Helter Skelter To Harmony – 2010 Flames

March 2 & 3, 2024 – Helter Skelter To Harmony – Icenter Salem – Governor’s Academy – Fed Playoffs – 2010 Flames –

The Flames went 1-1-1 on the weekend. The best game, by far, was the 1-1 tie on Sunday afternoon. The team did not advance to Finals Weekend, but for all of us, I think we can say, sincerely, this team advanced plenty this season.

 

 

 

The 2010 Flames performed their lead act of February vacation last weekend. It was so sensational that it would have been a miracle to equal the performance, much less improve on it.

After a week off from school with players falling out of their daily routine and having lots of fun along the way, the team showed up at Icenter Salem in Salem, NH for game one of the weekend. The 2010 Flames may have enjoyed vacation too much for hockey sake, as they committed 7 penalties, allowed 3 PPG’s, and lost 7-0 to the Boch Blazers.

And by the way, I hope the kids did totally enjoy their vacation week. It’s so important to allow kids to be kids, well, unless they’re 27 years old, then maybe some reigning in would be in order.

 

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Icenter Salem – Saturday afternoon, 3/2/24. Fed Playoffs.

Some Stats-

(MRYHA) 2010 Flames: 00 – 00 – 00 = 00

Boch Blazers: 01 – 02 – 04 = 07

2010 Flames Penalties:

1. Booth (Interference).
2. Giampa (Interference).
3. Giampa (Hooking). PPGA.
4. Soucy (Roughing). PPGA.
5. Giampa (Roughing). PPGA.
6. Soucy (Cross-Checking).
7. Giampa (Delay of Game).

 

1. No Scoring.

 

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On Sunday, the 2010 Flames had to play both of their games at Whiston-Bragdon Arena at Governor’s Academy. The rink is great.

In game one of the day, the game presentation was awful. The scoreboard operator was asleep at the wheel, perhaps literally. The refs were as engaged in the game as a 13-year old who had fallen asleep while rolling their eyes too many times while listening to parental direction.

The Flames played nearly the same. This game was a win, yes. But the team play on the ice was helter skelter at best. I started to track how many times I typed “pass the puck” into my phone, but then I rolled my eyes and nearly went to sleep.

There were actually no penalties called in the game. They were just whistled, and the ref dragged someone to the box. No signal. Then the scoreboard operator input whatever came to mind into the scoresheet. Ugh.

After finally getting back to the lineup a few weeks ago, Drumm re-broke his collarbone on an awkward hit along the boards. Kaveney was out of the lineup for the games on Sunday, with health issues, too. My heart hurts for otherwise healthy kids that are sidelined from their favorite places to compete and measure themselves.

The Flames managed to score four goals and win the game. They scored something like this. But what do I know.

 

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Whiston-Bragdon Arena at Governor’s Academy – Sunday morning, 3/3/24. Fed Playoffs.

Some stats –

Islanders HC West (Blue): 01 – 00 – 01 = 01

(MRYHA) 2010 Flames: 01 – 03 – 00 = 04

2010 Flames Penalties:

1. Mooney (Slashing).

 

Here’s how the Flames scored in their second game of the tournament.

1. The goal that nobody celebrated. Nice rush from Drumm for a shot on goal, and a nice save from the IHC goalie. St. Pierre was there for the rebound and he pasted a shot into the side of the goaltender that bounced off of him and into the net. This was a few feet from where I was standing with all of my friends. The puck was clearly in the net. There was no signal that I saw. Eventually some people cheered when the ref skated over, bent over, ducking his head to avoid the crossbar, and picking the puck out of the back of the net. I should have known this was a sign of things to come. It was a great goal. But the ref seemed to be implying that you players score the goals and we’ll just get the puck and skate to center ice and drop it. We may, or may not report to the scorer because we don’t want to disturb him. St. Pierre from Drumm. 1-0.
2. This was the old pass to the slot for a shot on net that beat the goalie before he could get over and save it. Hockey 101. Hawkes from Petrie. 2-1.
3. The Flames were putting together some pressure in the offensive zone and finally it paid off. Booth took a shot thru heavy traffic from out by the blue line. The puck hit everything but the scorekeeper. But the Flames retained possession with passes by Hawkes to St. Pierre to Mooney in the middle. Mooney pounded the puck into the net for the goal. Mooney from Hawkes and St. Pierre. 3-1. GWG.
4. This was one of those plays when the puck was batted around, amid a multiplayer scrum and then suddenly it wasn’t. Lazzaro emerged with the puck and a few feet of space as he skated to the slot and let a shot fly. The puck rippled the strings for the goal. Lazzaro unassisted. 4-1.

 

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When I walked out of the rink after the Islanders game, I didn’t know what to expect in the next game. I do know that I wanted to enjoy the four plus hours in between games and get the helter skelter out of our collective system.

In our vehicle it had been helter skelter all day too. Like hockey season had lasted one week too long. I wanted harmony.

After a nice lunch, during which I sent Coach Johnny Hawkes a picture of a picture of the Newburyport High School football team from 1949 that was hanging on the wall in the diner named Park Lunch, we walked across the street to Cashman Park. It was great to get outside for an hour and a half or so before returning to the rink.

Well, whatever happened during the time between games, I could tell a couple of shifts into the game that the Flames were totally different than they were in the first two games of the weekend. Yes, they gave up an early goal, but answered with a goal of their own.

From then on, it was 200 feet of ice contended for at every turn. Both teams had chances. Both teams hit posts or crossbars with shots. Both teams ‘just missed’ on chances. But mostly, both teams played awesome, competitive hockey. Both teams were hoping for a win to advance to Finals Weekend.

 

 

The 2010 Flames went from helter skelter to harmony, from one game to another. The energy was way, way better. The teamwork was better. The game was better. Providence was the big favorite in the game, but the Flames battled them over every inch of the ice.

The game ended in a 1-1 tie. The Flames finished 5th out of 8 teams, or one goal outside of the Finals Weekend. From where they started on Saturday to where they finished on Sunday was like night and day. Or, like helter skelter to harmony.

Sunday afternoon was the last game of the season. And the Flames played the way I would expect them to, as I know them and love them. They weren’t flashy or even pretty, but they played with a fire for one another. They worked as hard as they could from shift to shift. And they put a heavily favored team on their heels all game. They didn’t win, but they certainly didn’t lose either.

I have been thinking about a way to sum up how I feel about this team, if not just for this season, but maybe for all the seasons. And maybe it’s not really a feeling as much as it’s a love for the team as represented by 17 unique individuals and the adults we have entrusted to coach and develop our players.

 

And, I guess it came to me while I was on the Catwalk Crew earlier today at a rink on the campus of the oldest boarding school in New England. It goes something like this.

The 2010 Flames players skate a shift and give the best effort they know how to give. They give their best for themselves, but most likely, they give it for their teammates and for their coaches. Then they get back to the bench and get coaching and teaching from their coaches. They approach it almost as if their bodies and minds are asking the coaches what else can I learn or what could they have done better. And when can I get back out there to apply it.

Then it’s time for the next shift, and they jump over the boards with a band of friends and fellow hockey warriors to see how the next exhilarating moment of their growth and development in this glorious, adventurous hockey life will turnout. Again, and again. And they pleasantly surprise us, NO! They blow the doors off of our expectations. They make us smile, laugh, and well up with tears.

They pull the literal fantastic out of helter skelter. They stand up for themselves and for each other. They would actually do anything if it was the best possible scenario they could conceive and achieve for their coach. And they celebrate their successes like it was the hardest thing that they ever did, as well as the most intensely extraordinary team achievement they could imagine. And the whole thing is just awesome.

So, you can call it whatever you want. This year, next year, any year. But I call it, the ‘2 team’, a ‘development team’. And you know what, if the journey is better than the destination, then isn’t the climb better than the top rung. It is quite possible that the kids that have laced them up together on this team over these last several years may well have spent some of the most memorable days of their lives together in the intoxicating air of delayed gratification as the beautiful color picture fully develops.

Finally, to get from helter skelter to harmony, a team must be hungry to learn and eager to resolve the conflict. Credit to all involved.

 

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Whiston-Bragdon Arena at Governor’s Academy – Sunday afternoon, 3/3/24. Fed Playoffs.

Scoring –

(MRYHA) 2010 Flames: 01 – 00 – 00 = 01

Providence HC South: 01 – 00 – 00 = 01

 

2010 Flames Penalties:

1. Booth (Roughing).
2. Booth (Interference).
3. Soucy (Slashing).

The Flames scored once and it was awesome.

1. The Flames goal was awesome because they scored to answer an opponent’s goal and it evened the score. The goal was awesome because it signaled that this isn’t the game the opponent was expecting. It was awesome because it was scored, and for the rest of the game it stood up, on its own, like the truth. It was awesome because the play was a turnover that was caused by pressure by a team of ‘development’ players. Players that kept going back to the bench to rest up, get coaching, and get revved up. So they could jump over the boards at any moment they were called on for action. It was awesome because the clearing pass was picked off out high by Lazzaro and he fired a good hard shot on net. It was awesome because of the pressure and the puck not leaving the zone, Soucy was still down low and he deflected the shot just enough to get it past the goaltender, and the game was tied. Soucy from Lazzaro. 1-1.

 

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After the game ended these things happened:

1. The Providence team celebrated like they won, because a tie allowed them to advance to Finals Weekend. And up until the final buzzer that fate was definitely in question.
2. The Flames felt good about their game because they played well, like a team against a heavily favored team.
3. I don’t know what was said in the Flames locker room but you could hear Coach Nick’s voice lifting the team, their spirit, and some ceiling tiles, after a 1-1 tie, over a 1-1-1 weekend.
4. In the foyer of the beautiful rink, the hockey families merged into just one hockey family while awaiting the players and their coaches.
5. A table was set up in the corner of the room with gifts for the coaches covering the entire surface.
6. Nichole did a really nice job speaking about the gifts being from the kids and the hockey family as a token of our appreciation for their dedication to our kids, to our team. She also did an incredible job with the gift themselves. She had some help, t00, as mentioned below.
7. Coach Nick spoke of love and of how memorable this group and this year has been.
8. The result of several people putting time, effort, skill, creativity, and so much more into the team, made the afternoon and a 1-1 tie feel like one of the best days of the season.

Awesome job everyone. Thank you.

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