The Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey team controlled the game early. Kind of. They took a lead and held it for more than 30 minutes of game time. Then the missed chances throughout the game compounded, over and Dover.
For the 2010 Flames it counted for three Titles in four years, at the Winter Classic NH. Four wins on the weekend.
Twas the weeks before Christmas and all around the ice scorekeepers were tracking those naughty and nice.
The 2010 Flames may have expected a better result in the win-loss column going into the weekend’s trio of games. They played three good teams, with good speed, depth of talent, and certainly a fair share of physicality.
The weekend was a good one for the 2010 Flames if you care about wins. Three up to the W column. They also played excellent hockey throughout the weekend. In all kinds of conditions.
Saturday night at Phillips Exeter the 2010 Flames took a 6-1 lead and held on for a 7-4 win against NH East. Then on Sunday, down in Canton, MA, the Flames led, 2-1, and 3-2, then barely held on and managed a 3-3 tie against the Huskies. Team scoring has picked up, with contributions coming from everyone in the lineup. The final period of games continue to be a difficulty for the Flames.
What I loved most about games as the 2010 Flames began a new month was simply this. From the first period on Saturday through the final seconds on Sunday evening, the team gathered, getting better. They were motivated and giving all.
With the 2010 Flames back in NH, they played five games to finish October. They played three home games wrapped around two trips to Berlin, NH. They closed out the month with 2 wins, a loss, and a pair of ties.
The final day of the Palmetto State Fall Classic Tournament started very early for the 2010 Flames. They arrived at the Carolina Ice Palace by 6:30 am after getting back to the hotel after 10:45 pm on Saturday night.
The 2010 Flames played two games on Saturday, the second day of the Palmetto State Fall Classic Tournament. In the two games, they allowed zero even strength goals. They also scored no goals, of any kind.
The 2010 Flames have one scheduled travel tournament this season. Again this season, the tournament was played in October. And, again, it was down south. This time the 2010 Flames played in Charleston, SC. It was a tremendous trip. Good hockey and near perfect weather, all with a hockey family that is second to none.
Our family was up in the Sunapee-Kearsarge Region of NH for the weekend. It was a wedding weekend at Ragged Mountain Resort for us. Meanwhile the 2010 Flames played three games.
It was late on Sunday afternoon when I walked slowly into West Side Arena to watch the 2010 Flames play their first game in 15 days. Very rarely, do I watch a Flames game with ear buds in, but Sunday I had them in and turned up.
The scene was Everett Arena in Concord. It was GSL Parity Weekend for NH youth hockey teams in the 14U Division such as the 2010 Flames. The 10U and 12U division’s games were played in Manchester and Keene, respectively.
Maturing and growing are aspects that both play instrumental parts in youth hockey. One (or more) player might finish a season in March as a teenage kid but take the ice in September as an adult sized player. So, when the 2010 Flames showed up for opening weekend on Saturday at West Side Arena it only took a second to see that this roster is closer to adult than they are to Mites that make everything look adorable.
Manchester, NH – West Side Arena – August 29, 2024 –
It was Thursday night, the final night of ‘Skills Week’. This was the first week back on the ice for the Flames players. Summer still had some legs but the return to school was just around the corner. The event was set up as a celebration of Flames hockey success on and off the ice. For coaches, players, and hockey families. The event was an unofficial kick off to the 2024-2025 hockey season.
Saturday – March 23rd – Update on NH Spring Training 2024. NH Spring Training 2024, I was looking over my roster for Saturday’s action. I walked onto the field of battle and discovered that…
Imagine a day when the entire team is in uniform together to make their final stand as the family that they have become. Then, for one day all together they unite, perhaps like never before. Banded together, as only a family can, they appear as one mass of skating, skill, and effort. They beat, shift after shift, as one heart, and literally produce actuality beyond expectation.
Of all the months in a long hockey season, the 2010 Flames played more games in February (12) than in any other month. Must have been a leap year. They played a few more games in March (3). Here are some thoughts from the Final Weeks In Numbers.
The Goffstown hockey team showed up in Durham, NH for an 830 am QuarterFinal game against Oyster River on Saturday morning. They played. They lost. The Bobcats scored a pair of power play goals and netted a shorthanded empty netter at the end of their 4-2 win. But all I could think about is what the future holds.
The Flames went 1-1-1 on the weekend. The best game, by far, was the 1-1 tie on Sunday afternoon. The team did not advance to Finals Weekend, but for all of us, I think we can say, sincerely, this team advanced plenty this season.
It was Senior Day, and everyone did some looking back over the last four years. It was the last day of the regular season. Goffstown hockey celebrated their seniors and then a 7-1 win to finish the regular season with a 9-7-2 record. While we were looking back it was hard not to look to the future as well.
Friday night, win. Go home. Saturday afternoon, win. Go home. SemiFinal Sunday, win. Waste time for four hours in Rochester, NH. Championship Game, play the #1 team, whom you haven’t beaten this season, win. Champs! Go home, eventually.
It’s hard to believe, but it was the final weekend of the hockey regular season. The 2010 Flames played four to finish the regular season. They split the four games, going 2-2.
Nobody expected this to be a close game, or even a competitive game, perhaps. Goffstown gave their best team effort of the season, and came up one goal short in a 2-1 loss to Merrimack on Monday night. It was a highly skilled display of high school hockey. And the Grizzlies, reminded me at least, that there is a huge difference between being all in or out.
The 2010 Flames split a pair of games over the weekend. They lost, 4-1 to Providence, and then beat Mt. Washington, 3-1 later in the day. I came away from the action with two recurring thoughts or themes for the action that day at West Side Arena.
Goffstown went to Keene to play against the Monadnock-Fall Mountain-ConVal Huskies in a MUST win game, against an opponent they should beat with a solid effort. The Goffstown hockey team got the win, 4-1, all while battling through details that seemed just a bit out of sync.
If always you were even or getting ahead and never did you ever fall behind
Would the miraculous invention and the splendid depth of self ever you find?
Nashua South Pelham scored on the power play to take a 1-0 lead. The Goffstown hockey scored the next four goals and willed their way to a very tough road win. Falling back is only maintainable if the fall back is followed by a come back.
On Saturday, the 2010 Flames lost 3-0 in a game where they piled up 39 shots on goal. Sunday, in Rhode Island, they were down 2-0 in the second period. Somehow they kept plugging away, and tied the game going to the 3rd, 2-2. Then with 3 minutes left to play they scored, and won the game, 3-2. This team, they just kept giving their best effort, right til the end. This is truly one of the aspects of this team that I enjoy the most.
The month of January saw hockey games rescheduled because of illnesses and also because of weather. Overall, the 2010 Flames played 9 games (lowest amount since 9 games in September) in January, and they had a record of 4-4-1.
A weekend with lots of hockey began and ended at West Side Arena. In between, the 2010 Flames traveled to Woodstock, VT and Henniker, NH for games. All in all, the Flames won 3 games and lost 1 over the weekend. The team played really well.
The 2010 Flames game time roster was almost full. Andrew Drumm returned to the lineup for the first time since late October. The Flames won a GSL game and then they tied their EHF game later the same afternoon. It was a good day. The active roster is almost full, and I hope it will be full again very soon.
