsaw. Somehow, like Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl, Chapman not only broke through the two defenders who were all over him, he miraculously gained speed, AND STILL HAD THE PUCK. As he flew toward the net he made a last second dish to Tarrier who was doing his own flying without the puck, and Tarrier slammed the puck into the net for the game-winning goal with 1:05 left. I wrote “Herculean”in my notes. Tarrier (5) from Chapman (3). GWG.

NHIAA Hockey:

Wednesday, January 03, 2024

James W. Campion Rink

Scoring:

Goffstown Grizzlies: 01 – 01 – 02 = 04

Lebanon-Stevens-Mascoma: 01 – 01 – 01 = 03

Shots on goal:

Goffstown Grizzlies: 11 – 07 – 09 = 27

Lebanon-Stevens-Mascoma: 08 – 08 – 06 = 22

Goffstown Grizzlies Penalties:

1. Ellbeg (Interference)
2. Ellbeg (Slashing)
3. Matatall (Trip)

Goffstown was 1-for-1 on the power play, while Lebanon was 0-for-3.

Evan George made 23 saves on 27 shots (.852).

Kyle Bennett made 19 saves on 22 shots (.864).

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.