Right To The Points

 – Right To The Points – January 15, 2026 – Sullivan Arena.

– Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey –

 

 

1. Regardless of the opponent, play the best team-hockey you can play. It’s not about individual points, or personal records. Those things come, or should come, within the framework of team-hockey. Team first. Not, me first. Move the puck. Head-man the puck. Hit the open player in the slot or wherever. Your right to the points should come through the betterment of the team. These things tend to even out over time, so why not go about it the ‘team’ way.
2. Speaking of points, the Grizzlies had a major contribution from the depth of their roster on Thursday night. They tallied 8 goals and 12 assists as a team.
3. Goffstown got points from 11 of their 18 skaters dressed for the game.
4. Of the 20 points put up by the team, 14 were scored by freshmen and sophomores.
5. Booth and Beal scored their first career goals. Giampa and Belanger had their first career points.
6. Kyle Bennett earned his 21st career win in net, guarding the Grizzly Den. He is one win from tying Madeline Sage at 22 career wins. According to the records I can find, Sage is the All-Time Wins leader in Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey history.
7. Brady-Valley played with just 9 dressed skaters and two goaltenders. Despite having a shortage of players on the evening they gave their best effort.
8. Okay, this point is about hockey programs in general. As we see more and more kids (more likely this is done according to the parents direction) opt for full-season club hockey across New Hampshire, programs struggle to get players and funding, or both. In 2012, Manchester Memorial lost in the D-1 State Final to Pinkerton. In 2013, Manchester Memorial beat Manchester Central in the D-1 State Final. Then a year later, in 2014, Manchester Central won the D-1 State Final over Londonderry. That wasn’t too long ago. Now Manchester West, Manchester Memorial, and Manchester Central combine (Co-op) to make one Manchester High School hockey team. Where are all the players going? And. Is the club hockey experience proportionately better than playing high school hockey with your schoolmates as it is financially disproportionate?
9. Point #8 brings me to point #9, funds. Fund-raising. If I had the means I would donate monies to every high school program in the State of NH to make sure that kids could play varsity, junior varsity, freshmen, boys, girls hockey for free. Until such time, the schools and booster clubs try to raise as much money as they can to support their school’s hockey program. With an awful lot of the money coming directly from the families in the program to begin with. I understand this where some of the problem lies. Why on earth we don’t substantially better-fund our scholastic sports and extra-curricular activities is a devastating mystery to me. Cutting back on such things is so short-sighted that all the eye glasses in the world couldn’t fix that lack of vision.
10. Finally, the last point. Goffstown Hockey is supported by the school and boosted mightily by Friends of Goffstown Hockey. This year, the major in-season fund-raising opportunities are within one week of each other. I will share some information below. If you have friends and extended family outside of the teams families tied to this seasons roster, could you share this with them? I know other school programs are in the same boat, or even in a worse-off boat. So, I, we, are looking for funding to come from other places than just the families in the program now. We try to give the kids a tremendous experience as they lace up their skates and don the Grizzlies jerseys night after night. That takes a boatload of time and money through volunteerism and fund-raising. Perhaps I am biased, I do think that the Friends of Goffstown Hockey put on one of the best game presentations in the State of NH high school hockey. Even so, funds must come from somewhere.

The Goffstown Grizzlies are hosting their Annual Comedy Night on Friday, January 30th. Honestly, every single season this is a blast! It really is. A time to gather with friends, even ones not involved in hockey! Great food. Some unbelievable raffle baskets/prizes to win while raising money. Then of course, there are the comedians. Absolutely hilarious. It is a great night every year. There is almost always snow or winter weather on the Comedy Night, so just plan ahead. You have been informed. We live in northern New England. No big deal. Please help us if you can. Thank you.

The QR Code goes to this link: Comedy Show.

 

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Goffstown Grizzlies vs. Bishop Brady-Merrimack Valley (Brady-Valley).

Sullivan Arena, St. Anselm College, Goffstown, NH.

NHIAA Hockey: Game eleven.

Thursday, January 15, 2026.

 

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NHIAA Hockey:

Scoring:
Goffstown Grizzlies: 04 – 02 – 02 = 08 

Brady-Valley: 00 – 01 – 00 = 01 

Shots on goal:

Goffstown Grizzlies: 24 – 15 – 11 = 50 

Brady-Valley: 02 – 05 – 03 = 10 

 

Goffstown Grizzlies Penalties:

• 2nd – Hill – 2:00 – Interference. (PPGA).
• 2nd – Bernard – 2:00 – Unsportsmanlike Conduct.
• 3rd – Beland – 2:00 – Interference.
• 3rd – Tramontozzi – 2:00 – Interference.
• 3rd – Hill – 2:00 – Unsportsmanlike Conduct.

Goffstown was 1-for-2 on the power play, while Brady-Valley was 1-for-4.

• Goffstown Grizzlies – Kyle Bennett (Jr.) made 9 saves on 10 shots (.900).
• Brady-Valley – Payton Cone made 25 saves on 31 shots (.806).
• Brady-Valley – Ronan Heatherman made 17 saves on 19 shots (.895).

 

Buckle up. Here we go. Right To The Points scored by all of our kids:

1. 1. 1st 6:45 – Goffstown Grizzlies – Even – Owen St. Onge from Van Eames and Jackson Horne. – The Grizzlies got on the board first, thanks to a rugged effort by Jackson Horne. His work along the wall and in the corner to maintain possession of the puck while avoiding nearly all contact, ill-intended or otherwise, was masterful. Eventually, he came out of the corner with the puck like Bo Jackson in Tecmo Super Bowl (un-tackle-able). He dished a pass to Van Eames who kicked it and swiped at it but was tied up by Ian Miller. The puck was almost as elusive as Horne. Then Owen St. Onge (some of us call him Owen St. Slot) fired the puck inside the far post beyond the crowd in front of the net. Great effort up and down the ice leading to the goal. 1-0.
   2. 1st 7:12 – Goffstown Grizzlies – Even – Zach Lessard from Cam Desruisseaux and Cam Fratus. – This goal is brought to you by the Class of 2028. After Griffin Wilkinson started the play in the D zone with a pass to Cam Desruisseaux, the sophomores played paddle ball with a puck for a few seconds. Desruisseaux swatted the puck off of an opponent to Cam Fratus. The return pass bounced off of Desruisseaux on its way to Zach Lessard.  Lessard bounced the puck off a skate which changed the direction of the play. This opened up a new lane and Lessard hit another gear as he chased/carried the puck up the middle of the ice. He got to the bottom of the circle before the D could close the gap. As he did, he ripped a shot through the five-hole for the goal. 2-0.
   3. 1st 11:38 – Goffstown Grizzlies – PPG – Owen St. Onge from Jaden Booth and Zack Tarrier. – Goffstown had to go deep and retrieve the puck from the D zone after a Brady-Valley clear. Zack Tarrier carried the puck into the zone before the puck ended up at the point with AJ Hill. Hill was being pressed by Chase Thomas so he executed a spin pass (kind of like a spread eagle) to the half-wall that Tarrier deftly handled off of the boards. Tarrier made a quick pass to Jaden Booth who was behind the net. Booth came out to the nearside post and tried to jam the puck inside the post, but Payton Cone made a nice pad save. From that angle though, the puck caromed right to the slot. There he was, Owen St. Slot. St. Onge made no mistake and fired the puck under the crossbar for the power play goal. Great puck movement. 3-0.
   4. 1st 12:44 – Goffstown Grizzlies – Even – Zach Lessard from Cam Fratus and Cam Desruisseaux. – Griffin Wilkinson pushed the puck forward with his skate. Teddy Beal skated up the right wing with the puck before taking a spill near the corner. Somehow he stayed with the puck and swept it behind the net. Cam Desruisseaux got the puck in the corner and sent it back to Beal in his corner. Beal worked the puck below the goal line back to Cam. Desruisseaux swatted the puck off the corner boards and where Cam Fratus skated onto the puck. Fratus turned with the puck and looked for an open teammate. As the other Cam glided backward through the slot this opened a land for Zach Lessard who was stepping in from the point. Fratus fed Lessard a pass, and Lessard buried a shot inside the near post. Maybe not how you draw it up, but all five players touched the puck over just a few seconds and then scored. Excellent. 4-0. 
   5. 2nd 5:00 – Brady-Valley – PPG – Colin Reardon from Ian Miller and Tyler Mooney. – Brady-Valley was on the power play and found some traction in the offensive zone. Shortly after a shot that rang the post, the visitors broke through and scored. Tyler Mooney grabbed the bouncing puck behind the net and tried to center it. The puck was kicked to the corner by the defense. Mooney tracked it down, tied up the D, and Colin Reardon came over to support him. Reardon turned with the puck and sent a pass to the high slot area. The puck somehow eluded both Zack Tarrier and Chase Thomas and continued sliding to the far point. Ian Miller corralled the puck and fired a shot to the net. The shot made it through traffic and hit Kyle Bennett in the body. The puck jumped free to the top of the crease where Reardon had gone after the pass, and Colin coolly backhanded the rebound into the open net. 4-1.
   6. 2nd 5:29 – Goffstown Grizzlies – Even – Jaden Booth (First Career Goal) from Chase Giampa (First Career Point) and Tyler Belanger (First Career Point). – This play started with a face-off win in the D zone by Reardon. The puck went back to Luke Bedard at the point who fired a quick shot on net. Kyle Bennett made a blocker save on the shot that was targeted for the top corner. Jaden Booth retrieved the puck in the corner and moved it up the wall. He and Tyler Belanger sprung the puck free, poking it past the log jam at the blue line. Chase Giampa picked up the puck at center ice and crossed the blue line. Booth went to the middle with AJ Tramontozzi on his left. Quickly, this had turned into a 3-on-2 for the Grizzlies. Giampa centered the puck to Booth as he was tripped by Bedard. The ref’s arm went up but it didn’t matter, a second later, Booth fired the puck without looking and beat Payton Cone before he could drop to the butterfly and close the pads. Great pace up the ice, right to the points. Three firsts on one play. 5-1.
   7. 2nd 10:27 – Goffstown Grizzlies – Even (4on4) – Zack Tarrier from Zack Tarrier and Zack Tarrier. – Actually the goal was unassisted. Tarrier won the offensive zone face-off and chipped the puck to the boards. He collected his own pass and cut to the net along the goal line. He ripped a backhand shot off of the top of Cone’s shoulder. The puck bounced up in the air like a slow motion arc of flight. As the puck fell prey to gravity it descended toward the ice. The puck was about a foot inside the far post as it fell. Tarrier never took his eyes off the puck as it flew. While doing so he was still skating around the back of the net. As he turned toward the crease, the puck was in the air and falling. The puck was probably about three feet off the ice and now on his forehand side when Tarrier batted the puck into the net from its free-fall. Talk about your hand-eye coordination. Wow. 6-1.
   8. 3rd 6:32 – Goffstown Grizzlies – SHG – Jackson Horne unassisted. – The Grizzlies were killing a penalty and doing a great job of it. Van Eames was on the fore-check and ever-so-slightly altered the path of the stick-handler (Luke Bedard) trying to come out of the zone. Jackson Horne was closing quickly as the puck scooted away from Bedard. Horne’s stick and skates were the wall that Bedard could not poke the puck past. Horne controlled the puck and went to the net. He had Eames on his left, a sudden 2-on-1. Ian Miller took Eames so that the goaltender only had the shot to worry about. Horne got in tight and ripped a backhand shot. I think he was trying to lift the puck into the nearside top corner, but the puck stayed low and got through Ronan Heatherman who had entered the game after Goffstown’s second goal of the middle period. Either way, it was excellent pressure from Goffstown and a finish by Horne. 7-1.
   9. 3rd 8:28 – Goffstown Grizzlies – Even – Teddy Beal (First Career Goal) from Zach Lessard and Cam Desruisseaux. – Zach Lessard carried the puck across the blue line on a 4-on-2 while Brady-Valley was changing out their forwards. Lessard, looking for the hat trick, got in deep with Desruisseaux and Teddy Beal on his right, and AJ Tramontozzi in support. Lessard got a great look at a shot and fired into the immenseness of Heatherman. Ronan made the save with Desruisseaux sniffing around at a tip or a rebound. Cam’s rebound attempt went behind the net to Lessard. Zach stepped out to take another shot with aid from a Desruisseaux stick lift on the defender. The shot got through the goaltender. The puck was behind Heatherman, but the shot had come at such a low angle that the puck didn’t cross the goal line. Teddy Beal was on the weak side and he eventually pushed the puck over the goal line for his first goal. The goal was assisted by Lessard who had broken Beal’s wrist during tryouts last season, forcing Beal to be out for almost all of last season. On Thursday night they were out there together for three even-strength goals. 8-1.

 

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

 

 

 

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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.