Lake Placid 2022: Even before the sun was up in Lake Placid, it was team. Sunday morning arrived before sunlight hit the Adirondack’s. The 2010 Flames were playing in the Bronze Medal game at 6:30AM on the USA Rink at the Olympic Center. So they had to rise early and hope that they were ready to play despite walking into the Olympic Center while it was still dark outside.
Lake Placid 2022: Little did I know when I awoke on another beautiful morning in Lake Placid that this Saturday would be about rocking the boat. I will get to the ‘rocking the boat’ phrase as we go. Breakfast in the hotel was everything it needed to be. And I wanted to spend some time in the USA Hockey Store before the 2010 Flames played their final round-robin game against undefeated Braintree.
Lake Placid 2022: Friday in Lake Placid, NY brought us Skills and Hockey Thrills! And we were not short in supply of either one. What a day! The day started with a thrilling win! It included the beauty of the Adirondacks all around us. Then to top it off, the show of youthful exuberance displayed in exhibiting hockey skills to the best of their abilities. I call our families’ Friday in Lake Placid, a day of Hills, Skills, and Hockey Thrills!
Lake Placid 2022: Finally, the day we leave for Lake Placid had come. There was work to be done, school to be attended, and people to meet at the right time and place. We hit the road in the afternoon, our family, and another player on the team with his Mom. We enjoyed a beautiful ride to NY on a gorgeous day. We were finally on the road to Lake Placid, on the road to victory.
Lake Placid 2022: Sometime in the last months of 2021 our team, the 2010 Flames, had targeted Lake Placid, NY as the destination for our big travel hockey tournament in the 2022-2023 season. Several families had been up there before for hockey tournaments with older siblings of players on our team. Even the ones who had been there before and especially those of us who had not yet made the trip to the place of miracles on ice, could hardly wait to get to Lake Placid 2022.
The 2010 Flames dropped their first game of the weekend and then won the next two for the road. After being shutout by the Concord Capitals on Saturday, the Flames scored back-to-back 5-1 victories against the Crimson and the Terriers. Both of their wins came on the road, down in Massachusetts.
There was a shutout at the JFK on Saturday. The 2010 Flames and the Bridgewater Bandits found their way to the rink despite the traffic from a nearby accident, a football game next door, and the rush for the NH Food Bank supplies. It wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing game, but a few timely goals and some great goaltending got it done. A 3-0 win for the Flames.
The 2010 Flames traveled to West Newton, Mass. on a gorgeous autumn Saturday to play the Crimson. The game ended in a 2-2 tie after a very physical contest from start to finish. Goals were at a premium in this game, and a 2-2 tie seems right. I say the tie seems right because in hindsight, and regardless of the scoreboard, it did not appear to me that either team did quite enough to outscore the other.
The 2010 Flames played three games over the weekend, and they went three for three. Earning three wins. They started in Wilmington, Mass. with a 7-6 win, a wild affair before playing a home game later on Saturday evening. The Flames won their home game and then again on the road at Concord (NH) on Sunday afternoon. The win made for a 3-game sweep of the weekend for the 2010 Flames.
Saturday, October 1, 2022.
After a night that seemed not quite long enough, it was time to get up for a new day, a new month. It was the first day of October and the unavoidable winds had wrung most of the water from the swirling clouds left by the storm that was Hurricane Ian. It was time for Ohio Hockey, game two of the weekend.
I was fortunate enough to make a quick trip down to Delaware over the weekend. I got to see some good college hockey, with the Ohio University Bobcats playing down on the campus of the University of Delaware.
The Manchester Flames, the 2010 version, went to Marlborough, Mass. to play their first road game of the season against the Minuteman Flames (MM Flames) on Sunday afternoon. And the 2010 Flames earned their first ‘W’ in the win column with a complete team effort, 3-1 victory over a very good MM Flames team.
All tied up it began, and so it ended. After an opening weekend that resulted in a pair of losses, both being good games, time passed and led to the second weekend of hockey. There was only one game this weekend, a home game against the Monarchs. The Monarchs hail from Tri-Town Arena which is just about 6 miles (as the crow flies) north of the Flames home rink at West Side Arena. These teams are generally pretty familiar with one another.
It’s early September and although the temperatures are still quite warm, hockey season is underway here in New Hampshire. It was opening weekend for the 2010 Flames and they hosted a pair of games at West Side Arena to begin the new campaign.
Time waits for no one, and the summer hours pass so quickly, So we gathered for a few moments to camp again with the QCMOTC. Ya, I know, life is so busy and we…
June 12, 2022 ~ Lloyd Alton Peterson
Like so many times before, I get to this space, and the page is blank. I am contending with countless thoughts, but none of them are a beginning. Memories speed past me like pickup trucks would if I were standing still on the shoulder of I-95 between Old Town and Island Falls.
The water remaining in what’s left of our backyard rink is a direct result of melting ice. It’s cold! Regardless of that fact, our youngest daughter was warm from being outside, riding her bike, and generally playing.
I stood at the bottom of the stairs, on the first floor of what was obviously once a Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge. I had already packed our vehicle and I stood there motionless on a carpet that might be 50+ years old. My youngest son was next to me when I shook hands with one and hugged another to say good-bye, exiting from another hockey weekend. That is just when I think it hit all three of us, that this might be the last good-bye.
When we focus solely on the end game, the result, the scoreboard, we tend to lose sight of the things that are most important. The things that are necessary to get the desired result in the first place. We forget to put things in the proper order. It’s hard to get this process correct sometimes, but it’s critical to remember that taking the next right step, over and over again might well be more important than the end game anyways.
Well, the regular season came to an end over the weekend, with the 2010 Flames playing a pair of make-up games at home, and another one down in Bridgewater, Mass. The Flames dug deep and won all three games. They played with great energy and effort to sweep the final weekend before tournament play.
It was a quiet weekend for the 2010 Flames, they only played two games. They won both by beating the Crimson West team, 8-2 on Saturday at home and then beating a very tough Shamrocks team, 2-1 on the road.
It was only a few days ago, but it seems like it’s been a week or more since I was at JFK Coliseum for the Flames game against the Shamrocks. But, apparently the 2010 Flames tied the game against the Shamrocks. Then they tied the Crimson. Then they improved on a five-goal loss last week by tying Plymouth this week, before dropping a 5-3 affair to the Greater Boston Vipers.
For the second half of the weekend, the 2010 Flames headed up to northern New Hampshire with stops in Plymouth and Berlin. It was a beautiful, winter wonderland the further north we went. With the miles, the scenery, and the time spent getting to and from, all part of the experience, it was a long day with plenty of excitement and upbeat moments. As for the games, well, the Flames were doused and brought down to earth, losing three of four games over the weekend.
The 2010 Flames hit the road for four games away from Manchester this weekend. Today it was a morning trip to Hudson, NH and then an evening visit to Randolph, Ma. Tomorrow they hit the north country of New Hampshire. In Hudson this morning, the Flames skated to a 4-2 win. Tonight, though they ran into a feisty Crimson squad that out-skated the Flames, and upset them, 2-1.
It was -15F in Wolfeboro when the 2010 Flames arrived at Pop Whalen Arena early Saturday morning. The cold temperatures didn’t hinder the Flames but it did do a number on the Zamboni. Later on Saturday night the Flames visited Tri-Town Arena for a game with the Monarchs for 113th time this season. Sunday afternoon the folks from Berlin made the long trek south for a battle with the Flames at West Side Arena.
The 2010 Flames had a pair of weekend dates with the Boston Jr. Terriers, which meant an afternoon game on Saturday, and then a Sunday morning game, both in Rockland, MA. They played the games at Mark Bavis Arena. The first game was not pretty but the Flames came alive in the final period scoring 3 goals in two minutes, and getting a 5-0 win to begin the weekend.
All game long, the 2010 Flames were on the attack in the offensive zone. They hounded their opponent, and pounded the net with shots of all descriptions. On Sunday they finished each of their two games, with the puck, in the zone, and never allowed either team to pull their goalie in favor of a sixth attacker. The Flames received timely, quality goaltending throughout their run to a 5-0 record in the tournament. In the championship game, the 2010 Flames beat Presque Isle, 2-0 to capture the 2021 Winter Classic NH Tournament title.
You know you might be playing an early morning hockey game when you play the game, finish, and then look outside to see that it’s still not fully light out. Well, the Flames showed up to play the first semi-final game against the Monarchs at 7am. The 2010 Flames advanced to the finals with a 3-0 win over the Monarchs.
With Christmas and now New Year’s Eve behind us, we all returned to Tri-Town Arena in a brand new year for the last game of pool play in the 2021 Winter Classic. The 2010 Flames played the Central Maine Hornets in an evening match up.
Happy New Year!!! Welcome to the year, 2022. Here in hockey land we only know one way to start a new year, and that is to spend some time at a local ice rink. Today it was the great old barn in Concord, NH for a game between the 2010 Flames and the Concord Capitals.
Well, it turns out that when you have very little down time during Christmas vacation week, even an afternoon game might seem too early. Maybe it was just me. Either way, the 2010 Flames were ready to go and skated to a 7-1 win against the Berkshire Bruins.
Any morning activity during Christmas vacation week makes for an early morning, and today was an early morning. The 2010 Flames played their first game of the Winter Classic Tournament at 8:20am over at Tri-Town Arena against the Monarchs. The Flames woke up slowly, and by the second period, they were up to speed, eventually winning the game, 6-2.
Amidst an odd time in our history, an oddly scheduled weeknight game during a vacation week, was played between the Monarchs and the 2010 Flames. The game was played at West Side Arena before a packed house of 71. While the parents spent the first period confirming what day it actually was, the game featured a whole bunch of nothing clicking on the ice.