Stop The Puck – Goffstown 2 at Merrimack 0

January 11, 2023 – Jake Webber had one mission, stop the puck.

Sometimes you show up to play as a team and everyone gives it all they have, and it’s enough. Then you have a day like today when one of your teammates just plays a game up in the stratosphere somewhere. The Grizzlies played hard and even played some pretty stingy team defense, but their best defender today, was their goaltender. What a performance.

It takes everybody. Jake Webber saves the 1-0 lead for Goffstown with 1:34 left in the game. Stop the puck. What a save!

Before the game I was made aware of the collection taking place at the entrance to West Side Arena for this afternoon’s hockey game between Merrimack and Goffstown. The following was posted on the Goffstown Grizzlies Hockey page earlier today.

UPDATE: Between the Merrimack and Goffstown fans along with hockey fans in general, the Merrimack team raised $545 at the door upon entry into West Side Arena. This money was raised for the Venedam family after an accident claimed the life of their son, Xander, and caused injuries to the rest of the family. The Tomahawks hockey team also raised another $1185 on their own. ~ Thank you. Our thoughts and prayers are still with you Venedam family. 

Cole Stratford from Dylan Ellbeg and Brock Bennett to give Goffstown a 1-0 lead in the second period.

At the other end of the ice, for all three periods, Jake Webber did absolutely everything in his power to stop the puck from going into the net behind him. There are very few times that I am able to mark one perfect goaltending period after another in my notepad. 10/10. 10/10. 16/16. 36/36. 36 save shutout. Perhaps the save that everyone will remember most was the one that Webber made with 1:34 left to play in the game on Owen Miner. Miner had a clean breakaway from the Merrimack River all the way to the crease where his shot found Jake’s right pad and the end of the bid.

As the third period wore on, the Tomahawks kept pounding the Goffstown net with shots on goal, shots that were blocked, shots that missed, and shots that were deflected. And like the CPU goalie on most NHL hockey video games when one team is dominating offensively, Webber just stopped everything. Not only did he make the save on the Miner bid, but he also allowed no rebound. Miner, in a very classy move, paid respect to Webber and his save with a respectful gesture to Jake in the crease. Well done, Owen.

Merrimack called a timeout after the enormous save by Webber and pulled Matt Licata from their net for an extra attacker. Goffstown missed the empty net a few times, but the chances weren’t great to begin with. Then Dylan Ellbeg took a face-off against Kyle Dunn in the D-zone to the right of Webber. Dunn won the face-off, kind of, by smacking Ellbeg’s stick with the puck right toward the net.

Webber was ready, but Xavier Bibaud knocked the puck down with this stick blade and spun to fire the puck out of the zone. The puck caromed off of the boards and sped out of the zone on a perfect angle toward the open net. Late in the game with lots of snow on the ice, the puck slowed as it slid. Conor Dunn raced back to sweep the puck wide but it crossed the goal line before he could get there and stop the puck. 2-0.

Xavier Bibaud got the angle right, and just enough mustard on this clearing attempt to hit the empty net before the D could stop the puck.

In a situation like this, it’s okay to go ahead and mob your goalie!

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

Either way, “It’s a great day for hockey” ~ the late “Badger” Bob Johnson.