It was late on Sunday afternoon when I walked slowly into West Side Arena to watch the 2010 Flames play their first game in 15 days. Very rarely, do I watch a Flames game with ear buds in, but Sunday I had them in and turned up.
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.
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.
