Old School Hockey

The organizers of this year’s Brian C. Stone Memorial Christmas Tournament know what they are doing.  Holding the tournament in one of the true great barns in New England where there is still a sign on the West End stands threatening a $50 fine for bringing in any “intoxicating beverages” and an 8 foot wide neutral zone is one.  Maintaining the tradition of free hot dogs for each player after each game is number two.  And scheduling the first game of the tournament between the last two New Hampshire Division I state champions in Hanover and Bedford just completes the trifecta.

So to the Queen City for the first time they went this 2019-20 version of Dick Dodds’s Hanover Marauders to face off against the Bulldogs for the first of three this year.  With two games under their belt – a surprisingly close 2-1 victory over Bow and then a blowout of Manchester Central – we really didn’t know what to expect from the locals going in.

What we came out with was a close 2-1 loss, in an absolutely great, clean, hard-fought game that made the post egg nog hangover much more tolerable.  This was a fast game with limited whistles and a heckuva a lot of back and forth.  You know it’s a well-played game when there are more goals than icing calls...and there were only three goals.

So into the fray they went as the puck dropped at 2:00 pm on a Thursday (c’mon parents is there absolutely anything you would rather be doing than this?) and it was the Bulldogs who had the first early opportunity as a trip had Hanover facing the man-down just 2:09 in.  The locals killed it, and nearly scored on a short-handed rush.  There was back and forth throughout the period, with Bedford controlling better in their offensive zone, but the Marauders better on the transition and breakout.  However, all of the rushes, the most dangerous by senior Rowan Wilson, were turned away by the wily Bedford veteran netminder Shea Guimont.  And as the clock ticked down, it was Connor Labrecque on a one-timer coming off an end board rebound that beat Ben Plottner to make it 1-0 at the first intermission.

While an impartial observer would say that Bedford owned the better of the play slightly in the first, the second was dead even.  Plottner and Guimond were stellar as each faced down good chances on the rush.  Hanover had a lot of chances on their only man-up of the game, but it was a post by Hanover late in the period being their best chance as the horn sounded keeping it 1-0 moving into the third.

Now if Bedford had the advantage in the first, and the teams were pretty even in the second, Hanover certainly carried the play in the third.  Unfortunately for the locals, it was Guimond’s day, as he stared down shot after shot from the local forwards with Patrick Daley, Cam Woods, Brendan Brigham and especially Casey Graham having great opportunities.  Unfortunately Bedford was able to convert on one of their few third period opportunities on an absolute rifle writer from the slot from Owen Roberto to make it 2-0 at 5:55. 

But rather than go into the hole, Hanover responded with sense of offensive urgency that has been missing thus far this season and played their best five minutes of hockey this year.  They absolutely hammered Guimond and the Bulldogs defense with rush after rush until MVP thus far for Hanover this year Brigham loosed up another puck and fed Toño Correa in close for a one-time to make it 2-1 deep with less than two minutes to go. Unfortunately, the furious Hanover push over the last 43 seconds with Plottner pulled could not equalize and the locals were left on the short end.  Final save total 23 for Plottner and 30 for Guimond.

So what to take from this game?  For one, Bedford is beatable this year, and Hanover was the better team today.  For two, once Hanover can start to finish in close, look out NH Division I.  For three, the Hanover defense, which had question marks coming in with the loss of two All- Staters, looks very solid through three games.  For four, Ben Plottner is really good.

So, there you have it.  Lots of positives from today – again this tournament is all about getting the experience of playing great competition in JFK arena.  Oh, and also eating free boiled hot dogs.

See you at the rink tomorrow for Trinity, and their nasty nasty first offensive line, at 2:00 pm.