As is usually
the case in the Upper Valley hockey community from year to year, a few things
changed over the last 12 months, but most things stayed just the same as
always. There were the usual
helicopter-parent inspired Mite player petitions to Squirts for the HHA board
to handle this fall, Judy is busy giving another group of 12 year old boys the
best coaching experience of their youth hockey careers, and the diehards
continue to answer the call to the CHL on Sunday nights.
But a few things
are different. There are a heck of a lot
more Upper Valley fans caring about the Dallas Stars now than there were last
year. LIVEBARN is coming to Campion so
that those aforementioned Mite helicopter parents will never miss a minute of
little Johnny’s Squirt career, even when at a January couples spa weekend in
Napa - puke. And most importantly the
Hanover High boys hockey team is wrangling with something that it has not had
to deal with since the 2006-07 season – the expectations that come with being a
defending state champion.
Because unless
you have been living under a good-sized piece of Moose Mountain granite for the
past nine months, you know about that 2017-18 Hanover hicks state championship
team. A 21-4 team that NO ONE – except
themselves – thought capable of knocking off the titans of NH hockey. Not with the loss of 9 seniors the year
before, a rookie goalie, an inexperienced defense, and a two-time defending
champion Bedford Bulldogs team in their way.
But on that dank day in the Queen City on March 10th last
year, in which the names Stadheim, Lehmann, McNulty, Zinman, Warhold, and most
of all LaRock, became etched in the lore of Hanover High hockey for evermore,
the Marauders not only won the 9th state championship in school
history, they all put a huge target on their backs. This year there is no sneaking up on anyone
because, if they didn’t know it already before, the NHIAA hockey fraternity
will not underestimate the ability of NH Legend of Hockey Dick Dodds and his
staff to have the 2018-19 Marauders reloaded for another championship run.
Now entering his
37th year behind the bench for the Marauders, owning a state championship in
four separate decades, Dodds knows more than anybody this year that the Hanover
game will be a big one on everyone’s schedule.
“We’re not going to sneak up on people this year like last year when we
had some people surprised. But also it
is very exciting to know that if we don’t have our heads in it, it’s going to
be tough.”
With the
graduation of his two top scorers, all-state goalie, and defensive captain,
Dodds knows that his team has a lot to replace, but is optimistic about the
squad thus far. “Things we did well last
year we are going to have to do well this year.
Most importantly we have to be all engaged and committed and be very
inclusive with everyone on the team and rolling in the same direction. So far
this year, we have seen that from our captains and our returning players mixing
in the new guys.”
Joining Dodds
behind the bench again this year will be coaches Dean Cashman and Pat Doherty,
along with newcomer Alex Dodds, all former captains of the Marauders. “It is important to surround yourself with
quality people if you want to do quality work and I am fortunate to have all
that with all of my coaches. All of my
coaches have been successful on the ice and in the community and at their
jobs. They show the boys that there is
more to life than hockey and that they can be successful in life using some of
the traits they learned playing hockey.”
Dodds describes
Cashman, a former Providence Friar and one handicapper on the golf course who
carried his team in the annual preseason Marauder golf scramble, as “always
thinking about our team 24/7 and trying to make us better. He is a former captain and is a great teacher
who gets it and makes sure the kids get it.”
Doherty, a star forward at St. Lawrence who many of the boys on this
year’s team remember watching torching the Big Green in Thompson just a few
years ago, is in his third year with the Marauders and has the responsibility
for the forwards. “He has great ideas on
the ice and is a really good teacher given that has had great hockey success
and knows what works.” Dodds, who
captained the 2011 Hanover team and was an all-state defenseman before playing
at Endicott, will be the first Dodds son to assist his dad behind the
bench. “Alex really adds passion to
everything we do. He has a real knack
for relating to and coaching the kids. I
am really excited to have him here.” Wayne
Burwell will again be back as strength and conditioning coach, someone who
Dodds says is “critical to our program.
He will literally do anything to help this team, including driving for
hours to get players ready in pregame.”
In order to
capture their third straight first round bye in the NHIAA playoffs, given to
the top four finishing teams in league play, Dodds is going to rely on team
depth and speed. “I have been really
impressed with our team speed. Although
we lost some size from last year, we are faster and have a lot of skilled
players.”
Dodds believes
the strength of his team this year will be his blue line. “We have really
talented defensemen this year with a lot of experience. They can take care of their own and create
offensive opportunities. We have four forward lines that are competitive and
strong and in our preseason games have already started to come together and
play some good shifts.”
With four
graduated seniors, the leadership role will fall on this year’s co-captains
Charlie Plottner and Hans Williams. Both
in their fourth year on the varsity, the shifty Williams and powerful and
gritty Plottner will anchor the first forward line and are looking to maintain
Hanover’s positon as an elite team in NHIAA Division 1. Said Williams “We have everything to prove
this year. Charlie, me and the other
seniors will need to step up. We have a
really strong junior class and lots of talented freshman coming in. It’s our job to help them realize their full
potential.”
Said Plottner “We
are making sure that this team is not last year’s team and telling everyone
that we don’t have to win the same way.
But we can still be successful and get the most out of our players. I am
really optimistic this year.”
Coming off a
broken leg against Pinkerton last year that prematurely ended his season,
Williams is expected to be one of the top forwards for the Marauders. Plottner,
who besides scoring goals specializes in making friends with the opposing
defense in scrums around the net, will bring a toughness to the first
line. Joining them on the wing will be
senior Joey Goff, the last of the three Goff brothers to play for the
Marauders, whose strength and speed in getting up and down the wing were praised
by Dodds (and who can forget that assist he had in the state championship last
year to David for the early 1-0 lead?)
The junior class
is loaded with returning forwards Rowan Wilson, Toño Correa, Cameron Woods and Patrick Daley bringing a
wealth of experience. Wilson is a calm,
steady, skilled centerman whose offensive firepower is complemented by his
smothering forecheck (probably no debates on that one from the BG
readers). Correa, who has put on 20 lbs
of muscle over the summer is cited by Dodds as the most improved player this year
and Woods bring a knack for finding the net that resulted in several huge goals
last near, none bigger than the game winner late against Trinity. Daley who was called up from the JV mid year
last year and made an immediate and decisive offensive contribution, looks to
be flying already. Rounding out the forward contingent will be newcomers senior
Will Laycock who Dodds is very high on with his aggressive and fearless play,
junior Brendan Brigham who goes into the corners like a freight train, junior
Carter Auch who has the versatility to play both offense and defense, freshman
Spencer Lawe who has the speed and skills to begin a storied HHS career and
freshman Casey Graham, who Dodds believes has the among the hardest and most
accurate shots on the team.
The defensive
core will be anchored by seniors Duncan Bailey and Sam Seelig, junior Sy
Oberting, and sophomore Matty Gardner. As
the top returning point scorers from last year’s team, Oberting and Gardner
will be called upon to not only keep the puck out of the Marauder end, but also
bring a huge presence to the offense, especially on special teams. Bailey brings a toughness and grit that is
unmatched and has the offensive game to complement his high flying defensive
teammates. Remember it was Bailey who last year had the goal of the season for
the Marauders, when his bar down ripper from the near board against BG clutched
victory from the jaws of defeat in the semis and sent the Cardinals back to re-evaluate
their out-of-state recruiting strategy. Nursing
an early injury, Seelig is expected to be back in time for the Manchester
Christmas tournament, lending his leadership presence to the defensive
corps. Stabilizing the defense this year
will be senior Will Fichman and freshman Curtis Rice, both of whom look to see
significant minutes on the blue line.
With the
departure of all-everything goalie Harris LaRock to the University of Vermont,
freshman Ben Plottner and Luke Ives will share netminding duties. Both with hockey playing older brothers,
these two freshman have been on the receiving ends of plenty of hard slap shots
growing up and Dodds is high on both of them as they take over in goal.
Division 1 has
two new teams this year, with Bow and Windham joining to make it 16 teams – the
top 12 make the playoffs with the top four getting a first round bye. Hanover,
which was inducted as a program into the NH Legends of Hockey in 2014, remains
the public school with the smallest enrollment playing in Division 1. Dodds sees a lot more depth this year in the
league and a lot more high end teams.
“You’ve got Pinkerton, Bedford, Concord, and BG, but also Trinity,
Londonderry, and Salem all looking good this year – it is going to be a fun
year playing those teams.”
The Marauders
will once again make several trips to Manchester’s JFK arena, the site of the
best night in NH high school hockey when the state semifinals take place in
early March. Along with several away
games there, they will also play there in the Manchester Holiday Tournament. A team season highlight is expected to be the
New Year’s trip to New Jersey to practice with the Devils coaching staff and
meet with Hanover native Ben Lovejoy, a seasoned NHL defenseman.
So here we
go…defending state champions, coaching year 37 for coach Dodds, lots of
returning experience, Sean Plottner doing the music, Hans and Duncan’s flows
progressing nicely, Wayne getting Sy’s hip in good shape, hungry newcomers with
a lot to prove, youth superfan Ryan Carroll fired up to watch his idols, 5:30
am practices up and running, chatter in the Campion lobby about how “the boys”
will do this year. It’s hockey time in
Hanover again – enjoy the ride.
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