Written by March 13, 2025 – NHIAA Ice Hockey 2025 – Finals – SNHU Arena. Check out the NHIAA Hockey Tournament Brackets.
There is one day left in the 2024-2025 NHIAA Ice Hockey season. And everything will be decided on the ice at SNHU Arena on Saturday, March 15th.
2024 Boys D3 Game.
The Finals are set! On to SNHU Arena.
D1 Boys NHIAA Hockey Finals 2025 –
D1 Boys have the #1 and #2 teams playing in the Finals again. But the teams are different. Windham and Londonderry were in this spot last year, now it’s (1) Concord and (2) Bishop Guertin. Since the NHIAA went to more than One Division for Boys Ice Hockey back in 1995, these two teams have won a lot of Titles.
Concord has won 8 and lost 4 Title games since 1995. Bishop Guertin is 6-5 in Title games since 1995. This will be the 6th time these teams have played for the Boys D1 Title. Concord leads, 3-2 in their head-to-head battles for the Championship in D1.
During the regular season they split their two games. Concord won, 6-1. BG won, 2-1. So the Final should be a good one. They will play at SNHU Arena on Saturday at 2:45pm.
| 1. Concord vs 2. Bishop Guertin | |
|---|---|
| Site: | SNHU Arena |
| Date: | Saturday, March 15, 2025 |
| Time: | 2:45 p.m. |
NHIAA Hockey Tournament Bracket D1 – Boys Ice Hockey
D2 Boys NHIAA Hockey Finals 2025 –
The D2 Boys bracket went as you might expect for a little while, the only upset being an OT upset. The #5 Merrimack-Hollis-Brookline-Derryfield School (MHBDS) War Hawks beat #4 Goffstown Grizzlies, 3-2 in the final minute of the first overtime period. It was an epic game that was tiring enough just to watch.
Then in the SF round, something was a bit off. Or they were just how it was supposed to be. #2 Oyster River (defending Champs) lost 12 seconds into overtime against #3 St. Thomas, 6-5. This, after the Saints had scored in the final minute of regulation to tie the game and send it OT. Reminded me of the Alvirne-Milford game against Oyster River this season when the Admirals pretty much the same thing.
This all came after the War Hawks dispatched #1 Spaulding rather easily, 5-1. Of course the Red Raiders were without their top goaltender who somehow didn’t make an All-State team either. But maybe that had to do with the last regular season game he played. Either way, Spaulding managed to win one round of the playoffs before getting bounced, being outscored 9-8 in the two games.
The two teams, Spaulding and Oyster River that literally fought for the #1 seed both lost in the SF round.
So #5 MHBDS will play #3 St. Thomas for the D2 Title. St. Thomas was a Co-Champion in the 2020 debacle. They were sole Champions in 2019 and 2022. They did lose a D1 Final to Nashua back in 2001. This will be their 5th Championship game since dropping into D2.
The War Hawks always field a good team, well they did as just Merrimack, and this new look, looks pretty good on the ice. Hollis-Brookline-Derryfield went to the D3 Final in 2021. Now they are with Merrimack who will play in their 4th Title game since 2011. When the War Hawks met the Saints in the regular season, the War Hawks won, 5-2. They will meet again on Saturday in the first game of the day, for all the marbles.
| 5. Merrimack-Hollis Brookline-Derryfield vs 3. Saint Thomas Aquinas | |
|---|---|
| Site: | SNHU Arena |
| Date: | Saturday, March 15, 2025 |
| Time: | 10:00 a.m. |
NHIAA Hockey Tournament Bracket D2 – Boys Ice Hockey
D3 Boys NHIAA Hockey Finals 2025 –
#4 Belmont-Gilford knocked off the defending Champions and #1 Berlin-Gorham, 3-2 in the SemiFinal. Berlin-Gorham won the Title last season. Belmont-Gilford won the Title (over Berlin-Gorham) in 2023. #4 Belmont-Gilford had to get by #5 John Stark-Hopkinton-Hillsboro-Deering in the Prelim round which they did, 2-1. So they’ve been playing hockey non-stop since before Christmas.
In the other SF, #2 Kingswood beat #3 Kennett, 3-2. It sounds like the games up at Plymouth State were pretty good games. Kennett had knocked off #6 Pembroke-Campbell (last season’s runner-up), 7-1. Kingswood beat Belmont-Gilford twice during the season. In January and again on March 1st, they scored a pair of 5-4 victories over them. We will see what happens on Saturday.
| 4. Belmont-Gilford vs 2. Kingswood | |
|---|---|
| Site: | SNHU Arena |
| Date: | Saturday, March 15, 2025 |
| Time: | 12:15 p.m. |
NHIAA Hockey Tournament Bracket D3 – Boys Ice Hockey
NHIAA D1 Girls Ice Hockey Finals 2025 –
I didn’t get to any Girls Ice Hockey games this season. For all the games I did get to, it seems like I missed a lot too. Anyways, Hanover is in the D1 Girls Hockey Final, again. This should surprise no one.
From 2010-2019, Hanover won 10 straight NHIAA Girls Ice Hockey State Championships. Then they took a couple years off during the great sickness. Smart. They captured 2 more State Titles over the last 3 seasons. 13 Girls Ice Hockey Titles in all. This season marks their 14th trip to the Finals in the 18 seasons that NHIAA Girls Ice Hockey D1 has existed in this format.
You know what that means? Absolutely nothing. Well, as it relates to Saturday’s Final at 5:00 PM. Saturday will be a new day and literally anything could happen.
On the other side, there is Oyster River-Portsmouth. They are making their 5th appearance in the Finals (2 as Oyster River, 3 straight as Oyster River-Portsmouth). Last year’s Final was nothing short of breathtaking! With Hanover finally pulling off the win in the final minute.
These two teams met twice during a two week span in the regular season, and Hanover won both, by a combined, 10-3 count. We will see what Saturday brings. I know one thing, that these teams, these young ladies, are pushing the envelope for girls ice hockey in NH. And that is truly fantastic.
| 1. Oyster River-Portsmouth vs 3. Hanover | |
|---|---|
| Site: | SNHU Arena |
| Date: | Saturday, March 15, 2025 |
| Time: | 5:00 p.m. |
NHIAA Hockey Tournament Bracket D1 – Girls Ice Hockey
I 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.
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. I wish I could be there again this year, but other hockey commitments call.
Now, Go and Get it! These moments go so fast. I hope SNHU Arena is packed all day!
Jen Webber Photography
The current look at my ‘hockey office’. So many hours spent in this space, tracking numbers and capturing season after season. (C) 1inawesomewonder 2023.
The beginning of every article. (C) 1inawesomewonder 2017.
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