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.
Well, there wasn’t much snow here in our corner of the world over the snow season. It wasn’t very cold either. With a lot of work, and help from my family, we managed a pretty decent ice skating season out back. Over a span of about three weeks in January, we received roughly 57% of the snowfall for the season. We will see what the upcoming winter holds.
My younger brother passed away 3 years ago today. He would have been with us all yesterday, at Mom’s house. We miss him dearly.
Mother’s Day 2024 May 12 Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! I love you. I always have. Recently, I have thought quite a bit about your family. About our family. The more I think about such things…
~ Marcescence – Don’t Let Go ~
A little beech haiku and PhotoPoetry
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…
Woods Haiku In the woods I walked. Conversation I did have. Though nobody talked. On this afternoon, the wind was whipping through the trees. Then silence would fall over the scene like someone…
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.
Each cut the kids joy. Hours spent on prep in the cold. It never gets old.
One hundred years plus. Bricks stacked high. Beneath the sky. Passion lies in us.
Two winters distinct The sound of steel slicing ice For all full delight
Well folks, high school playoff hockey time has come and gone here in New Hampshire. It was awesome! What a day at SNHU Arena! Congratulations to all of the players that were able to participate in the State Tournament! It’s all about the kids.
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.
There is one day left in the 2023-2024 NHIAA Hockey season. And everything will be decided on the ice at SNHU Arena on Saturday, March 9th.
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 was just another Wednesday on the road for the Goffstown hockey team. And regardless of how any of us would grade their game against the Bearcats (SCBN), they were able to secure an exciting victory, 3-2.
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.
After trudging through a 37-day span where they played only 3 league games, the Goffstown hockey team just finished an often heart-stopping stretch of hockey with 8 games in 14 days. Talk about a balanced schedule.
While the state of Massachusetts was migrating up Route 3 to NH for their school vacation week, the Goffstown hockey team made another trip to Nashua’s Conway Arena. This time they played an afternoon game against the Saber-Titans. The home team won it, 2-1 in OT.
It was a very special night and not because of Valentine’s Day, or even because of the play on the ice. It was the Goffstown Hockey 2nd Annual Charity Game. The Grizzlies, the Admirals, and the Flutie Foundation came together to raise money and autism awareness.
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?