Well, it’s officially that time of the year when hockey season begins. Nights and weekends fill up with trips to frozen ice rinks all over New England. New regimens kick in over the first several weeks, and most of them end up feeling quite familiar. 2010 Flames Suffer First Loss, 6-3 to the Cyclones
It was 10 years ago this month that I wrote my first ever post to this blog. More than 1,350 posts later, hundreds of thousands of views, millions of words, and at least 10,000 pictures,… 2010 Flames Open The 2021-2022 Season With Three Wins
You’re going to think I’m nuts, if you don’t think so already. For months now, I have not slept well or often enough. Nearly all of my physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional energy has been… Peaceful Reunion
The 2010 Manchester Flames wrapped up their 2020-2021 season with a sweep of two games against the NH Avalanche over at the Ice Den in Hooksett, NH. The teams had played each other several times over this oddity of a season, and each of the games were highly contested. 2010 Flames Finish With A Sweep – That’s A Wrap!
Hopefully this hockey season will go down as the most peculiar season of all time, and as the only one of it’s kind. Despite all of the misinformation and uncertainty, it was a near miracle that there was a season at all. I would be a complete fraud if I didn’t also promote the idea of how incredibly uplifting it was to play games, to embrace competition, and to know that the kids were simply able to play. Easily the happiest of my leisure activities over the winter, was watching the kids play. Kids playing the sport they love, as they should.
Goffstown Hockey 2020-2021: Golden Slumbers
Last night the Goffstown Grizzlies traveled out to Durham, NH to play the #1 ranked team in their region, the Oyster River Bobcats. They played ice hockey on a piece of property called Jackson Landing, a place that the Jackson family first owned as early as 1658. Back then they might have just played the game on the river.
When the calendar turns to March, and high school hockey is still being played, you know that it’s a whole new season. Outcomes are not quite as predictable. Grit and determination is up. Scouting is up. Most everyone is aware of both their opponent’s strengths and their weaknesses. Intensity is way up. Every shift, move, pass, shot, hustle, or not, is all scrutinized with a higher degree of viewership. This is playoff hockey, and all of these things were evident right from the opening face-off.
After a season full of uncertainty, anxiety, and a literal, almost daily, lesson that in life there are no guarantees, the Goffstown Hockey team was able to have it’s senior night ceremony. The Grizzlies were the home team, oddly, on the home rink of their opponent, the Manchester Central-West Little Green Knights.
Hockey: Goffstown 6 vs. Manchester Central-West 4 (Senior Night)
The mild temperatures last night made it feel like spring in New Hampshire. It felt to me like some sort of a fresh start, or at least a welcome transition. Then, some of the air was let out of that feeling when I realized that earlier games at Conway Arena in Nashua were running well behind. Eventually the rematch between Goffstown and Hollis-Brookline Derryfield School would get underway more than an hour after the scheduled start time.