Punching Their Dance Card

Playing their first home game of the season, in front of some of the recent royalty of Hanover Hockey back in town from college with names like McNulty, LaRock and Acker, the Marauders took to the ice against an 0-1 Bow Falcons team making their debut season in Division 1.  Two hours later, Hanover had avoided the pre-Holiday Dance trap game and secured a 6-1 victory to elevate them to 2-0 on the season.

     The MVP of this game had to be Bow senior goalie Nathan Carrier, who from the opening whistle was under significant duress, especially given that the Falcons were down three skaters who had been injured during their opening game loss to Nashua South.  For the first 13 minutes of the period, Carrier faced down innumerable Hanover chances, most notably generated from the Charlie Plottner-Joey Goff-Hans Williams line that continually came flying in close only to be turned away in every possible way by Carrier.  Carrier was helped by two shots off of the post by Hanover, but rarely did the puck leave Bow’s defensive zone, being kept in by the swarming forecheckers like Casey Graham, Rowan Wilson, Spencer Lawe, and Carter Auch.  Finally, it was Matty Gardner’s wrister from the point, on an assist from linemate Sy Oberting, who put Hanover up front at 13:00 minutes to finish the period with Hanover up 1-0.

      The second period was a lot like the first, with a very strong Hanover forecheck led by senior Will Laycock and junior Brendan Brigham frustrating the Falcons into numerous defensive zone turnovers.  However, it was not until midway through the second that the Marauders were able to beat Carrier again, with Oberting slipping a lateral pass at the point to Gardner who found Toño Correa flying through the mid slot.  His well-directed blast found the net glove side to make it 2-0 at 5:55.  As the Marauders seemingly sensed Bow’s vulnerability and the HD inched closer to reality, the junior line of Cameron Woods-Patrick Daley- Correa continued to keep on the pressure.  This frustrated the Falcons into committing a tripping penalty that gave Hanover it second power play opportunity of the season.  With shades of Stadheim-Zinman-Lehmann all over again, in came the Woods-Correa-Curtis Rice-Oberting-Gardner unit and 21 seconds later, Oberting’s rip from the point found Gardner screening in front whose poke to a crashing Woods made it 3-0 at 13:57.  Just to keep it interesting, Bow came flying in on goalie Ben Plottner at 14:59, who up to this point had been using his stick as a prop to keep him awake, for a dribbler by Devin Perry that just crossed the goal line as time expired.

      Heading into the third period, it seemed like the Marauders were more concerned with who would get to use the showers first postgame and get to the dance the earliest rather than continue the clean, tough play that had been featured in the first two periods. Uncharacteristically,  they were called for five penalties in the final frame, including one prolonged stretch of 5-on-3 when three Marauders were simultaneously in the box.  It was Oberting, however, who wasn’t taking any chances on his dance card not being punched this day who put the Marauders ahead  4-1 at 3:33 with a high slot wrister with assists going to Daley and Rice for his fourth point of the night.  13 seconds later it was Rice breaking into the offensive zone and finding a streaking Plottner coming down the slot like a freight train to punch in the nifty feed to make it 5-1.  Finally Woods completed his two goal day with a nice poke in front on assists from Daley and Brigham.

      Plottner finished with 11 saves on 12 shots, helped by a defense of Duncan Bailey, Will Fichman, Rice, Gardner, and Oberting. Carrier had 49 for saves the Falcons.

     It is hard to imagine a more dramatic transformation than what was witnessed in the Campion lobby after the game as the Hanover juniors and seniors emerged from the locker room.  What was 15 minutes earlier a smelly mass of adolescent testosterone drenched in sweat, came player after player sauntering down behind the benches looking like they had just been hired to model for Vineyard Vines (all except child model Charlie Plottner, who may still be under contractual obligation with LL Bean and cannot wear the competition).  Parents gushed with pride, younger siblings laughed and Marauder sophomores and freshman got into the family minivan to begin another Saturday night of Netflix and/or Fortnight. 

      Dick Dodds's 2-0 Marauders will have the day off tomorrow and then begin a brutal stretch of games that sees them play some of the toughest teams in NHIAA hockey.  After a game agaisnst Nashua South on Wednesday, Hanover plays in succession BG, Concord, Bedford, and Trinity.  Enjoy the dance, enjoy the Netflix reruns – next week it gets interesting.

2018-19 Game On

      The last time the Hanover Maruaders boys hockey team was in Manchester’s JFK arena, their gritty defensive masterpiece over the BG Cardinals propelled them to the state finals last year and avenged the heartbreakingly unexpected home loss to the Cardinals in the 2017 state quarterfinals.  Of course, those Marauders went on to defeat Bedford in the finals to bring the state title to the Upper Valley for the first time since 2006.

      But just like Pat Doherty’s facial hair, some things from last year are best forgotten, and as the Marauders took the ice to open up the 2018-19 campaign, you can bet veteran coach Dick Dodds and his staff were 100% focused on returning this team back to the top of the NHIAA Division 1 mountaintop.  With a large cast of returners and several new faces, the puck dropped at 6:15 in the Queen City as the Hanover partisans settled in for the contest against Manchester Central to begin the quest for title #10.

      Exactly seven minutes and 39 seconds later, the Marauders had already matched their offensive output from the three games in the Keene Jamboree last weekend, with an early 5-0 advantage.  Seemingly scoring from all angles and at will, Hanover piled on goal after goal so that by the end of the period, they held an 8-1 lead.  At the end of two periods it was 12-1 and, with the freshman parent standing next to this blogger asking if this was how all of the competition was going to be this year (uh no), Hanover cruised to a 12-1 final victory.  Lots of playing time to go around for all of the Hanover lines, a determined Central team fighting on despite being outmanned, no injuries, and fan consternation that the JFK concession stand was not open were the takeaways from this night.

      Said Dodds after the game “It was a nice way to start the season.  A lot of different people on the scoresheet and everybody playing.  This was a good start.”  The only real suspense was if there would be enough pucks to complete the game, as the traditional first varsity goal pucks were taken out of game circulation for Carter Auch, Brendan Brigham, Spencer Lawe and Curtis Rice.  In fact there were so many first time scorers tonight that coaches Cashman and Alex Dodds were probably getting writers cramp as they labeled the pucks after the game. Ben Plottner and Luke Ives saw their first varsity action between the pipes and just about everyone picked up a nice point to start the season.

      With the win, the 1-0 Marauders will next face newly elevated Division 1 Bow this Saturday afternoon at Campion for their first home tilt of 2018-19.  Expect an open Campion concession stand, 80s heavy metal on the overhead speakers, and a strong Saturday afternoon crowd. Tonight was a strong start - but expect the mountain to get a lot steeper going forward.

2018-19 Season Preview

      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 10^th 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 9^th 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.