The 2010 Flames played two games on Saturday, the second day of the Palmetto State Fall Classic Tournament. In the two games, they allowed zero even strength goals. They also scored no goals, of any kind.
The 2010 Flames have one scheduled travel tournament this season. Again this season, the tournament was played in October. And, again, it was down south. This time the 2010 Flames played in Charleston, SC. It was a tremendous trip. Good hockey and near perfect weather, all with a hockey family that is second to none.
Our family was up in the Sunapee-Kearsarge Region of NH for the weekend. It was a wedding weekend at Ragged Mountain Resort for us. Meanwhile the 2010 Flames played three games.
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.
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.
The 2010 Flames played just one game over the weekend which was a major blessing to the team. They were able to beat the Plymouth Panthers, 4-2 at JFK Memorial Coliseum.
With the annual Army-Navy (Army won, 17-11 at Gillette Stadium) game being played just up the road, the 2010 Flames played three games against the Providence Hockey Club in Rhode Island over the weekend. With Providence being closer to the stadium than Boston, the Rhode Island capital was buzzing with activity. On the ice, the Flames played their hearts out.