February 23-25, 2024 – Four Games To Glory – Rochester Arena – GSL Playoffs – 2010 Flames –
Friday night, win. Go home. Saturday afternoon, win. Go home. SemiFinal Sunday, win. Waste time for four hours in Rochester, NH. Championship Game, play the #1 team, whom you haven’t beaten this season, win. Champs! Go home, eventually.
After completing the last day of school before the February Vacation break, the 2010 Flames drove to Rochester Arena for a 7 pm game against Plymouth, their first game of the GSL Tournament. The Flames jumped out to a quick lead, then built it to 3-0. Then nothing.
Over the first 18:21 of the game, the Flames had built a 3-0 lead. They had a 16-8 edge in shots. Then, over the remaining 26:39 of the game, they scored 0 goals and allowed 1 goal, despite having SIX consecutive power plays in the final period. The final shot totals had the Flames with 31 shots and the Panthers with 21. Plymouth battled, the Flames held on and won their first game of the tournament.
This next statement was true for this game, and for each of the remaining games too. Ingalls and Rosenbeck were just plain awesome in the nets!
Rochester Arena – Friday night, 2/23/24.
Some Stats-
Plymouth Panthers: 00 – 01 – 00 = 01
(MRYHA) 2010 Flames: 02 – 01 – 00 = 03
2010 Flames Penalties:
- Soucy (Roughing).
- Petrie (High-Sticking).
- 2010 Flames score first, on the power play – Powers wrapped the puck around the end boards and Kaveney picked it up in the corner and sent it back behind the net. Plymouth tried to clear from behind the net but Kaveney was in the way and he settled the puck in the corner. Then he fired the puck toward the net. The puck skipped off of the goalie to the far post. Beal was right there and he snapped the puck into the net for the power play tally. PPG – Beal from Kaveney. 1-0.
- Flames get another goal in the first period – Petrie lost the offensive zone draw, but he and Beal were there to pressure the defense and the defense rushed their clearing attempt. This allowed Powers to steal the puck at the right point and then rip a shot toward the goal. The puck danced through traffic and hit the back of the net for the goal. Powers unassisted. 2-0. GWG.
- If at first you don’t succeed, try again – The 2010 Flames had an offensive zone face-off. Soucy won it to Ouellette, and Ouellette passed back to Booth at the point. They had just tried this exact play from the same face-off dot and Booth’s shot had been blocked. This time, all was the same, except that Booth made an extra pass to his D partner, Powers. Powers ripped a 39 mph shot that somehow eluded everyone and bounced off the goalie, uncovered. Ouellette put the rebound in, while Soucy and Hawkes were sweeping for pucks, like a great play in curling. Ouellette from Powers and Booth. 3-0.
I didn’t make it to the 2010 Flames game on Saturday afternoon as I was back at St. A’s covering the Goffstown Grizzlies Sr. Day game against Timberlane. Goffstown won. I got home just in time to watch the final period of the Flames game on LiveBarn.
The Flames played a very good game. They outshot Back Bay, 42-25. Which also means that Ingalls and Rosenbeck made 24 saves and gave the Flames every chance to win the game, which they did.
Rochester Arena – Saturday afternoon, 2/24/24.
Some stats –
Back Bay: 00 – 00 – 01 = 01
(MRYHA) 2010 Flames: 01 – 02 – 01 = 04
2010 Flames Penalties:
- Giampa (Roughing).
- Drumm (Tripping).
- Giampa (Holding).
- Booth (Roughing).
Here’s how the Flames scored in their second game of the tournament.
- Flames get on the board first – Back Bay disrupted an offensive possession for the Flames, for a moment. The clearing attempt was picked off by Ouellette and he bumped the puck back to Powers at the point. Powers fired a pass / shot through traffic looking for Hawkes, but the puck went wide of the far post. St. Pierre skated on to the puck and centered a pass to the crease from the corner. Ouellette used his left hand shot and his reach to bang the puck into the net. Ouellette from St. Pierre and Powers. 1-0.
- PPG puts the Flames up 2-0 – Drumm set up Giampa in front, but the shot went wide. Then Drumm got the puck behind the net and moved it through the corner toward the point. The pass ran out of steam and Giampa helped push the puck back to Powers. Powers shot but the shot was blocked and the puck landed in the slot. This spot was right where Giampa was skating into. Giampa wound up and pounded a one-timer into the back of the net. PPG – Giampa from Powers and Drumm. 2-0. GWG.
- Breakaway back-breaker – Back Bay had the puck in the offensive zone and tried a pass back to the point. The pass wasn’t stellar and the defenseman also fell down. Giampa picked off the pass and had 100+ feet of open ice between him and the opponent’s goaltender. Giampa skated in all alone and buried his breakaway bid for a Flames goal with only 24.9 seconds left in the 2nd period. Giampa unassisted. 3-0.
- Power play goal to seal the deal – Giampa won an offensive zone face-off back to Powers. Powers was in the middle of the ice, in the high slot when he shot the puck. The puck was kicked out by the goaltender at the last second. Drumm was right there to grab the rebound and shoot. His shot ramped up and off of a defenders stick and arced perfectly over the goalie and into the net. PPG – Drumm from Powers and Giampa. 4-1.
After a game on Friday night and another game on Saturday afternoon, the 2010 Flames were 2-0, and headed to the semifinals to play Mt. Washington Valley. During the season the Flames lost to only two teams in league play. One of those teams was the Eagles from Mt. Washington Valley. On December 23rd, the Flames lost at Ham Arena, 4-2 to the Eagles.
The Flames did win their home game against the Eagles on February 11th, 3-1.
Sunday morning, it was time for the GSL Semifinals. The teams had split their games, 1-1 in the win column. Goals for, 5. Goals against, 5. Sunday, something would have to give.
Two things that didn’t give on Sunday morning, were the Flames goaltending tandem, of Ingalls and Rosenbeck. Literally, they allowed 0 goals on 14 shots faced. It was the team’s 10th shutout of the season. One thing that was given on Sunday morning, was the best team performance of the entire season by the 2010 Flames.
Were they perfect? No. Were they everywhere? Yes. They played their hearts out. They buzzed all over the ice, all game long, and skated to an impressive, 4-0 Semifinal win. The 2010 Flames Warren team was headed to the Finals.
Rochester Arena – Sunday morning, 2/25/24
SEMIFINAL
Scoring –
Mt. Washington Valley Eagles: 00 – 00 – 00 = 00
(MRYHA) 2010 Flames: 01 – 01 – 02 = 04
2010 Flames Penalties:
- Drumm (Roughing). Matching.
- Soucy (Tripping).
- Giampa (Cross-Checking). Matching.
- Warren (Roughing).
- Beal (Tripping).
The Flames scored 4 times, and it went something like this.
- The Flames dumped the puck into the zone (something they did a lot of in this game). The goalie played the puck behind the net and left it for his defense. But since the Flames were literally everywhere in this game, Drumm and Mooney were there to break up that play and Drumm ended up with the puck. Drumm skated to the other side of the net, and from behind the goal line he centered a pass to Petrie in the low slot. Petrie got a good shot off but it was kicked out by the goalie. Kicked right to Mooney who was at the other post, and he slammed the puck into the net. Mooney from Petrie and Drumm. 1-0. GWG.
- Kaveney stole the puck and carried it into the offensive zone, getting the puck deep. The Eagles weren’t able to clear the puck with the pressure from Beal, Kaveney, and Petrie. The puck stopped at the blue line with Lazzaro, who got a shot toward the net and the cycle of pressure resumed. Beal got the puck free at the side of the net and slipped a backhand pass to Petrie. The goalie was aggressively outside the post so Petrie flipped a shot up to bank it off of the goalie from just below the goal line. The puck missed the goalie and landed in the crease. Beal had continued toward the net and beat the defender to the puck and fired it into the empty net just as he got tripped up and fell to the ice. Great goal, because the pressure that caused turnovers which turned into a goal. Beal from Petrie. 2-0.
- Here we go again. Powers dumped the puck into the zone. The puck was moved behind the net toward the opposite corner. Soucy tipped the puck past two defenders to Hawkes at the top of the circle. Hawkes tried a shot that was partially blocked as he took a hit to make the play. The puck slid right to Ouellette on his forehand in the slot, and he wasted no time in flipping a wrist shot that beat the goalie to the glove side. Something out of nothing. Ouellette from Hawkes and Soucy. 3-0.
- The Flames were on the power play. The Eagles cleared the puck from their defensive end by icing the puck, except that the puck was on net. Rosenbeck played the puck coolly to Lazzaro off to the side of the net. Lazzaro looked up and made a long pass to Drumm speeding up the right wing. Drumm carried the puck into the circle and was blatantly hooked down from behind (no call). Petrie had just come onto the ice and he sped to the corner to get the loose puck, which he did. Petrie fed the puck to Drumm down low, at the bottom of the circle and he picked his spot, shot, and scored. PPG – Drumm from Petrie and Lazzaro. 4-0.
After killing time for roughly four hours in and around Rochester, NH, the team reunited at Rochester Arena for the Championship game. They were matched against the only team they hadn’t beaten during the regular season. They were playing Berlin. Berlin beat them up at Notre Dame Arena on December 23rd, by a score of 6-3.
In their home game against Berlin, the 2010 Flames had lost 5-0 just six days before the playoffs began. In the playoffs, the Flames entered the final game with a 3-0 record, having allowed just 2 goals against. Berlin was 2-1, having allowed 13 goals against. What would happen in the Championship game?
Berlin came to play. They outshot the Flames in the game, 39-24. The Flames defended and counter-punched. It was #1 Berlin Sabres vs. #2 2010 Manchester Flames in the Finals. Berlin with some high school players (2009’s and 2010’s) against the 2010 Flames, with no high school aged kids (2010’s and 2011’s). And the game was excellent. Both teams gave a tremendous effort. The margin between a win and a loss was so narrow that it could barely be seen. What a game!
Heart. Desire. Team. The Flames willed their way to the victory. Together. And the celebration told the same story.
Rochester Arena – Sunday afternoon, 2/25/24
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Scoring –
Berlin Sabres: 00 – 00 – 01 = 01
(MRYHA) 2010 Flames: 01 – 00 – 02 = 03
2010 Flames Penalties:
- Soucy (Roughing). Matching.
- Soucy (Cross-Checking).
- Booth (Interference).
- Booth (Cross-Checking).
- Soucy (Tripping).
- Drumm (Hooking). SHG.
It was the Championship Game and the moments inside of these games just seem to carry a little more weight. Here are the descriptions of the goals scored by the Flames in this final game. This was so awesome!
- The 2010 Flames (red jerseys) were on the power play but the play was along the end boards in the corner behind their own net, and the red jerseys battled to gain possession of the puck. Drumm pinned the player and puck against the boards with Giampa, St. Pierre, and Lazzaro in close support. As the puck came free, Berlin had it, for a second. But the support pressure separated the Sabre from the puck and Lazzaro tapped the puck out in front of Giampa. Giampa revved up his engines and took the puck on a joy ride up the ice. In the O zone Giampa fired but the D was right there and blocked the shot. Giampa stayed with it, and as all of the momentum had been headed toward the net, the blocked shot had come even closer to the net, in the slot. Giampa got to it first and fired again. Great shot. But a tremendous right pad save by the Berlin goalie. The rebound came out to the goalie’s right where Mooney was skating his lane. Mooney gathered the puck quickly enough to get turned and fire the puck into the open side of the net before the defense and goaltender could get to the places necessary to cut the angle and stop the shot. Sensational goal on the power play, with just 4.9 seconds left in the first period. PPG – Mooney from Giampa and Lazzaro. 1-0.
- The game was tied, 1-1. It was the 3rd period. The line of Giampa, Drumm, and Mooney had been creating some trouble for Berlin in the offensive end, especially on a couple of shots from St. Pierre through heavy traffic. But the defense and Berlin goaltending had shut everything down. Until a clearing attempt under duress by the Sabres. The puck slid up the middle of the zone toward the blue line. If the puck crossed the line, the chance was over for that trip up the ice. The Flames were pushing the play. Lazzaro skated in and grabbed the clearing attempt. Lazzaro fired a shot from way out high. There was defender right on him but the shot got through. There was another defender down low, but the puck got through. Mooney crossed in front of the goalie, but the puck got through. The goalie knew the puck was somewhere, but the puck got through. The puck was in the net. The 2010 Flames had a 2-1 lead with 7:21 left to play. And the Flames players, coaches, and fans made the loudest noise of the season. It was wonderful. And I might have thought for millisecond, about this. Lazzaro unassisted. 2-1. GWG.
- The Sabres were down, 2-1. They had pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. Rosenbeck was stopping everything, and the defense was blocking everything they could. Somewhere I think the Flames even defended a play that included a kitchen sink. Everything was on the table. But the Flames collective heart was beating, and my, was it ever beating strong. The Flames had iced the puck a few times in a row. Then the Flames took a penalty. There was 1:59 left to play. Now Berlin had a 6-on-4 advantage on the ice, an offensive zone face-off, all while trying to get the game-tying goal. Intense? Oh, you bet! Ouellette won the defensive zone face-off right to Lazzaro like it was all planned. Lazzaro fired the puck up the middle to ice the puck, but the Berlin D made a nice play to hold the puck in the zone. A shot to the crease was blocked by St. Pierre. Another shot was wide and St. Pierre was dropped behind the net. Rosenbeck paddled a would be centering pass behind the net, helping his own cause. Another shot was deflected and then blocked by St. Pierre. The puck came to Hawkes who flipped it toward the point and the blue line. The puck was bouncing and it got over the line. The collective heart was pounding now, and its’ power was funneled into a red jerseyed player wearing number 9. Hawkes managed to move the puck over the red line at center ice while out-Hawkes-tling a pair of defenders trying to stop him. As Hawkes completed his second stride past center ice he sent the puck toward the empty net. The Flames heart was overcoming all the odds. And every player not only felt it, but they were living it, embodying the desire and effort that allows teams to overcome, at times, better skill, and better structure. The puck slid into the empty net. Then, the bench, the bleachers, and the red jerseys on the ice all jumped, cheered, pounded sticks, high-fived, yelled, screamed, and hugged each other like only a family can. All of this happened in 30 seconds. SHG – Hawkes from St. Pierre. 3-1.
The 2010 Flames and the Berlin Sabres played one tremendous Championship Game.
The following video clips are from LiveBarn, Rochester Arena, Feb. 25, 2024.
After smiles, hugs, celebrations, poses, pictures, and memories of five seasons shared that led, finally, to a Championship. The crowds dispersed, and we all made our way home. I know that in our vehicle the words, “I can’t believe we won it!” were shared several times over the ride. And each time there were huge smiles in every row of our van.
As we finally pulled up our driveway I said out loud, “Well, I have less than 12 hours to pick up Grammy and drive her to Canada”. My Aunt Barbara, my Mom’s youngest sister had passed away on Thursday night. Mom and I went to Hartland, NB, Canada for three days, and that story will show up somewhere soon.
Some pictures from my phone:
Countless hours of my life have been spent in the tracking of numbers while loving the sports and players that produce them.
You can find more 2010 Flames material in these pieces, here. 2010 Manchester Flames.
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.
Leave a Reply