2025 NHIAA Hockey Final Four.
March 11, 2025. Check out the NHIAA Hockey Tournament Brackets.
It’s New Hampshire High School Hockey Tournament time! The regular season ended, and the tournament games began quickly. There were only a few days between the ending of a scheduled season and the beginning of wide open postseason possibilities.
D1 Boys NHIAA Hockey Final Four –
Last season, #7 Manchester met #10 Pinkerton in the Prelim Round, and the Astros scored the upset, 3-2, to advance. This season they met again, #8 Manchester bested #9 Pinkerton, 4-2 to advance.
Last season, #6 Bow was upset by #11 Exeter, 4-1. This season Bow earned the #10 seed, and upset #7 Windham (last season’s runner-up), 3-2 to advance. Manchester and Bow are a pair of programs trying to make something out of what once was. A return to NH High School Hockey prominence.
#8 Manchester lost to #1 Concord, 8-0, and Concord earned another final four appearance after missing the SemiFinals last season. #10 Bow was shutout, 6-0 by #2 Bishop Guertin. BG and Concord make up one half of the final four.
The other two quarterfinal games were upsets, at least as seeds were concerned. #6 Exeter returned to the final four by knocking off #3 Keene, 3-1. Last season, Exeter was the #11 seed and upset Concord in OT, 4-3 to advance. Also, like last season, Hanover entered the tourney as the #5 season. Last year, they beat #4 Bishop Guertin. This season they beat #4 Salem, 3-1.
The D1 Boys NHIAA Hockey SemiFinals look like this.
- 1. Concord vs 5. Hanover
Site: JFK Coliseum
Date: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Time: 5:00 p.m. - 2. Bishop Guertin vs 6. Exeter
Site: JFK Coliseum
Date: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Time: 7:30 p.m.
D2 Boys NHIAA Hockey Final Four –
#8 Winnacunnet beat #9 Lebanon-Stevens-Mascoma, 4-2 for a chance to play #1 Spaulding. In a game that was not a sure thing for a number of reasons, Spaulding was able to outscore the Warriors and win it, 7-4. This sets up a Spaulding vs. Merrimack rematch from last year. The Red Raiders pulled an incredible, 3-2 upset of #1 Tomahawks last season in double overtime, another game that was not a sure thing for similar reasons for Spaulding this season. Except, this season, Merrimack has added Hollis-Brookline and Derryfield School to the mix. They are no longer Tomahawks. They are War Hawks.
The War Hawks pulled a mild upset over #4 Goffstown, 3-2 in OT at Sullivan Arena in the QF. These teams had split their season series, with each team winning on home ice by the slimmest of margins. Goffstown has lost all five quarterfinal games they have played against Merrimack, dating back to 2013.
So, at Everett Arena in Concord, one SemiFinal looks like this:
1. Spaulding vs 5. Merrimack-Hollis Brookline-Derryfield
Site: Everett Arena
Date: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Time: 5:00 p.m.
On the other side of the bracket, defending Champs, #2 Oyster River dispatched #7 Dover, 5-2. They had swept the regular season series as well, 3-2 and 3-0. The Oyster River Bobcats started the regular season by winning their first five games. Then they tied Goffstown, 1-1. Goffstown won their next nine games to finish the regular season. The Bobcats then won 6 more games in a row before a loss to the War Hawks (MHBDS).
#3 St. Thomas piled up eight goals in their 8-2 win over #6 Alvirne-Milford. They had blown out the Admirals, 8-0 just before Christmas. The Saints won 10 of their first 11 games to start the season.
Alvirne-Milford turned the whole Division on its ear while running an incredible streak on the ice. They won 11 of 12 games over a span of 5+ plus weeks. They were 3-1 against tournament teams in their run.
#2 Oyster River will meet #3 St. Thomas in the other SF. They played each other back in January, on the 8th, and Oyster River won, 3-2. We will see what happens on Wednesday night.
2. Oyster River vs 3. Saint Thomas Aquinas
Site: Everett Arena
Date: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Time: 7:30 p.m.
D3 Boys NHIAA Hockey Final Four –
After beating them twice in the regular season, #4 Belmont-Gilford had all they could handle to get past #5 John Stark-Hopkinton-Hillsboro-Deering again. B-G managed a 2-1 win to advance to the SF round where they will play #1 Berlin-Gorham.
#1 Berlin-Gorham are the defending Champs, and they beat Belmont-Gilford, 2-1 back on January 2nd. They played to a 2-2 tie a couple of weeks ago. This should be a good one.
#6 Pembroke-Campbell played in the Championship game last March, but they lost something like 106 seniors from last year’s squad. As we know, team’s change a lot from some years to others. They lost to #3 Kennett, 7-1 in the Prelim round. Kennett completed the 3-0 season sweep over PAC. #3 Kennett will meet #2 Kingswood in the other SemiFinal.
#2 Kingswood was 8-2-1 against the other five teams in the D3 Tournament. They played Kennett twice. They lost, 2-1 at Kennett, and they won 3-2 at home. These two teams each posted 5 shutouts during the season. I do know this, someone will have to score to win this game.
1. Berlin-Gorham vs 4. Belmont-Gilford
Site: Plymouth State University
Date: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Time: 5:00 p.m.
2. Kingswood vs 3. Kennett
Site: Plymouth State University
Date: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Time: 7:30 p.m.
D1 Girls NHIAA Hockey Final Four –
For the second season in a row, the top 4 seeds advanced to the final four. As a matter of fact there were only two upsets in the Girls D1 tournament last season. #9 Kingswood-Prospect Mtn. beat #8 Bishop Brady-Trinity-Londonderry, 4-3. Then in the SF, #4 Oyster River-Portsmouth upset #1 Pinkerton, 5-2. Oyster River-Portsmouth would play an epic Championship game against Hanover, dropping the Final, 2-1 in an all-time classic game.
This season, Oyster River-Portsmouth is the #1 seed with a record of 16-2. They lost to just one team all year, Hanover, twice.
#4 Bishop Brady-Trinity traded Londonderry for Bow this season, and they won 13 games this season. They squeezed past #5 Lebanon-Stevens-Kearsarge, 2-1 in the QF.
Last year Concord was an 11-seed and they lost in the Prelims. This season they are the #2 seed. They carry a 15-4 record into their SF, after their win in the quarterfinal. They beat #7 Kingswood-Prospect Mtn., 8-2. They will play 3# Hanover next.
#3 Hanover finished 13-4 in the regular season, but they are undefeated against teams from NH. They shutout #6 Keene-Monadnock-Fall Mountain, 8-0 in the QF. They played Concord back on December 14th, and beat them soundly, 9-2.
1. Oyster River-Portsmouth vs 4. Bishop Brady-Trinity-Bow
Site: Everett Arena
Date: Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Time: 5:00 p.m.
2. Concord vs 3. Hanover
Site: Everett Arena
Date: Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Time: 7:30 p.m.
I do know this, that whether a school, or combination of schools, has a history of winning NHIAA Hockey titles or not, there are always outstanding games, performances, and surprises in every tournament. Every single season, players and teams are making history. None of it is scripted, and is just plain fantastic.
Get out to the venues and see some tremendous high school hockey and support these outstanding student athletes having the times of their lives. Best wishes to all the teams competing for the title in their respective divisions.
Now, Go and get it!
NHIAA Hockey Tournament Bracket D1 – Girls Ice Hockey
NHIAA Hockey Tournament Bracket D1 – Boys Ice Hockey
NHIAA Hockey Tournament Bracket D2 – Boys Ice Hockey
NHIAA Hockey Tournament Bracket D3 – Boys Ice Hockey
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.