-Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey-

Better Over Time – March 08, 2025 – Sullivan Area.

All of this will feel better over time. The extra period started slow for the home team, but it got much better. Even though the road team won, it would be hard to find any better over time.

 

 

 

I have heard and read quite a few comments about this quarterfinal game. The feedback I have heard has been positive. From a hockey standpoint, how could it not be? Incredible game. I mean, was there even a single less than captivating minute of this game? I don’t think so. The best part is that this game will just get better over time.

What I heard and read contained recurring words like, fast, goaltending, pace, clean, energy, crowd, competitive, etc. Was it perfect? No. Did the players all stay completely within the lines of sportsmanship for the game’s entirety? No. Were the players teenagers, and subject to emotions, up and downs, greatness and mistakes? Yes, to a fault. As it should be.

Some folks may get caught up in the history of the matchup, especially from the Goffstown side. Some may stack this game against the historical inequality of playoff success versus regular season success for the Grizzlies. I might think in those terms myself sometimes. But I would also coach that what has happened in the past does not rob anyone of us from making the next great choice. Neither does a game lost 12 years ago or a game won two weeks ago, determine how the next period (or four) will go.

 

 

 

After the game was over and the gamesheets were distributed. The penalty boxes and benches were empty, and I was alone in the scorer’s booth. Chad was working on the ice to my left, picking up debris from pom-poms and whatever else fell to the ice during the War Hawks game-winning celebration against the glass.

I felt my head swim a bit, and my heart was getting heavy. My competitive, but sentimental side was pulling me closer and closer to tears. For another season was done. Kids who had given so much for so long to a sport, to themselves, to their teams, had skated off the ice, having lost their final game of the season. Deep inside me there was a seed that I knew was there. And I wanted to cultivate that seed and let it bloom before I left the booth.

So I leaned on the desk in the booth, with my head in my hands. I wanted to let tears flow if they needed to but I had something else in mind. I prayed. I prayed for grace and gratitude. I prayed for love of the kids, home and away. I prayed for the sense of joy and contentment, and even excitement, to return to me as it had been present throughout the whole game. To be counted as present during the glorious moments that unfold while giving your best, especially as a team, regardless of the end result. It’s beautiful. It’s a gift. The gift too, is better over time.

After I stood upright to face my own little world, I went onto the ice and had a great chat with Chad. Chad played hockey for the Grizzlies, he was a freshman on the second team to ever suit up for Goffstown in ice hockey. He and I have chatted throughout the season. I wish I could have seen him play back then. To bear witness to more of the history that makes up 25 years of hockey at Goffstown.

When our family moved to Goffstown it was 1996. There was no hockey program at Goffstown then. At least, not yet. I count myself fortunate to have been close to the program for the last 10 years or so. For the five seasons leading up to this one, I had no son or daughter in this program. And this season, my son was hurt, but fell in love with this team. He only dressed for five games all season, and wasn’t on the playoff roster.

 

 

But it’s not about my kid, or about me. It’s about all the kids. It’s about being thankful for the opportunities to play, or to watch, or to just announce kids names in front of a packed house.

It’s about the love of the game and the thrill of becoming better than you were previously even if someone else is better. You can only run the race that you are in. And who’s better today might be different tomorrow. But wouldn’t it be awesome to know that for nearly four full periods on a night in March, that all played their best and we were all there to be a part of it?

I mean, what are we doing this for? If winning is truly everything, or the only thing, then we need to work a whole lot harder to better define the word, winning.

Winning is a Mom somewhere in the seats. She is surrounded by family and friends. A family and friends that has grown in numbers because a kid, and a sport, and more smiles, skipped heartbeats, and memories than one could ever count. They sit, nervously, but happily, because their joy will be there come win or lose. The gift is already theirs.

Winning is a kid on the ice who gets one shift but makes a pass or a play that he or she never thought they were capable of, and they thirst for more. To better themselves, not only for the one, but for the many. Or it’s a teammate on the bench or in the stands. He or she can feel their heart thumping in their chest, and they know it’s in unison with the mates on the ice. Because they have done this, together, time and time again. The routine. The familiarity. The security. The sense of belonging to something greater than just one.

 

 

Winning is a Dad standing somewhere along a railing. He rocks and moves without realizing it, like he did when he first held his newborn and tried to ease them into a restful sleep. There he stands watching his son or daughter play a sport he may have played, or not, but he knows that his kid plays for the love of the game. He’s not loud or boastful, his pride is not ego, it’s more admiration for the path his kid is on. And he stands, like a pin cushion ready to burst with joy, or tears, or an exhale that comes when he knows everything is going to be okay.

Winning is a staff, on both sides, that came and saw. They immediately know how exceptional the thrilling seconds that make up a single minute of such a game are what they always wanted. It’s those seconds that matter, even more than the result. Because they can’t control the results, but they can capture a second and another, and another, and so on. They can smile and talk at ease about their team and how they competed, because it was real. It was all. It was team.

Winning is the crowd, gathered in colors and logos. They cheer and chant, and laugh together in the thrill of sport. But for so many of the crowd, these aren’t just any competitors, they are our sons and daughters. Many are grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. And they know just as they might start to wish for this or that to happen, they feel and respect how that too would impact the sons, daughters, grandchildren, nieces and nephews on the other side. So, they connect instead to the gratitude they feel just to be alive in this place, full of life, and energy that comes in numbers.

Winning is gathering after the fact, later, or reflecting alone, with each passing moment growing in gratitude and love. Joy becomes hard to contain, but the overwhelming sense of contentment calms each one in their own way. And smiles quietly light up all around as all of this gets better over time.

 

 

I cannot do this story without mentioning The P Three. The P Three are Paul Matatall, Pete Tarrier, and Paul Lessard. They have received some help from Lisa, Derek, Dave, Renee and some others I am sure. But these three men have given up comfortable seats and casual hockey discussions game after game in order to deliver live hockey broadcasts of Grizzlies Hockey on the Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey Facebook page.

More than that, they share the action and excitement with friends and family all over the U.S. and even reach people in other parts of the world.

To be honest, I was feeling a little down about the loss on Saturday when I went to work on Monday morning. I had some other hockey conversations going throughout the weekend and some thoughts and actions had really troubled me. They had nothing to do with the QF.

So early in my day (I was driving 350 miles on Monday) I pulled up the Grizzlies Hockey Facebook page and played each of the periods while I was driving. No, I wasn’t watching the video, I was listening to The P Three. I could see in my memory every play they called. Because I was certainly doing my best to be present in the moment on Saturday afternoon.

 

 

Mr. Chapman and I have worked the booth at St. A’s for every home game over these last two seasons. It has been a pleasure for me to get that weekly chat with him and have some fun watching hockey up close and personal. Pete noted on the broadcast from Saturday that at one point, the clock ran for a couple extra seconds. Which is funny to me because I was at ice level with Mr. Chapman, and I said calmly, “Stop it.” Referring to the clock. He did.

We have worked together for awhile now and we have complete respect for each other whereas a comment like that is just part of our teamwork. The problem on Saturday was that the crowd was so loud whenever Bennett or Brew made sparkling saves, that we couldn’t hear the whistles at times. My next line was, “These guys gotta blow the whistles like they mean it.”

Back to The P Three. I am driving in and out of cell coverage throughout my day, and the next thing I know, I am a good 5-6 hours into my day and I haven’t even finished the game yet. Anytime I lost coverage, I just started the period over again at my next stop. But what really was happening was that I was falling in love with that great game all over again, and even more so, thanks to their call.

Seriously, late Monday morning, I felt better about that last minute of overtime loss that started on Saturday afternoon and ended on Saturday evening than I did when I was spraying water on our rink at midnight. Thank you, The P Three, for all of the games. Again, it gets better over time.

 

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Goffstown Grizzlies vs. Merrimack – Hollis-Brookline – Derryfield School War Hawks

Sullivan Arena, St. Anselm College, Goffstown, NH.

NHIAA Hockey: Game twenty-two.

Saturday, March 08, 2025.

NHIAA Boys Ice Hockey – Quarterfinal.

 

 

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NHIAA Hockey:

Scoring:

Goffstown Grizzlies: 01 – 00 – 01 – 00 = 02  (OT) 

MHBDS War Hawks: 00 – 01 – 01 – 01 = 03 (OT)

 

Shots on goal:

Goffstown Grizzlies: 07 – 15 – 10 – 10 = 42 

MHBDS War Hawks: 09 – 07 – 08 – 12 = 36

 

Goffstown Grizzlies Penalties: 

• B. Bennett – 2:00 – Roughing.
• Z. Lessard – 2:00 – Slashing.

Goffstown was 1-for-3 on the power play, while the War Hawks were 0-for-1.

• Goffstown Grizzlies – Kyle Bennett (So.) made 33 saves on 36 shots (.917).
• MHBDS War Hawks – James Brew made 40 saves on 42 shots (.952).

 

★ – James Brew.

★★ – Kyle Bennett.

★★★ – Jackson Woods.

There were five goals scored in the game, on 88 shots on goal. That means that 94.3% of the shots were turned away by Brew and Bennett. Here we go.

1. 1. 1st 10:41 – Goffstown was on the power play. A dump in from center ice by Brock Bennett was blocked by Alex Gertz. The puck caromed all the way back into the Grizzlies D zone. Austin Campbell retrieved the puck and moved it from circle to circle over to Bennett. Bennett hit Tyler Lessard in the middle at center ice. Lessard skated quickly into the O zone on the left side with Jackson Woods chasing him. Lessard got around the corner and cut to the net. From down low, with speed, Lessard lifted the puck into the corner just under the bar. Tremendous shot. PPG – T. Lessard (27) from B. Bennett (18) and Campbell (12). Grizzlies go up, 1-0.
   2. 2nd 4:23 – Even strength – The War Hawks got the puck deep into the Goffstown zone and applied their forecheck. The first clearing attempt by Jackson Horne was sent back to the end boards by Gertz and company. Zach Lessard grabbed the puck in the opposite corner and gave the Horne the puck behind the net. Horne wrapped the puck around the kickplate through the corner. Except this is the corner I call, “trick corner” because it plays more like right angled corner than a rounded corner. Pucks come out of this corner at odd angles, often. On this play it happened again. Instead of the puck hugging the boards and going up the half wall to Dylan Ellbeg, the puck caromed off the wall to Gertz. Gertz gathered the puck and dished a perfect backhand pass to Woods at the bottom of the circle. Woods dragged a quick snap shot all in one motion and beat Kyle Bennett just inside the post. Even – Woods from Gertz and ‘Trick Corner’. Game tied, 1-1.
   3. 3rd 3:01 – Even strength – Zack Tarrier iced the puck and the Grizzlies made a line change. Alex Gertz won the draw for the War Hawks and sent the puck back to the point where Josh Kahn was set up. Kahn fired the puck wide of the net. The puck came out to the right point where Tyler Allen wasted no time and fired the puck toward the net. Everyone was still rotating in reaction to the first shot by Kahn going wide. Allen’s shot was headed to the net, to Kyle Bennett’s left. The shot had just missed Sam Chapman who tried to get over and block it. Jackson Woods was in front of Bennett and the puck was going to hit Woods or Bennett. As Woods spun out of the way the puck hit him in the backside somewhere, and glanced past Bennett’s right shoulder into the net. Kids, this is why you don’t dust it off, you fire the puck toward the net. Even – Woods from Allen and Kahn. War Hawks lead, 2-1. As I said above, there were no dull moments in this game. MHBDS led 2-1 in the 3rd period. After 33 minutes of hockey there had only been 3 goals scored, but there was excitement up and down the ice.
   4. 3rd 3:33 – Even strength – On the next shift Bennett made a tremendous save on a Woods to Gertz to Hamlin set up at point blank range. The Grizzlies changed lines and broke the puck out of the zone after the face-off. Zack Tarrier and Dylan Ellbeg set up Tyler Lessard in the slot but he couldn’t handle the pass. Lessard and Caleb May wen to the corner, forgot about the puck, and got twisted and turned like they were playing team Pictionary and trying to act out the word ‘Cyclone’. They spun away doing no harm. Meanwhile, Tarrier lurked in the weeds and picked off a pass by Hamlin. Tarrier settled the puck and wasted exactly no time, and ripped a shot from the slot to beat James Brew on the glove side. Great play and shot. Even – Tarrier (9) unassisted. 10:27 left in regulation, score tied, 2-2.
   5. OT 14:05 – Even strength – So 24:32 passed between the tying goal and the winning goal. That is more than half of a regulation game, and still, the action was sensational. It was late in the 4th period. Woods and Gertz were in deep with the puck. Then it looked like Campbell and Owen St. Onge might send the puck out. Caleb May kept it in. Woods centered the puck from the corner, Campbell was on him. Brock Bennett tied up Gertz at the crease, but the rest of the Grizzlies were out too high, and they looked tired. Just then the puck skidded past Bennett and Gertz to the opposite circle. To a left hand shot which most certainly improved the shooting angle. Kyle Bennett had to hug the nearside post on the pass from the corner. Now the puck was at the bottom of the opposite side circle. There, Will Farrell drilled the puck past Bennett in net for the OT GWG. Great play from that line combination. Even – Farrell from Woods and C. May. OT GWG. War Hawks advance, 3-2. Tired. Was it too many ‘every other shift’ during the game, during the season? The two teams used exactly 6 forwards each in the OT. MHBDS changed lines 11 times, with a 3 plus minute marathon shift split by a timeout for Woods, Farrell, and Gertz. The Grizzlies changed lines 12 times. Long shifts for both. Every other shift. I wish it were different.

 

What a game. Talk about exciting hockey. Playoff hockey, there’s nothing like it. Well done, to both teams.

 

 

 

You can find news, video, updates, and all kinds of interesting tidbits involving Goffstown Grizzlies hockey here, Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey.

 

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Does anyone want to come back and do stuff like this again?

 

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Long after the quarterfinal loss for the Grizzlies and my silent prayer in the booth, I was home. At peace. Hoping for one more skate for my son. It was almost 11pm, and I had just started putting ice cubes in holes, removing melted in leaves, bark, and sticks that had blown onto the ice during the crazy winds on Friday and Saturday. The temperature was 25°F and felt like 11°F. But I loved it.

 

 

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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.