Chasing St. Thomas - Goffstown Hockey Goffstown at St. Thomas, Dover Arena On Saturday afternoon, the Goffstown Grizzlies traveled to Dover to play the St. Thomas Saints. Goffstown fell behind, 3-1 in the first period, and then scored a pair of goals to tie things up in the third period. Then St. Thomas scored with 77 seconds left and added an empty netter. Great game. Lots of chances. But the Grizzlies came up short.       Goffstown ended up playing this game without two key defensemen, Dylan Desruisseaux and Nick Caldwell. Then Brock Bennett (defenseman) was knocked out of the game early on an unfortunate hit along the boards. This forced the Grizzlies to go into their roster depths to play this road game. While the final score didn't work in the Grizzlies favor, I do believe that if the players were paying attention (I believe they were) then valuable learning experience was gained during the game. This could possibly help the team going forward. Hockey is not an individual sport. While individual statistics are fun to see and compare, the unit working together makes the successes possible.   Grizzlies tie it early - After Jackson Estes provided some foreshadowing of things to come, Goffstown got on the board with a sweet goal. Zack Tarrier had the puck behind the net and skated toward the corner while delivering a pass back to Austin Campbell at the point. Campbell got a good shot away with some traffic in front of the net. The traffic in this case was Tyler Lessard. Lessard tipped the shot and deflected it past the goaltender for the goal. Lessard (6) from Campbell (4) and Tarrier (4). 1-1. Grizzlies start the comeback - The Grizzlies got control of the puck after a save by Kyle Bennett. Campbell put the puck behind the net and toward the corner to Tarrier. Tarrier wrapped the puck hard around the boards looking for Chapman skating up the wing. Chapman kept his speed and tipped the puck away from the D at center ice. Chapman gathered the puck, on the fly, behind the D, and scored a beauty of a breakaway goal. Great play. Chapman (2) from Tarrier (5) and Campbell (5). 2-3. Tied with 3:34 left to play - Goffstown had possession in the zone and Campbell flipped a shot from the point that hit traffic and went to the corner. Chapman got to the puck and slid it back to Gavin Diodati at the left point. Diodati got rid of a quick, low shot that hit the goaltender's pad and before he could get to the rebound, Lessard slipped the puck into the net for the tying goal. Lessard (7) from Diodati (4) and Chapman (4). 3-3.   The Goffstown hockey team had been chasing St. Thomas, and they battled all the way back, to tie the game at 3-3. Then, 97 seconds later after an outlet pass from Tarrier hit Lessard's blade and bounced away. The puck ended up on the stick of St. Thomas' Rolly Edgerly. Edgerly undressed the D with a toe drag, walked in, and scored the unassisted, GWG for the Saints. St. Thomas added an empty net goal later, and the Goffstown hockey comeback ended in a loss.   NHIAA Hockey: Saturday, January 13, 2024 Dover Arena - Holt Rink Scoring: Goffstown Grizzlies: 01 - 00 - 02 = 03 St. Thomas: 03 - 00 - 02 = 05     Shots on goal: Goffstown Grizzlies: 10 - 16 - 14 = 40 St. Thomas: 13 - 07 - 08 = 28 Goffstown Grizzlies Penalties: Horne (Slashing) Campbell (Holding) Goffstown was 0-for-6 on the power play, while St. Thomas was 0-for-2. Eli Allaire made 37 saves on 40 shots (.925). Kyle Bennett made 23 saves on 27 shots (.852). 28th shot was an empty net goal.     The Grizzlies are on the ice at Tri-Town Arena (South Rink) Saturday at 4:40pm for a 'home' game against the Winnacunnet Warriors who are 6-1 on the season.   You can follow other Goffstown Hockey stories, here.   Remembering Jen Cheney... The Jen Cheney Memorial Scholarship and Sportsmanship Award (awarded each season) As a sixteen-year-old junior, Jen was a manager for the very first Goffstown Grizzlies hockey team in the 1999-2000 club season. Her infectious smile and friendly nature was a joy for everyone fortunate to know her. Jen is now our eternal team angel. The spirit of Jen lives on...our team champions an angel memorial patch sewn to each uniform jersey. On Thursday, May 18th, 2000, Jen was killed by a drunk driver. We are dedicated to memorialize Jen’s life with the Jen Cheney Memorial Scholarship and Sportsmanship Award. But we also want to deliver a message from our team angel… simply…if you choose to drink, don’t drive.

December 20, 2023 - All The Way Back - Sullivan Arena, St. Anselm College - After splitting the opening two games of the season, the Goffstown Grizzlies returned to home ice to play the Bearcats from Somersworth-Coe-Brown-Northwood. The Bearcats have been among the better teams in Division II, NHIAA Hockey the last few years, and on Wednesday night, Goffstown dug a deep hole for themselves before working to come all the way back.   Tie game. Third period. Sullivan Arena. Goffstown Grizzlies hockey on a Wednesday night before Christmas. What a great place to be. (Photo by Meagan Tarrier)       It was a Wednesday night, the last one before Christmas. The student section was larger and louder than in the opening game. The sense of a Christmas break on the horizon might have factored into the equation. The students on the ice, and in the stands would have plenty to cheer about over the course of the game. The Goffstown Grizzlies spent 4:42 of the opening 11:00 minutes of the game shorthanded. And for 1:18 of that time they were 2 skaters short. Yet, Kyle Bennett and the penalty kill units kept the Goffstown deficit at 1-0. The first period ended with the Bearcats holding onto to a 1-0 lead, that could have been three or four times larger. Goffstown was outshot 15-6 and the period was territorially controlled by the Somersworth-CBNA group. During the middle period the Bearcats were whistled for four penalties, one of which was nullified when the Grizzlies scored on the delayed penalty call. The Grizzlies failed to score on the other two power play opportunities, but they did manage to stay close in the shots on goal category, being outshot 9-8 in the period. After the Grizzlies tied the game, 1-1, they allowed two even strength goals over 1:44 of play, and thus fell into a 3-1 hole half way through the game.   It was Ava's birthday. Here she is stacking pucks before the game. A little 'puck art' goes a long way. (Photo by Meagan Tarrier)   The key to the game, obviously, was that the Grizzlies scored the next three goals, and didn't allow any more. Goffstown scored late in the second and went to the second intermission, trailing 3-2. Despite taking three more penalties in the final period, Goffstown and Somersworth had 7 shots each in the period. The Grizzlies scored the only goal of the period, and regulation time ended with the score knotted at 3-3. In the overtime, the Grizzlies seemed to have more left in their tank, or at least it played out that way. The Grizzlies ended up with 6 shots on goal, and allowed none. Here is how the Grizzlies scoring worked out: Grizzlies get on the board - After a nice save by Kyle Bennett, the Bearcats cycled the puck with possession for nearly a minute. Then Austin Campbell was first on the puck in the corner and he swept the puck out to the point where Sam Chapman and a Bearcat defenseman were trying to keep the puck on opposite sides of the blue line. The puck bounced Chapman's way and he was off with the puck through center ice. He had Tyler Lessard on his right as they sped over the blue line. The Bearcats had 3 players back, one on Chapman's hip, one in front of the two Goffstown forwards and one trailing close behind. The defender in front stepped up to stop Chapman and he slid a pass over to Lessard who had a moment to settle, aim, and fire. Lessard's shot found the net and the game was tied, 1-1 for a moment. Lessard from Chapman and Campbell. Goffstown takes a step toward coming all the way back - The Goffstown Grizzlies were on the power play and had possession of the puck in the offensive zone. The Bearcats tried a clearing attempt but Campbell kept the puck in the zone at the left point. The power play ended as Campbell's pass went to the low circle where Zack Tarrier was set up. Tarrier spotted Gavin Diodati in front, or Dylan Ellbeg closing from the slot, or Owen Matatall coming in the back door from the right point. But the pass was made and Ellbeg grabbed the puck on his backhand and flipped a perfect shot into the open side of the net. It was an even strength goal and the Grizzlies cut the lead from 3-1, down to 3-2. Ellbeg from Tarrier and Campbell. Goal #3 came in period #3 and it tied the game, 3-3 with 5:48 left in regulation - Goffstown was killing a penalty when Lessard and Ellbeg broke out of the defensive zone on an innocent 2-on-2 semi-break. Ellbeg got a long shot on net but the goaltender, Dylan Cossette had to pin the puck against his shoulder and settle for a face-off. Ellbeg and Lessard were replaced by Tarrier and Chapman to finish the penalty kill. The Grizzlies lost the face-off, but Campbell and Chapman kept the puck in, then Tarrier got the puck deep. Chapman battled for the puck in the far corner as time on the penalty wound down. Eventually, Chapman was left in the corner as the Bearcats broke out of the zone. But the penalty kill pressure had slowed the breakout just enough to be in good position to defend. Matatall stepped up at center ice to force the breakout play east-west instead of north-south, just enough to allow a hustling Tarrier the opportunity to backcheck on the play. Tarrier pulled a "Pavel Datsyuk-ian" pilfer of the puck at center ice as Chapman tagged up and Diodati escaped from the penalty box. Tarrier flew into the circle and let a shot fly from just beyond the dot. The shot was a hair higher and a few feet closer than Ellbeg's shot a moment before. The puck hit Cossette and bounced up and over his shoulder and into the net. Great team play multiplied by a singular brilliant defensive effort and perfect shot. Game-Tying goal, Tarrier unassisted. 3-3. OT Game-Winner - If you are a hockey player as a junior in high school and you are a student athlete that hasn't played on the high school hockey team in either of the previous two seasons while attending the high school, then you might need some time to fit in with the group that gathers and competes for NHIAA Hockey wins. If that player is Sam Chapman and he plays his first varsity game five nights before Christmas, on home ice, for a 1-1 team against a very good opponent, then why not make it a very special night, coming all the way back, to play for and with the Grizzlies. After Chapman was leg tripped by JR Norris at center ice (no call and thankfully no injury) the Bearcats got the puck deep into the Grizzlies defensive end. Zack Tarrier had the puck on the end boards and he angled a pass off of the boards that was nicely received by Gavin Diodati along the wall. Diodati took a second and rifled a perfect pass across the ice to Sam Chapman. The pass allowed Chapman to take a hard stride or two toward top speed and the puck while cutting slightly to the middle. Chapman's line of travel and his speed blew up the defensive structure that the Bearcats had in place. Chapman flew over the blue line with two defenders chasing him, but he was gone. Chapman, on his forehand, calmly buried his first career goal which happened to be an overtime game-winning goal in his first varsity game. What a special night! The Grizzlies and their fans went wild! The Goffstown hockey team had come all the way back, to win it, 4-3 in OT. Chapman from Diodati and Tarrier. What a way to end the first game of a high school career. This also earned Kyle Bennett his first varsity win in net.   Grizzlies win! Grizzlies win! OT game-winner brought to you by Chapman from Diodati and Tarrier. No apples, just assists, goals, Grizzlies, and a team celly. Great play! (Photo by Meagan Tarrier)   NHIAA Hockey: Wednesday, December 20, 2023 Sullivan Arena Scoring: Somersworth CBNA Bearcats: 01 - 02 - 00 - 00 = 03  (OT) Goffstown Grizzlies: 00 - 02 - 01 - 01 = 04  (OT)     Shots on goal: Somersworth CBNA Bearcats: 15 - 09 - 07 - 00 = 31  (OT) Goffstown Grizzlies: 06 - 08 - 07 - 06 = 27  (OT) Goffstown Grizzlies Penalties: Ellbeg (Trip) Tarrier (Rough) Chapman (Trip) Chapman (Rough) Diodati (Interference) Ellbeg (Rough) Diodati (Rough) Goffstown was 0-for-2 on the power play, while the Bearcats were 0-for-5. Dylan Cossette made 23 saves on 27 shots (.852). Cossette played all 48:31 of the game. Kyle Bennett made 28 saves on 31 shots (.903). Bennett played all 48:31 of the game. This was Bennett's first career varsity win.     Guarding the Grizzlies Den at Sullivan Arena. (Photo by Meagan Tarrier)             The Grizzlies have a break from NHIAA League play for a couple of weeks, but they will be playing hockey over the Christmas break. They will play in the Brian C. Stone Memorial Christmas Tournament again this year. This year's schedule is similar to previous years as far as dates and times go, all at JFK Memorial Coliseum. But the schedule is determined a simple 8-team bracket. Check it out. And get out to some games. It's a great atmosphere every year.       You can follow other Goffstown Hockey stories, here.   Remembering Jen Cheney... The Jen Cheney Memorial Scholarship and Sportsmanship Award (awarded each season) As a sixteen-year-old junior, Jen was a manager for the very first Goffstown Grizzlies hockey team in the 1999-2000 club season. Her infectious smile and friendly nature was a joy for everyone fortunate to know her. Jen is now our eternal team angel. The spirit of Jen lives on...our team champions an angel memorial patch sewn to each uniform jersey. On Thursday, May 18th, 2000, Jen was killed by a drunk driver. We are dedicated to memorialize Jen’s life with the Jen Cheney Memorial Scholarship and Sportsmanship Award. But we also want to deliver a message from our team angel… simply…if you choose to drink, don’t drive. The beginning of every article. (C) 1inawesomewonder 2017. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the individual contributors, mostly mine, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the schools, coaches, players, or characters listed in any of these blog posts. Or, maybe they do, but you would have to ask them directly. Either way, "It's a great day for hockey" ~ the late "Badger" Bob Johnson. "We should be dreaming. We grew up as kids having dreams, but now we're too sophisticated as adults, as a nation. We stopped dreaming. We should always have dreams." ~ the late Herb Brooks.

December 11, 2023 - A New Era Begins - St. Anselm College - Goffstown, NH - There is a new face at the helm of the Goffstown Hockey program, and on opening night, the Grizzlies earned a 6-1 win.     As the new era begins, the Goffstown hockey team has a roster of 25 players. Only 20 players can dress for a varsity game, so there will be some rotation among the players on the roster. By my count, there are 8 freshmen, 5 sophomores, 8 juniors, and 4 seniors. Youth. And hope springs eternal. It's a new season! It's a young team. A new era begins. Andrew Skora is the highest career point leader (9g-12a-21p)  returning this season. Where will this season take the Goffstown Grizzlies and G-Town Nation? It should be fun to watch. Afterall, it is all about the kids. And on opening night, the kids played well enough to snag a 6-1 victory over the Monadnock-Fall Mountain-Con-Val Huskies. The Grizzlies took a 3-0 lead in the first period, with 3 goals over a 4 minute and 21 second span. Then they didn't score again for 23 minutes and 17 seconds. The home team added three goals in the final period and skated to the opening night win. It was a memorable night. A new head coach. A win on opening night. Alex Veary earned his first varsity win in net with 20 saves on 21 shots. And three players scored their first career goals. A new era begins. Grizzlies score first - The first goal of the 2023-2024 season was also the first goal of Gavin Diodati's career. Dylan Ellbeg won the offensive zone face-off for the Grizzlies, with some help from Andrew Skora. Skora spun and sent the puck into the slot to Ellbeg, but the defense was contending the middle of the ice. The puck skipped off of Ellbeg's stick right to Diodati, and Gavin made no mistake! He swept the puck into the net for his first career goal and the Grizzlies had a 1-0 lead. First career goal - Diodati from Ellbeg and Skora. Even strength. Everyone loves a shortie - The Grizzlies were killing one of their four shorthanded encounters when Tyler Lessard entered the shooting lane. He blocked a blast from Kiernan King off of his shin guards. The puck caromed out in to center ice and the race was on. Lessard flew up the left side with the puck and Skora on his right. Lessard shot but Matt Coburn made the save. Then Lessard followed his shot and tapped another shot into the pads before grabbing another rebound and slamming the puck into the net. 2-0. SHG - Lessard unassisted. Wicked wrista - The Grizzlies had a 2-0 lead and the action had opened up late in the first period. Dylan Desruisseaux got back and forced a Huskies shot wide of the net. Lessard came back through the defensive zone grabbed the puck. He then went on a bit of a sakte-about in the defensive end. He spun, he circled, he doubled back, and then turned up ice still with the puck. As he went through center ice he flipped a backhand pass ahead to Zack Tarrier who was up ice and on the fly. Tarrier hit the offensive blue line with speed, the puck, and a defender between him and the net. Tarrier let a wrist shot fly as he was moving left and using the defender as a screen. Not only that, he shot the puck back toward his right with accuracy and speed. Judging the reaction of Coburn, the screen worked, and the speed beat him to the spot as the puck sent waves through the netting in the goal. 3-0. Tarrier from Lessard. Another career first - Gavin Diodati cut to the outside and entered the offensive zone with some speed. He made a nice centering pass to the slot that rolled off of Owen St. Onge's stick right to Andrew Skora. Skora ripped a shot that whistled just wide. He got his own rebound, circled in the corner, fought off a check, and dished to the slot. St. Onge was moving backward toward the center of the ice as the pass reached him right in his left-shot wheelhouse. St. Onge cranked a shot all in one motion and the puck found the net before the goaltender could complete the slide from his right to his left. First career goal - St. Onge from Skora and Diodati. 4-1. Another first, 6 minutes later - St. Onge won an offensive zone face-off to himself and while spinning around he got a nice shot that just missed the near side post, wide. The puck hit the end boards and slid toward the far corner. Andrew Skora was there to retrieve the puck and instantly sent a pass toward the crease. The puck avoided traffic and ended up right where AJ Tramontozzi wanted it. And AJ slammed the puck into the net. 5-1. First career goal - Tramontozzi from Skora and St. Onge. Empty netter - The Huskies pulled their goaltender with 90 seconds left in the game to work on their extra attacker set up. They won an offensive zone face-off and did everything but score as Veary and the defense somehow kept the puck out of the net. Moments later, Will Hamel grabbed the puck in the D zone and safely banged the puck up the boards. The puck got past the Monadnock forward where Cole Stratford took the puck and hit center ice. He made a pass that might have been intended for Connor Bernard but he was stick-checked and the pass lacked the necessary oomph to get to Bernard. The net was empty. Dylan Ellbeg was the recipient of the pass and barreled over the blue line and buried a wrist shot into the open net. 6-1. Ellbeg from Stratford and Hamel. NHIAA Hockey: Scoring: Monadnock Huskies: 01 - 00 - 00 = 01 Goffstown Grizzlies: 03 - 00 - 03 = 06 Shots on goal: Monadnock Huskies: 08 - 08 - 05 = 21 Goffstown Grizzlies: 17 - 07 - 12 = 36 Goffstown Grizzlies Penalties: Tarrier (Interference) Ellbeg (Trip) Bennett (Slash) Lessard (Interference) Tarrier (Rough) Goffstown was 0-for-1 on the power play, while the Huskies were 0-for-4. Matt Coburn made 30 saves on 35 shots (.857). There was one shot on goal when the net was empty. Alex Veary made 20 saves on 21 shots (.952).     There are a number of eligible Goffstown student-athlete hockey players that chose not to return, or chose to play in a different program than to play in the Goffstown high school program this season. This has become a popular problem in the last 15 years especially, as parents shop their players to the greener grasses disconnected from the hometown team. In addition, the players interest (overall) in the discipline and time requirement along with the narrowing of the competition funnel that determines which players play most, seems to get a little weaker every year for some, if not for many. Maybe the underclassmen that chose to play elsewhere will come play for the Goffstown on their chest before their high school glory days are done. Then there were some big, strong, good players (12 goals and 17 assists last season) that didn't return for this campaign. Then again, maybe the greatest Goffstown hockey players of all-time are already in the current mix. We know that life is short. And even shorter than that is a high school career. The career all-time leader in hockey games played for the Goffstown Grizzlies played 90 games in four seasons. That's 4050 minutes (67.5 hours) of regulation, game-time hockey in a career. If a player was exceptional enough to play half of those minutes, that would equal just over 2,000 minutes of play in a four year career. Or 8.5 hours per season of game-time action alongside your teammates and schoolmates. So, you can see that time is indeed fleeting. Then, if a player took a 2-minute penalty each game, they've cut their time on ice as a Goffstown Grizzlies player by nearly 10%. In my opinion, it should be an honor and a privilege to wear that jersey and look up and down the bench at your teammates, best friends, and schoolmates, all wearing Goffstown across their chest. Then, by deduction, giving your all for 8.5 hours (or one long school day) over a season shouldn't leave much doubt as to where the commitment and effort level should be. I look forward to what this group can produce on and off of the ice. A new era begins with each member of the team, the Goffstown Grizzlies of 2023-2024. Enjoy the ride!     A new era begins for the Huskies too. As they combine Monadnock, Fall Mountain, and Con-Val together put a varsity hockey program together with an aim to be playing back in NHIAA D-III after next season. I do wish their coach Ethan Russell, and the entire program much success moving forward. I hope that many players get a chance to play NH high school hockey as a result of these schools coming together. Here is what I wrote about Monadnock's coach just a few years ago (January 3, 2019) from a Goffstown hockey game against Keene..."I personally thought Ethan Russell was their best defender all night. He skates very well and gets his feet in front of offensive players which makes his poke checking skills look easy while being a nightmare to one trying to stickhandle around him..."   Russell defends against Grady Chretien at Keene Ice. (Sage Photo).       You can follow other Goffstown Hockey stories, here.   Remembering Jen Cheney... The Jen Cheney Memorial Scholarship and Sportsmanship Award (awarded each season) As a sixteen-year-old junior, Jen was a manager for the very first Goffstown Grizzlies hockey team in the 1999-2000 club season. Her infectious smile and friendly nature was a joy for everyone fortunate to know her. Jen is now our eternal team angel. The spirit of Jen lives on...our team champions an angel memorial patch sewn to each uniform jersey. On Thursday, May 18th, 2000, Jen was killed by a drunk driver. We are dedicated to memorialize Jen’s life with the Jen Cheney Memorial Scholarship and Sportsmanship Award. But we also want to deliver a message from our team angel… simply…if you choose to drink, don’t drive. The beginning of every article. (C) 1inawesomewonder 2017. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the individual contributors, mostly mine, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the schools, coaches, players, or characters listed in any of these blog posts. Or, maybe they do, but you would have to ask them directly. Either way, "It's a great day for hockey" ~ the late "Badger" Bob Johnson. "We should be dreaming. We grew up as kids having dreams, but now we're too sophisticated as adults, as a nation. We stopped dreaming. We should always have dreams." ~ the late Herb Brooks.