After some wonderful late-nights visiting with family and friends over the the past few days, there wasn’t a soul in my house that wanted to rise and shine this morning. Not on the morning after Christmas. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what we did.
Not even the bright lights and ice of an old rink can brighten a moment quite like the glow of a dozen smiles
I entered the space and walked to the boards and the glass, I lit up, forgetting for a moment all of life’s trials.
For there on the ice were our 11-yr old players, their siblings, team coaches and the hardy hockey parents
A fun spin on a practice slot that felt like kids of all ages having fun, a timely endorsement of perseverance.
Early on Saturday morning, before the snow starting falling, the 2010 Flames played host to the Northern Cyclones at West Side Arena for a GSL game. The Flames played well enough to skate out of West Side Arena with a 1-0 shutout victory.
It was a lovely afternoon for a ride. So, separately, although united, a caravan of folks made their way to Woodstock, VT for an afternoon hockey game on a sunny afternoon in December. The 2010 Flames had a date with the Hanover Wild on the ice sheet at Union Arena.
The first weekend of December brought a four-game weekend on the calendar for the 2010 Flames. Games were played in Hooksett, Hudson, Hartford (VT), and Manchester. After all was said and done, the Flames split the four games, winning two, and losing two.
It has been nearly a month since I wrote about this team, the 2010 Flames. A lot has happened since the last article but let’s just start with this. I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving. I find that there is always something to be thankful for.
Saturday afternoon at West Side Arena in Manchester, NH the 2010 Flames jumped out to an early lead against the Bridgewater Bandits. The Flames would go on to win the game, 9-0. That being said, this wasn’t necessarily as lopsided a game as the scoreboard read.
On Sunday afternoon the 2010 Flames played against the Gilmour Gladiators for the second time in less than 20 hours. This was the second Semi-Final game, and the Ramapo Saints had already won the first Semi-Final, 5-1 over the Bowie Bruins. This Flames game would be one of the wildest finishes I have ever seen in my hockey memory.
I don’t know what happened over the four hours that elapsed between the Flames 9-1 loss in game two, and their 2-1 win in game three, but it was absolutely awesome to watch. The 2010 Flames were literally everywhere on the ice, shift after shift. The team’s energy was contagious and their play was inspiring.
As teams are made up of individual competitors, and they go to tournaments to compete against others, and to better themselves. When the team travels out of state or their home region to compete, that’s even better. It’s a chance to measure themselves against a bigger, more diverse, and possibly better field.
After a long trip to northwest NY, and a full day of exploring the unparalleled beauty along the Niagara River, the 2010 Flames still had a hockey game to play. They played a very competitive game against the Bowie (MD) Bruins. The game ended in a 2-2 tie to begin the tournament for both teams.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I was driving in New Hampshire, headed toward the beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee area on Tuesday evening when I got the message from my Mom. My Aunt Shirley had passed away, up in New Brunswick, Canada.
When you watch 9 and 10 year-old kids play youth ice hockey in a tournament miles from anywhere, how exciting can it be? I mean half of these kids have been playing hockey or even skating for less than 3 seasons. But there we were, parents, kids, players from various teams, coaches, representing all ages and sizes, each edging closer to the glass just to see how this game would finish.
On Saturday afternoon the 2010 Flames broke into the win column with a 4-2 win over SASA of St. Albans, VT. The Flames gave a solid effort from start to finish in earning the victory. I must say that the goaltender for SASA played very well and kept his team in the game.
Recently I have been working on a chicken coop/outbuilding here locally. One day while getting the finishing touches done, I was evaluating some potential apprentices to work with me, and this worker showed up.
I couldn’t begin to count the number of ways we have been blessed by the addition of our twins to the family. It’s been almost 9 years since they were born and I wish I had tracked every moment that Theodore and Jacqueline made us laugh, or impressed us with their creativity, or just melted our hearts with their love for just about everything.
Folks the hockey season is well into mid-season, and one of our favorite nights of the entire year is approaching. The single biggest fundraiser for the Friends of Goffstown Hockey and the hockey program. Please make a note, save the date, and plan on attending on February 10th. Good food. Good friends. Lots of laughs. Good cause. Join us!
