A year ago this
week, the Hanover Marauders boys hockey team found themselves on the losing end
of a 6-2 Bishop Guertin victory that unexpectedly and excruciatingly knocked them
out of the 2017 NHIAA Division 1 playoffs.
With 11 seniors graduating last year, pre-season hopes were a bit
tempered for this year’s team, with several new faces, several inexperienced
returning players, and a goalie who had never played a minute of varsity hockey.
With the preseason expectations a bit low, the Marauders took to the ice on
December 13th to play the Londonderry Lancers in front a raucous partisan
Londonderry crowd at Tri-town arena in what was the first varsity game for many
of the Upper Valley boys.
And something
funny happened back on that cold night in Hooksett almost three months ago –
Dick Dodds’s Marauders came in and stole one from the favored Lancers 4-1. There was captain David Lehmann with two
goals and captain Braxton McNulty setting up two others – almost expected
results from the most experienced and seasoned of the Hanover players. There was sophomore Owen Stadheim, who had
made a big splash as a freshman as the up and coming Marauder star, playing
hurt but creating all sorts of scoring opportunities. However, perhaps unexpectedly, there were
names like Zinman, Williams, Goff and Plottner – all junior returning players -
showing that they would be a force this year.
In addition, new on the forward line names like Wilson, Woods, Correa
and Warhold – playing their first full-time varsity minutes - looked like they
could contribute as well. The returning
blueliners, in addition to McNulty, had the names Bailey and Seelig and they
gave quality minutes that night.
Oberting and Gardner were the new defensive contributors, and they got
some time too, but could you really count on a first year varsity sophomore and
freshman to protect an inexperienced goalie?
And finally there was this kid LaRock, biding his time between two
senior goalie studs last year who looked awfully strong that first game, but c’mon
could this senior with the pink tape on his stick be counted on to backstop
this team to the playoffs? It was a nice
win that night, but there was no way coach Dodds and his assistants Cashman,
Doherty and Sutton could keep this up – even with 36 years of doing this and a
NH Legends of hockey membership to his name.
You just can’t lose 11 seniors, throw a ton of inexperience into the
mix, and count on a rookie senior goalie to carry you game in and game out.
Or can you?
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| Team |
Fast forward now
21 games – 17 of them wins – and you find the Marauders facing Londonderry
again, although this time it is in the quarterfinals of the NHIAA tournament,
on Campion home ice, in front of a huge crowd.
So what happened? Well you had coaches
and senior captains setting a tone of inclusiveness and selflessness where everyone
on the team contributes. You had the
team having the hockey intelligence and restraint to take very few penalties
and the skill to capitalize on their powerplay opportunities. You had the inexperienced senior goalie
morphing into (in this blogger’s opinion) the top net minder in the state and
not only lead all NHIAA Division 1 goalies in goals per game average, but also
tie the Marauder record for most shutouts in the season. But most of all, you had a team that seemed
to like and respect each other not only on, but perhaps most importantly, off
the ice. Even the playoff mullets and
mohawks were sacrificed this year, much to the joy of most of the Marauder moms.
So into the
playoffs came Hanover in the most important hockey game to be played in the
Upper Valley this evening. In addition,
they were playing a very, very good Londonderry team with eight seniors, seven juniors,
and one hell of a team hair showing that perhaps caused a little jealously in
the hometown Marauders during the helmets off playing of the national anthem.
A team that while they did not have a signature NHIAA win this year, had hung
tough with all of the big boys in the league.
This was not going to be an easy win for either team, and as the
national anthem concluded over the PA system, a kind of nervous calm (OK and
maybe a little Lancer hair envy) enveloped the arena as the puck dropped to begin the
1st period.
Just as they
have done all year, the first shift starters set the tone for the game as line
after Hanover line came out fast and furious on Lancer goalie Cameron
Donovan. In fact, it was not until the
fourth minute that Londonderry had their first shot on LaRock (22 saves). Pounding away, but to no avail with several
strong Donovan saves, Hanover eventually got the opportunity it was looking for
at 6:08 when it went on the power play for the first time. Working the umbrella like Mary Poppins,
Lehmann found a seam at the left circle and fired into a screening Zinman whose
tip made it to Gardner in front. The
looping deflection off the freshman’s stick found its way over Donovan to make
it 1-0. Exactly the start Hanover
needed. About three minutes later,
Gardner’s pass to Stadheim along the near boards found the sophomore streaking
down through the offensive zone wide and his centering pass found Lehmann all
alone in the slot. The senior captain
calmly delivered and Hanover was up 2-0 at 10:07 in. After killing off an interference penalty to
conclude the first period, the Marauders felt good heading into locker room #4
for the first intermission.
This blog has
mentioned repeatedly that the most dangerous lead in hockey is the two-goal
lead and that the third goal is always the most important. Lacer coach Peter Bedford probably imparted
these words to his players just before the start of the second because less
than a minute in, senior Peter McKinnon streaked up the near boards and his
blast from the right circle found it way through LaRock to make it 2-1. And from that point on, the Lancers played a furious
brand of second period hockey that featured big hits, fast rushes and multiple
nerve-rattling opportunities on LaRock. However,
as he has done so many times this season, LaRock was unbreakable and kept his
team in front despite being under more pressure than Freddie Mercury (look it
up for those under aged 25). As the
Lancers pounded Hanover, and the first period confidence slowly drained from
the Marauder faithful with each Londonderry rush, everyone knew that Hanover
needed a big play. Enter Stadheim, whose
puck-on-a-string control behind the net found Zinman whose shot off Donovan
rebounded to Woods at the doorstep. In
the midst of a sea of Londonderry blue jerseys the sophomore beat Donovan low
to make it 3-1 with 54 second left in the period. Big sigh of relief as the horn went off to
end the second.
But Londonderry
did not get the message in terms of the momentum swing coming out in the third and at 6:05, despite Hanover playing a much better
period than they did in the second, the Lancers struck first on a Patrick Murphy tally to
make it 3-2. Just like that, it was another
swig of Pepto-Bismol for the Marauder fans as the game momentum seemingly was
about to take another shift toward the visitors. As the teams continued to battle to the 10
minute mark it appeared that the Lancers committed a too-many-men penalty that
was not called. However, as their lines transitioned,
the puck rolled down behind their goal and as they tried to clear, Patrick Daly
stripped the puck on an all-out hustle play and fired backwards to a streaking
Zinman in front whose one-timer delivered that all important two goal lead at
10:54. From there it was only Braxton
McNulty’s angled clear from deep in his own end off of the Zamboni door into
the empty net with 17 seconds left to seal the win 5-2.
This was a
thriller and a tremendous amount of credit is due to the Lancers who came into Campion
and gave the Marauders a tough game, especially in the second period. However, credit needs to go to the Marauders
as well, as they punched their ticket to the semifinals.
Said Dodds after
the game “I was really proud of the kids and how they responded. The playoffs are a different game and we
showed a little grit tonight – something we need to have to move forward.”
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| The mullets weren't that cool anyway |
So with this victory,
the Marauders will face Bishop Guertin in the NHIAA Division 1 semifinals on
Wednesday night at 5:30 at the Queen City’s JFK arena. Back on January 20th, Hanover beat
BG 3-1 in a close, physical nail biter on BG’s home ice. Most pundits would expect the same kind of
contest this week. However, if the Marauders
do have an advantage, it’s that they have played at JFK arena many, many times
this season – 6 to be exact with the barn probably best characterized as their
home away from home. But it is going to
take more than just rink familiarity to beat a very good BG squad. At least the
Hanover fans won’t need directions.
The 2017-18
Marauder season therefore rolls on into its final week, with a trip to SNHU
arena and the state finals awaiting the victor on Wednesday night. There will be four stout teams in Manchester
on Wednesday night, all deserving to move on - why not us?
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