Let Them Fly

 – Let Them Fly – January 03, 2026 – Sullivan Arena.

– Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey –

 

 

Oh, there have been sufferings. Two defensemen in the same corner while a goal is scored against their goalie with nobody but an opponent in front of the net. Three forwards below the dots on the forecheck leading to odd-man rushes against. Breakouts waiting to happen but forwards facing the defensive goal line while trying to move up ice. Defenseman after defenseman forcing the puck-carry despite forwards out in front of them. Positioning, some soft goals, you name it.

Suffering does in fact produce endurance. Endurance brings character. And character brings hope. In this equation, if you can call it that, suffering is hard enough on the ice. Guess what? Mistakes happen. You know what else? Only one human walked this earth mistake-free, and that has nothing to do with this team.

Imagine being so afraid to make a mistake on the ice that you play like a shell of your best self. Because mistakes lead to clenched jaws, hand gestures, whisper-yells among coaches, bench and locker room blame games, and so on.

Now imagine an eagle trying to fly being so afraid to leave the ground that it becomes a shell of the grand soaring powerful bird of prey that it could be. Eagles need to fly, to soar. Let them fly.

Players need to play. To skate with the wind in their hair, barely a care in the world, and reaching new achievements week after week. Let them fly.

Something is brewing here and I don’t know exactly what it is. But some things I have seen and heard recently, all while just trying to keep my head down and leave things better than I found them, have caused me some concern.

So, here’s a reminder: We are talking about high school hockey here. A team sport made up of high school kids. Guess who scores all the goals? The kids do. Who wins and loses the games against the opponents? The kids do. Who gets the game-winning goals? The kids do. Who stops all the pucks from going into the net? Again, the kids do.

The Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey team dug a hole for themselves, falling behind, 2-0. Goffstown trailed, 2-1 after almost 39 plus minutes of play. Little did they know at the time that there would be another 12 plus minutes of hockey time on this Saturday afternoon. And afternoon turned into evening.

Over the final 13 minutes of the game, the Grizzlies outscored the Bobcats, 3-1. Had they not taken a penalty on a play I deemed unnecessary, they would have likely won, 3-2 in regulation time. But extra time was required and another penalty needed to be killed in the OT. Sufferings pop up everywhere.

 

 

For the second time in 10 months I heard comments from various people last night. Actually, I guess it was more questions than comments. “Do the coaches actually watch the game?” I heard it last night. I heard it during last season’s OT loss to Merrimack-HB-DS. I am sure they watch the games.

I like to talk about ‘flow’ in sports, which might be better described as gracefulness, artistry, and symmetry. This state is best served by repetitive series of efficient, cohesive, dynamic movements. A snapshot singles out a solitary frame which is not usually the best assessment of the series of movements prior to, and thereafter the solitary frame.

This elusive state of flow cannot exist without a crucial ingredient: freedom. An athlete cannot achieve that effortless grace when mentally constrained by the fear of failure. The conscious mind, preoccupied with avoiding mistakes, creates the very tension and hesitation that flow seeks to eliminate. For this reason, freedom is important in more ways than most people realize, as it creates the mental environment necessary for peak performance.

This is why the end result of the game being a win is so promising. It’s a tribute to the kids. The roster is full of players who are loaded with a desire to learn and a chance to show what they can do. They must be allowed to be free and not be afraid of failing. As Michael Jordan famously said, “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” Failure isn’t an endpoint; it’s the data needed for growth.

I believe by giving players this freedom, we are investing in their development. A failed attempt is not a loss but a lesson, a chance to refine the movements that lead to flow. This is where the win, becomes a byproduct of the correct process, not the sole objective. It’s a tribute to trusting them as learners and creators, allowing them to discover their own potential. Not to mention to secure the future of the program.

Fortunately for the Grizzlies, their power play clicked for their first two goals of the game. They entered the night just 4-for-25 on the power play, but on Saturday, they connected on 2-out-of-5. Those two goals tied the game, the second one coming with 6:05 left in regulation, on a 5-on-3 advantage.

Goffstown took a 3-2 lead and then took a penalty that led to the Bobcats tying the game with 2:05 left. The game went to an 8-minute overtime period.

The Grizzlies killed a penalty in the overtime period, and then scored the game-winner with one freshman feeding another freshman for the goal. You can check the goal scenarios and descriptions below.

There were sufferings. Endurance should be a no-brainer for this team as they could probably roll 3.5 to 4 lines. Let them fly. Character ebbed and flowed. And hope, well we should never lose sight of hope. Likewise, no kid should just hope that they get to play if they are dressed for action. See the earlier paragraphs on flow, failure, and freedom.

 

Romans 5:3-5

Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

 

 

---

Goffstown Grizzlies vs. Oyster River Bobcats.

Sullivan Arena, Goffstown, NH.

NHIAA Hockey: Game eight.

Saturday, January 03, 2026.

 

 

---

NHIAA Hockey:

Scoring:
Goffstown Grizzlies: 00 – 01 – 02 – 01 = 04 (OT)

Oyster River Bobcats: 01 – 01 – 01 – 00 = 03 (OT)

Shots on goal:
Goffstown Grizzlies: 08 – 09 – 06 – 01 = 24

Oyster River Bobcats: 06 – 12 – 05 – 03 = 26

 

Goffstown Grizzlies Penalties:

• 1st – Tarrier – 2:00 – Holding.
• 2nd – Horne – 2:00 – Roughing.
• 3rd – Tarrier – 2:00 – Holding.
• 3rd – Beland – 2:00 – Roughing. (PPGA-Game-Tying Goal)
• OT – Beland – 2:00 – Tripping.

Goffstown was 2-for-5 on the power play, while the Oyster River Bobcats were 1-for-5.

• Goffstown Grizzlies – Kyle Bennett (Jr.) made 23 saves on 26 shots (.885).
• Oyster River Bobcats – Harrison Klein (Fr.) made 20 saves on 24 shots (.833).

 

Here we go.

1. 1. 1st 13:55 – Oyster River Bobcats – Even – Nico Bellabona unassisted. – Goffstown had two defensemen below the goal line in the D zone and that is usually a problem. This time the D had the puck though. And as the puck was sent along the end boards with what should have been a D to D play. The puck hit the skate of a guy wearing a striped shirt who was standing along the end boards. The puck caromed right to the front of the net where Bellabona was all alone for the goal. 1-0.
   2. 2nd 2:42 – Oyster River Bobcats – Even – Cameron Wheeler unassisted. – The Grizzlies had two defensemen in the same corner and that was a definite problem. Wheeler took the puck from the corner to the front of the net. He swung and missed at his first backhand attempt, but connected on the second attempt for the goal. I did not think there was a penalty on the play, but I can’t figure why there were two defensemen in the same corner. 2-0.
   3. 2nd 11:10 – Goffstown Grizzlies – PPG – Zack Tarrier from AJ Hill and Owen St. Onge. – Zack Tarrier won an offensive zone face-off. He and Owen St. Onge got the puck to AJ Hill at the point. Hill moved the puck down to Tarrier in the circle. Tarrier turned to his forehand as St. Onge curled toward the net. Jaden Booth was already posted in front of the goaltender, and he wasn’t about to relish his position. Tarrier fired and I saw the puck disappear behind the closing window of humanity in front of the net. Exactly as planned. The puck found the strings, and the Grizzlies were on the board. 2-1.
   4. 3rd 8:55 – Goffstown Grizzlies – 5-on-3 PPG – Owen St. Onge from Zack Tarrier and Jackson Horne. – Goffstown called a timeout after the second penalty was called on the Bobcats to set up the 5-on-3. 37 seconds later the game was tied. Horne retrieved a cleared puck at center ice and hit Tarrier with a pass on the left wing. Tarrier gained the blue line and took the puck into the circle. Two defenders watched him closely. St. Onge skated into the slight void created by his linemates’ movement. Tarrier dropped the pass back to St. Onge and Owen fired it. As the puck was being shot, Jaden Booth skated from the weak side and played shadow goalie, like he could have made the save. Again, Klein had to hope the puck hit him because there is no way he saw it. The puck hit the goalie but got through him. The puck laid on the goal line with a pile up on the nearside post. St. Onge skated in and tapped the puck over the line while the scrum beside the net continued. Good goal. Game tied. 2-2.
   5. 3rd 10:32 – Goffstown Grizzlies – Even – Zach Lessard (First Career Goal) from Owen St. Onge and Zack Tarrier. – This was a good possession that turned into a good play out of shear scrappiness. Here we go. AJ Hill had a shot deflected wide, to the end boards. Jaden Booth playing forward ran down the rebound and cycled the puck back behind the net. St. Onge grabbed the puck and whipped a pass to Tarrier behind the net near the far corner. Tarrier back to St. Onge behind the net. The Bobcats were packed in defending the net and St. Onge barely pushed the puck out to Lessard straying toward the slot from the left point. Lessard wound up and pounded a slapshot under the bar. The bottle popped. You’ll never guess who was standing directly in front of the goaltender when the puck made the strings wish they had the night off. Ya, Jaden Booth. The Grizzlies had the lead. Nice play. 3-2.
   6. 3rd 12:55 – Oyster River Bobcats – PPG – Cole Levesque from Domenic DeRosa and Grady Gault. – This was a great play by the Bobcats. This goal came after an Oyster River timeout and then a penalty on Goffstown. The Bobcats cycled the puck on the power play. Back to the point to Gault who fed a pass to DeRosa along the half wall. DeRose rotated with the puck to the high slot well above the circles. He got to the middle and fired a shot. Jaden Booth was bodying Levesque away from the crease. There was at least a partial screen on Bennett. But Levesque, with Booth at his back, somehow managed to deflect the thigh-high shot with the blade of his stick. This changed the direction of the puck from one side to the other. Great tip for the goal.  3-3.
   7. OT 6:03 – Goffstown Grizzlies – Even – Corey Beland from Van Eames. OT-GWG. – All I can say is that Van Eames skated into Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey history. With the Grizzlies killing a penalty, Eames and Cam Desruisseaux helped break up a Bobcat rush attempt in the D zone. Desruisseaux sent the puck the length of the ice. Then Eames skated into the offensive zone on the forecheck like he owned it. He tied up the defenseman and then took the puck away. Eames turned away from the D to the corner giving himself a sliver of space from which to operate. Desruisseaux went to the net, taking a defender with him. Two Bobcats approached Eames. Beland, newly free from the bondage of the penalty box, skated into open space behind the pursuit of Eames. Eames deftly slipped a pass through the tight window and found Beland at the face-off dot. Beland loaded his wrister as Desruisseaux rolled himself and the defender in front of the net. A passing screen. Just as Beland absolutely destroyed the top corner with the puck, and the water bottle popped. Just like a New Year’s ball-drop celebration! The Grizzlies poured onto the ice and stormed the corner from where Eames rescued the night, and Beland made a wrong into a right. Let them fly. 4-3!

 

You can find news, video, updates, and all kinds of interesting tidbits involving Goffstown Grizzlies hockey here, Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey.

 

 

---

 

 

 

---

---

The thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the individual contributors, mostly mine. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the leagues, schools, coaches, players, or characters listed in any of these blog posts. Or, maybe they do. Either way, you would have to ask them directly.