With a mix of snow and rain falling from the February sky on a Nashua ice arena parking lot players from opposing schools gathered with their teams out in the weather. There was not a school bus anywhere in sight. High school student drivers got out of their vehicles and unloaded their gear not unlike middle aged men and women showing up for another day of work. The word drudgery came to my mind.
The 2010 Manchester Flames entered the GSL State Tournament as the #5 seed in the six-team field. The Flames caravan of players, coaches, and families made their way through the falling snow up to North Conway for the tournament being held at Ham Arena. Manchester had an impressive opening game before being shut down by the #4 and #1 seeds.
When I got home and walked through the door last night, mentioning that I had information about the Goffstown Grizzlies hockey game at Alvirne-Milford as I entered, I was greeted with excitement and questions.
On a snowy, freezing rain type of afternoon over at Tri-Town Ice Arena the Grizzlies played a home game at their third different home venue this season. They hosted the Bow Falcons in their second game in three days, both home games, both at different rinks. After falling behind, 1-0, and then 2-1 going into the final period, the Grizzlies erupted for five third period goals.
We know that the 2010 Flames will enter the post-season tournament as the #5 seed, finishing 7-5-2 in their tier. With league games finished, the Flames played a pair of games over the weekend to get ready for the trip to North Conway this Friday.
It had been a few weeks since the Grizzlies had played any competitive hockey when they pulled into one of their many ‘home’ rinks for this season, yesterday afternoon. Goffstown hosted John Stark-Hopkinton at JFK Coliseum, of all places, for their return to the ice.
Yesterday the 2010 Flames traveled to Hudson to play against the Cyclones in their next to last GSL game of the season. The Flames took advantage of some odd-man rushes and some good passing to skate out of town with an 8-1 win.
The trip over to West Side Arena didn’t take very long for the Goffstown hockey team to make, but getting through the afternoon affair seemed like it took several hours. And that didn’t even have anything to do with the pregame ceremony to recognize Merrimack’s senior players.
There I Can’t Wait To Be.
It was early this morning, cold and dark, and I was humbled in prayer
For my Uncle I asked that God’s will be done, was he better here, or up there?
The Grizzlies traveled to Nashua to play in the home opener for Hollis-Brookline-Derryfield School (HBDS) last night, looking for their first win of the season. It didn’t turn out the way that they would have liked it to, in a tough 5-4 loss to the HBDS Warriors.
From Sullivan Arena, St. Anselm College, Goffstown, NH – Monday, January 25, 2021
Trinity scored later than earlier but quite often en route to their first win of the season at Goffstown. At least I think it’s their first win because getting accurate information on anything that is NH high school hockey this season is not easy. The Grizzlies kept coming at the Pioneers, but the combination of Anthony Dizillo and Quinn Booth in the 3rd period alone, was too much to overcome.
From Tri-Town Arena, Hooksett, NH – Saturday, January 23, 2021
After an overtime affair just three nights earlier, it surprised nobody that Goffstown and Bishop Brady played another tight, one-goal game on Saturday night.
Yesterday afternoon the Flames hosted the Cyclones at the West Side Arena where we, very thankfully, can still play hockey games, and actually watch them in person. As it usually is, the game was tight and intensely contested.
From Sullivan Arena, St. Anselm College, Goffstown, NH – Wednesday, January 20, 2021
Honestly, I smiled walking into Sullivan Arena on the St. Anselm Campus last night, despite the masks, and thermometer, forms, and protocols. It was good to be back there for high school hockey. Not only that, it turned out to be a really good game.
From Dover Arena, Dover, NH – Saturday, January 16, 2021
It was the season opener on Saturday, and for the most part, it took place almost completely under the radar. Unfortunately, for the kids, it will be something like that all season, I fear. The silver lining of course is that, at least there are games being played.
Well the rain finally stopped falling and this morning the wind was blowing but the sun was playing hide and seek with remaining clouds. The Flames showed up in a cold parking lot on the banks of the Merrimack River and started to run around like 10-year olds.
With the skies opened and dumping downpours of rain, there was no team warm-up outside before this morning’s game. It was an 8:20am ice time too, which can be tough to rise for on a dark, gray, weekend morning. That, and the fact that every week seems to be longer than the week prior over the last year, seemed to contribute to a sluggish start.
After a wild battle on Saturday, the Flames went to Nashua to play the NE Edge at Conway Arena. The Flames got their offensive game in gear and skated north with an 8-0 win.
With no league games on the schedule for the weekend, the Flames played host to the undefeated Granite State Wild team on Saturday at JFK.
Following a resounding loss at Lakes Region yesterday afternoon, the Flames were down in Hudson, NH by 730am this morning trying to bounce back from defeat.
The Flames went north to Laconia to open the new year, and for about fifteen minutes of hockey they looked like they might have a chance to be competitive in the game against Lakes Region. That didn’t last much longer though.
On a cold December afternoon, a mix of clouds and sun in the sky
We went over the river and into the woods, just the twins and I.
After a loss on Saturday to a very good Concord team on the road, on the morning following Christmas day, the Flames returned to home ice for a game with Lakes Region. Lakes Region is another solid team in the same division, and the Flames had all they could handle.
First of all, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Personally, I love the season, but love the reason even more. Secondly, our hockey team and hockey family were back at the rink the day after Christmas for a game in Concord, NH.
After a spirited win against the Cyclones in one of the more intense scrimmages I have seen, the Flames had to play a tough Rochester team early the following morning.
Once upon a time, there was a year when facts and fears were so hard to separate,
And a health hazard gained so much attention, boys and girls couldn’t even ice skate.
In a day and age where the act of serving seems to be wound tightly around some agenda, hope of reward, or personal recognition, I share this morning’s devotional (from Dec. 15).
With interstate hockey shut down due to health concerns, the New Hampshire teams have been solely playing each other for the last several weeks. Then, to help fill a potential gap in schedules for virtually every youth hockey team in NH, the 2020 Turkey Shootout tournament came along.
As I sat in the woods this morning, talking silently with my Creator, under a peaceful, gentle, soaking rain, I was filled with Thanksgiving.
While many places are not allowing travel hockey between states, the 2010 Flames loaded up on New Hampshire competition over the weekend. The Flames played a pair of games on Saturday and did it again on Sunday.
The ride out to Rochester was a lot of fun as my son and I shared many laughs along the way. We generally have a pretty good time together on these rides to hockey rinks all over New England. Once we arrived at Rochester Ice Arena it was time to be herded through protocols.
Most all go along with the rules set in place by authorities either because they wrap their heads around the rule and conform as such. Or they follow because the sacrifice of following is worth the result gained to the vested individual. Either way, the hockey community were good little performers, jumping through hoops, overcoming obstacles, balancing on thin lines, and doing what was necessary to allow healthy families to participate in teamwork and exercise after they were banned for two weeks.
Maybe all games at West Side Arena should be played on such beautiful days in the autumn. Sunday afternoon was another gorgeous day to be outside, even if the players used the warm afternoon air to loosen up and get dressed for another hockey game.