I have been writing this piece for a few weeks now and it dawned on me recently that my once-rapid pace of putting words to this place had slowed to a mere trickle or re-reading of words already written. I quickly understood why. It’s because somewhere beyond reality I held hope of another game, another picture, another story, another chance to write about this group. Why must it end this way? Why must it end at all?
It was three weeks ago now, and in my mind, it went something a little bit like this. As the maestro held his baton high, coercing the grand finale in all of its glory, the final note played. Somewhere between stunned and proud, the maestro bowed his head and turned to face the masses and the feedback they levied on this collective piece of work. And those who witnessed it, they rose in unison to honor the performance and wished it never had to end.
Goffstown dug themselves a huge hole, falling behind 5-0 in the second period, while Dover was dictating play by simply executing better than the Grizzlies. Goffstown reached down, found some collective fire within, and came storming back. With less than 10 minutes to play in the game, the game had turned into an intense, nail-biting, one-goal, tournament game with the Grizzlies trailing Dover, 5-4.
Goffstown ended their spectacular regular season in Salem against a very strong Windham Jaguars team on Saturday night. Despite dropping their final two contests, the Grizzlies did win 14 games in the regular season for the first time in their program’s history. Windham jumped out to a 4-0 lead and the hole was too deep for the Grizzlies to climb out of and overcome, but that’s not the whole story.
One of the beauties of sport is that competition brings opportunity where something has to give. People can talk, stats, results, and personnel can be compared on paper, but in truth, it’s only after having contested in the sport that we really know. Last night out at Keene Ice, the Keene Blackbirds hosted the Goffstown Grizzlies on Keene’s Senior Night. It was NH Hockey’s Division II #1 vs. #2 in a last week of the season matchup. Something had to give.
Last night on the hilltop, as some say, the Grizzlies hosted their final regular season hockey game of the 2017-18 season. It was also Senior Night, a chance to recognize Goffstown’s 5 seniors on this year’s varsity squad. The opponent was Merrimack, a team that these senior’s had never beaten (0-4) coming into their final regular season home game.
The Goffstown Grizzlies hockey team played host to the Alvirne Broncos last night at St. Anselm College. On paper, the standings and previous results pointed to this as a blowout type game, dare say, and easy win for the Grizzlies. See Alvirne entered play with a record of three wins and twelve losses, while Goffstown entered play with twelve wins and two losses. In the end, the Grizzlies prevailed by a score of 10-6, but there were a few different sides to this story.
New Hampshire Union Leader 01-22-18 D02_3 Hockey Night In Boston Power Rankings
Several of us NH high school hockey fans were talking over the summer, and we agreed that maybe St. Thomas would be the team to beat in the 2017-18 season. Thus far it seems that maybe we were right.
CONGRATULATIONS to the Grizzlies Honored This Season! The 2016-2017 Hockey Season was a special one, and there is a wonderful tradition building right here in Goffstown. Who will step up next season and take their…
Mettlesome and gritty are a pair of words that come to mind when I look to describe the Bow Falcons in their game this afternoon. See, Bow entered the tournament as the #2 seed, and they owned an awesome regular season record of 15-2-1. As these kind of things often work themselves out, the pair of losses for Bow came at the hands of this afternoon’s opponent, the Keene BlackBirds. Bow lost to Keene 3-0 just before Christmas, and then they lost again, 5-3 in mid-February. In today’s Division II State Championship game, the #1 BlackBirds (18-0) looked to remain undefeated, and cap their perfect season with their first ever hockey title. Though, as we have learned over the years, in sports, and in rivalries, it is very difficult to beat a good opponent three straight times, especially in the same season. Today was no different.
Mumbled and garbled audio aside, the atmosphere in Exeter was electric. The Bow student section was in place early. The Windham throngs seemed to show up at exactly the same time. Keene packed their side with orange and black. St. Thomas showed their various blues. Before long the seats were full. The areas all around the glass where people were allowed to stand, were accounted for. The crowds for all of the Final Four teams were loud, present, and noticeable. Despite my hometown Grizzlies being absent from the semifinals, it was fun to watch some good high school hockey. Storylines run in every direction when there are a few of us, or more, gathered at events like these. Then, there comes the time when the game is played, and legends are born.
Sullivan Arena, St. Anselm College, Goffstown, NH.
Sullivan Arena, St. Anselm College, Goffstown, NH.
Campion Ice Arena, West Lebanon, NH. Tuesday, February 21, 2017. Goffstown at Lebanon-Stevens, 445pm. Maturity and growth are signs that lessons are being learned. They are signs that messages are being received. They are the…
West Side Arena, Manchester, NH. Saturday, February 18, 2017. Goffstown at Merrimack, 500pm. Merrimack and Goffstown are not too fond of one another. At least the high school hockey teams from these two towns tend…
Skate 3, Tyngsboro, MA. Wednesday, February 15, 2017. Goffstown at Alvirne, 550pm. Maybe a gaffe; a faux pas, as it were. See, the game sheet last night read: Home Team: Alvirne. Visiting Team: Goofstown. I…
That’s what good teams do, they battle. That’s also what Goffstown did, they battled. They did what they had to do, to get the win.
Misery and gloom are associated with distress and anxiety. And these emotions could have played major roles in tonight’s home game against the undefeated Keene Blackbirds. Especially when Keene scored six unanswered goals over a span of 17 minutes. But the Grizzlies kept skating. They kept competing. They kept getting scoring chances. The final score was 8-3 in favor of the Blackbirds, who improved to 13-0 on the season. Goffstown did battle, and they did get some great chances to score. Myles Ditkoff was solid in net for the visiting Keene squad, making 26 saves on 29 shots. Keene had only allowed as many as 2 goals in a single game, just once this season. Tonight, they allowed 3 goals to the Grizzlies.