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 a great week. It was a record breaking week. It was a really fun week. It was Christmas week.
From J.F.K. Coliseum in Manchester, NH, December 29, 2018:
There is a team in Division II hockey that has compiled 36 regular season victories over the last 3 seasons. Yet, nobody counts them anything but usually out. They played Division I powerhouse, Bedford on Saturday afternoon at JFK Coliseum in Manchester for the title at the Brian C. Stone Memorial Christmas Hockey Tournament.
From J.F.K. Coliseum in Manchester, NH, December 28, 2018:
Goffstown played their third and final game of the round-robin section of the tournament on Friday afternoon, against Manchester Central/West. The Grizzlies were looking to go undefeated in their three tournament games for the first time in their history of playing in the Manchester Christmas Tournament (Brian C. Stone Memorial Christmas Tournament as of this year).
From J.F.K. Coliseum in Manchester, NH, December 27, 2018:
It was nice to show up to the rink and have the honor of listening to our National Anthem sung before the game. Being the first game of the day, the Anthem was played. The Bow Falcons and Goffstown Grizzlies, each entered the day with a 1-0 record in the tournament.
From J.F.K. Coliseum in Manchester, NH:
After Concord shutout Hanover 2-0, in the Brian C. Stone Memorial Christmas Hockey Tournament opener, the second game, between Goffstown and Manchester Memorial started slowly. Well sort of.
From James F. Campion Arena in West Lebanon, NH – December 19, 2018:
Goffstown went to Lebanon for their third road game in their first four games of the 2018-2019 campaign and earned a convincing 6-3 victory.
From Sullivan Arena in Goffstown, NH – December 15, 2018:
For the second game in a row, there was a pre-game tribute of sorts to someone who has been taken too early from this earth. I was asked to lead the moment from the booth, which I had no problem with. When I asked for some direction on what to say, or in what order, etc. I was told, “just wing it”.
From West Side Arena in Manchester – December 12, 2018
As I sat down to write this recap, I literally removed my baseball cap and sat in silence for 22 seconds to honor Hunter Burke and the Burke family as I had done with the crowd at West Side Arena yesterday afternoon.
From the Whittemore Center on the campus of UNH – December 10, 2018
On Monday night the Goffstown Grizzlies made their annual trip out to the spacious confines of the Whittemore Center to play the Oyster River Bobcats. In this opponent, the Grizzlies know that Oyster River is well coached, and usually structurally sound. The second period showed just that.
Just a good sense of imagination, a spot on the floor, and a pile of pucks.
Once in a while, a road trip takes me through scenes and views that are too numerous to count, and too splendid to accurately capture in pictures. I try though, to convey the breathtaking goodness and beauty found in weather and creation.
Trailing a stormy front moving from west to east, the sky was impossible to miss.
Autumn dusting in Grantham
We were fortunate enough to get to Abrams Pond again this year. We had lots of downtime with family and enjoyed a gorgeous week of humidity-free summer weather.
Days 1-11. Maine. Hastings Campground. Martin Stream Campground. Schoodic Woods Campground. This year, for some reason, the twins and I decided to do a Camping Adventure 2018. We had never camped for more than 2…
Winter Snowfall 2017-2018 (starts with the first snowfall of the season) November 13: 2″. NOVEMBER TOTAL: 2.0″ ( 2.0″) December 09: 5.5″ December 12: 3″ (8.5″) December 18: 1″ (9.5″) December 22: 5.5″ (15″) December…
Day two. White Mountains National Forest. Hastings Campground.
Even though we ended up at some wonderful destinations during our trip to British Columbia, there were a lot of hours spent on the road. Every morning we left our home base in Salmon Arm,…
I guess I don’t have a bucket list really, but if I did, seeing Yoho National Park would be on it. I was fortunate enough to visit the park for a portion of one day.…
So, an innocent conversation with friends last year, about the possibility of having raised garden beds and whether or not they could place one on the side of a hill, turned into a woodworking project that has continued this year. It all started with manufacturing the sides and ends by cutting and combining boards to get walls that were 12″ deep. Then some pilot holes, support for the corners, and a 3 1/2″ lip all the way around (to lean on or sit on), and I had a finished product.
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.
I have been watching the Olympics since I can remember. The first games I vaguely remember were the 1972 games. There have been more memorable moments than I could probably list. Then… …Yesterday morning, I…
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.
