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.Hockey: Alvirne 6 at Goffstown 10
Last night the Grizzlies returned to the ice for their first game since February 3rd, as their showdown out at Keene was postponed by snow on February 7th. The Red Raiders from Belmont-Gilford came calling in what promised to be a competitive affair. These two teams have played some pretty good games over the last two seasons, with Goffstown escaping with a 7-6 win two years ago, and then the Grizzlies snagged a 5-3 win last year. This season though, caught a red-hot Goffstown team against a Belmont-Gilford team that just doesn’t have the horses they have had in recent years. The Red Raiders came in to the game having won four in a row, and had posted 36 goals in their last 6 games.Hockey: Belmont-Gilford 1 at Goffstown 9
This afternoon the Grizzlies of Goffstown hosted the Oyster River Bobcats at Sullivan Arena for a rematch from a game they played way back before Christmas. Goffstown lost 4-2 at the Whittemore Center the first time they played. But then, the last five meetings, including the earlier contest this season, have not been great ones for the Grizzlies. Hockey: Oyster River 2 at Goffstown 6
After losing a league game for the first time since before Christmas, everyone was wondering exactly how the Goffstown Grizzlies team would respond in their next game. Many folks in town hoped that the loss out at Kingswood on Saturday night would be a good learning experience for the team and serve as an in-season opportunity to self-correct their course.
Perhaps there are times in sports, even in everyday life, when we make mistakes but never really pay for them. Or at least we pay no more than the cost of listening to the taunting of our conscience and its innermost voice. Then, of course, there are times when our mistakes lead to immediate consequence and even seem to be plastered on a larger than life wide-screen for everyone to see.
Sometimes it’s difficult to remember that these high school hockey players are teenagers and that not every night is their best night. It’s also hard to forget previous teams, results, trends, and simple to get caught up in the numbers of all things tracked. Last season the Saints from St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Dover, NH ended the Grizzlies hockey season with a 4-3 win in the NHIAA Tournament Quarter Final round. Hockey: St. Thomas 3 at Goffstown 6
It’s not every night in NHIAA Hockey where both the home team and the visiting team arrive to the rink, and then leave the rink in school buses. But then again, Goffstown High School (Goffstown, NH) traveled to play Winnacunnet High School (Hampton, NH) in Haverhill, MA, naturally. As if this wasn’t odd enough, the rest of the night kind of followed suit.Hockey: Goffstown 7 at Winnacunnet 0
Some people, like professional commentators for instance, might say that tonight’s game against Nashua South Pelham was somewhat of a trap game. It would be sort of like the Grizzlies who finished Saturday’s game on a tidal wave of emotional momentum against a rival in Dover, playing a Division I team who is only 1-3 and not regarded as a real threat in the standings. Thus the potential let down, or “trap” game.