-Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey-
Winning On and Off the Ice – January 15, 2025
The Manchester Kings visited Sullivan Arena to play the Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey team. These two hockey programs unveiled new, unique jerseys to signify their commitment to the cause. They played a game they love to play. And to skate past the stigma while scoring support for mental health awareness.
![click to enlarge Winning On and Off the Ice](https://i0.wp.com/1inawesomewonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NAMI-Night-Green-IMG_1992.jpg?resize=1500%2C1000&quality=89&ssl=1)
Green: the international symbol for mental health awareness. So, the Grizzlies went green on Wednesday night. (Photo by Meagan Tarrier).
NAMI NH (National Alliance on Mental Illness – New Hampshire) was on hand with personnel and resources. Brittany Porter and Melissa Wieters had a booth set up on the concourse at Sullivan Arena. All entry fees, monies collected during the intermissions, and through donations on the online portal went directly to NAMI NH.
Recent data suggests that more than 50% of adults say they or a family member have experienced a serious mental health crisis. Visit NAMINH.org to learn more and connect with information and resources.
If you or someone you love is experiencing a mental health crisis, it’s important to seek help now. Help is available 24/7. Call or text 988, or visit NH988.com.
Seriously, though. Think about this for a moment. There are so many occurences in our lives that can and do cause mental health crises. The color green can help. Literally. Use the above resources and help yourself, or help others. All around us there is divorce, death of loved ones, job loss, financial difficulty, long-term stress, bullying, loneliness, abuse in all kinds of ways, major life transitions, etc. There are people hurting or struggling, and they might be sitting beside you. Get help. Be the help.
Please, click on the galleries, and zoom in on the pictures. Enjoy these moments frozen in time, in an image.
- (Photo by Meagan Tarrier).
- (Photo by Meagan Tarrier).
- (Photo by Meagan Tarrier).
An interesting thing about the Manchester versus Goffstown game was the familiarity among players and even coaches from both sides of the rink. So many participants in the game have been, or still are, a part of the Manchester Flames organization. Kids played together, or played for coaches on either side of the ice.
Truly, this is one of my favorite things about the sport of hockey. These threads run through NH hockey, and all the way through NHL and International hockey. I believe it is another part of hockey that makes the game and so many, many of its players grounded and approachable.
And the game, well the game was a pretty good one. The Grizzlies hockey team had nine shots on goal in the first period, but they found the back of the net with three of them. The game had a pretty good pace throughout. The Manchester Kings gathered themselves after falling in to a 3-0 hole. They cut the lead to 3-2 with 2:23 left in the game. They outshot the Grizzlies 15-6 in the final period.
Manchester was down 3-1 in the final period. They pulled Kayden Hinse from their net with 2:55 left in the game for an extra attacker. He re-entered the net for about 14 seconds but was on the bench for the last 2:09. During this time, the Kings scored once and had a host of shots on goal, keeping the Grizzlies hemmed in for much of the time.
Camden Provencher scored in the second period, at 5:21 for the Kings first goal. Great rush and finish, set up by Frank Tessier. Then with the extra attacker on the ice, Manchester scored again at 12:37 of the third period. Ryan Marden from Andrue McLaughlin. Things were tense for the last two minutes. What a game!
Tyler Lessard scored an empty net goal at 14:55 to make the final score, 4-2. Bigger than the distance that empty net shot slid on the ice was the night, the gathering of opponents and friends alike. Passing the hat to collect donations in person and online. Coming together for a cause.
The lovely ladies from NAMI NH were blown away by the crowd’s of people from both sides coming together to win the night. One attendee shared, “I would like to add that the representatives of NAMI praised our community! They were blown away by the kindness and generosity they witnessed. Even mentioned having few penalties in the game was a testament of how great the community was (they picked the right game is attend ). They loved being onsite to meet everyone that took the time to say hello at their table…”(Anonymous). Thank you, NAMI NH for joining us and helping to support a great cause.
The annual charity game brought in $3054 (and counting I hope). The goal had been $3000. Thank you, all of you.
- (Photo by Meagan Tarrier).
- (Photo by Meagan Tarrier).
Goffstown Grizzlies vs. Manchester Kings.
Sullivan Arena, St. Anselm College, Goffstown, NH.
NHIAA Hockey: Game ten.
Wednesday, January 15, 2025.
![click to enlarge Winning On and Off the Ice](https://i0.wp.com/1inawesomewonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NAMI-NH-Night-Al-doing-his-thing-IMG_2176.jpg?resize=333%2C500&quality=89&ssl=1)
It’s always a pleasure to have Al St. Louis join us. He has become a great friend of the Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey program. He always does a great job. (Photo by Meagan Tarrier).
NHIAA Hockey:
Scoring:
Goffstown Grizzlies: 03 – 00 – 01 = 04
Manchester Kings: 00 – 01 – 01 = 02
Shots on goal:
Goffstown Grizzlies: 09 – 10 – 06 = 25
Manchester Kings: 07 – 08 – 15 = 30
Goffstown Grizzlies Penalties:
- Diodati – 2:00 – Slashing.
- S. Chapman – 2:00 – Hooking.
Goffstown was 0-for-2 on the power play, while the Kings were 0-for-1.
- Goffstown Grizzlies – Kyle Bennett (So.) made 28 saves on 30 shots (.933).
- Manchester Kings – Kayden Hinse made 21 saves on 24 shots (.875).
The Goffstown Grizzlies scored three in the first and held on with a clincher late in the third. A look at how they scored.
- 1st 5:19 – The Grizzlies lost a defensive zone face off and Manchester was set up in the O zone. The puck went back to the point for a shot out high. Tyler Lessard and Dylan Ellbeg were the Goffstown wingers. They both skated out to cover the points and get in shooting lanes. Connor Cunningham fired a shot from the blue line and there was Ellbeg right in the lane. He blocked the shot and the puck fell out in front of him. He tipped it past the defenseman out to center ice. He took off. Lessard took off with him. It was a 2-on-0 break for the Grizzlies. Ellbeg on the left, Lessard on the right. Ellbeg held and held, and then fired, glove side. He scored on the play with Lessard right there too. That is how wingers play defense in the D zone. Once in a while good defense bounces your way into immediate offense. Even – Ellbeg (4) unassisted. 1-0.
- 1st 12:56 – After an avoidable offside on the rush. The Grizzlies got the puck back and dumped it deep into the offensive zone, into the corner. Ellbeg, Lessard, and Zack Tarrier followed it up by forechecking. It paid off. Lessard picked off a ‘first pass’ clearing effort and turned toward the middle. As he looked inside, Tarrier got open in the slot. Lessard hit Tarrier with a pass. Tarrier turned to shoot as Ellbeg stepped aside to give Tarrier a lane to shoot in. Tarrier ripped a shot inside the far post for the goal. Even – Tarrier (2) from Lessard (8). 2-1.
- 1st 14:23 – Back in the D zone the Grizzlies were fumbling about with the puck a bit. Then Jackson Horne turned the play up the wall and tipped a pass while under pressure to Tarrier in the middle. Tarrier carried the puck up ice with a Chapman on either side and dumped a shot just wide of the net. It was strategic. The puck was close enough to the post to get Kayden Hinse moving. Tarrier got his own rebound off of the end boards and circled behind the net. But the brilliance of the play was that Tarrier had secretly dropped a pass back to the circle before he went behind the net. Hinse had followed Tarrier’s movement to the far post. As this happened Sam Chapman skated into Tarrier’s gifted puck in the circle. He ripped a shot into the open side of the net. Beautiful play, head’s up pass, and accurate shot. GWG – Even – S. Chapman (10) from Tarrier (8) and Horne (2). 3-0.
- 3rd 14:55 – Manchester had pulled Hinse for an extra attacker and they were pressing the Grizzlies. They had already scored one goal with the extra attacker. Now they were trying to tie the game. They had several shot attempts and Goffstown was called for a few icing calls. Finally, the Grizzlies forced another turnover. Ellbeg pressured in the corner and the Manchester pass zigged while the Kings’ forward zagged. This allowed Tyler Lessard to pick off the pass deep in the D zone. He gathered the puck, turned up ice and calmly let a shot slide from inside the defensive blue line. The puck had a clear path up the ice. The only question was whether or not it was on the net. As the puck traveled it looked good. It was. Pretty much dead center. Empty Net Goal – T. Lessard (14) unassisted. 4-2.
- (Photo by Meagan Tarrier).
- (Photo by Meagan Tarrier).
Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey
(Thank you Meagan)
- (Photo by Meagan Tarrier).
- (Photo by Meagan Tarrier).
- (Photo by Meagan Tarrier).
You can find news, video, updates, and all kinds of interesting tidbits involving Goffstown Grizzlies hockey here, Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey.
![click to enlarge Winning On and Off the Ice](https://i0.wp.com/1inawesomewonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NAMI-NH-Night-Thank-you.-Stick-with-it.-IMG_2720.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=89&ssl=1)
We are so blessed to have so many people in motion. For every game, practice, gathering, meal, etc. This Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey Program is loved and provided for. There are tremendous examples all around us. It can be done alone, but it’s much better to be Winning On and Off the Ice, together. Truly blessed in the “…land of the free and the home of the brave…” (Photo by Meagan Tarrier).
Remembering Jen Cheney…
The Jen Cheney Memorial Scholarship and Sportsmanship Award (awarded each season)
As a sixteen-year-old junior, Jen was a manager for the very first Goffstown Grizzlies hockey team in the 1999-2000 club season. Her infectious smile and friendly nature was a joy for everyone fortunate to know her. Jen is now our eternal team angel. The spirit of Jen lives on…our team champions an angel memorial patch sewn to each uniform jersey.
On Thursday, May 18th, 2000, Jen was killed by a drunk driver. We are dedicated to memorialize Jen’s life with the Jen Cheney Memorial Scholarship and Sportsmanship Award. But we also want to deliver a message from our team angel… simply…if you choose to drink, don’t drive.
The thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the individual contributors, mostly mine. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the leagues, schools, coaches, players, or characters listed in any of these blog posts. Or, maybe they do. Either way, you would have to ask them directly.
Either way I agree with this statement from a great hockey coach, “It’s a great day for hockey” ~ the late “Badger” Bob Johnson.
“We should be dreaming. We grew up as kids having dreams, but now we’re too sophisticated as adults, as a nation. We stopped dreaming. We should always have dreams.” ~ the late Herb Brooks.
“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it: If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.” ~ the late Jim Valvano on how to live life, during his ESPY speech.
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