Speak of the Devil

There’s a few facts we now know to be true after tonight’s 6-0 loss to the Salem Blue Devils…1) the Salem Hew Hampshire Supercuts must have gone out of business around October 10^th 2) Lake Canobie must have had to scrap their no mustaches policy this year so they could get enough summer help 3) the now 7-4 Hanover Marauders must immediately switch all of their remaining Saturday night home games from Campion to any other rink in the state – Saturday night road trips to Notre Dame arena anyone?

A brutal loss, but let’s rewind and remember the Marauder stink that emanated from Tri-town last weekend and how the team rebounded so strongly this week against Trinity.  So a chance for redemption on Wednesday against the 1st place Concord Crimson Tide and we can now  look forward to the annual tradition of the Hanover captains parents picking up the pre-game bar tab at Buffalo Wild Wings for all Marauder families traveling to Everett (who says you can't start new traditions?)

See you at the rink…

Death Skate

Coming after what was their worst loss of the season just four days earlier with an uninspired, grit-less, fecal-show against Londonderry, the Hanover Marauders came into this afternoon’s game against Trinity facing a turning point.  With a gaudy 8-1-1 record and in second place in NHIAA Division 1, one would expect the Pioneers to be probably reminiscing about last March at Campion when they ended Hanover’s season with an upset victory in the state quarterfinals.  But little did the Pioneers know as they immigrated up 1-89 that Dick Dodd’s Marauders team – since that Londonderry loss – had not seen one puck in practice.  That compared to the Marauder coaching staff these past few days, Herb Brooks appeared sweeter then Catherine Farrell.  That Wayne Burwell had them all benching twice their weight and that the Hanover parents had fed their boys – even the vegans - nothing but bloody red meat with a side of mean for three straight nights. 

So into that context the now 7-3 (9-4 overall) Marauders came out and put on an ass-whipping (sorry public school censors but your historical overreach does not extend to this blog) on Trinity that sent them back to the Queen City probably wondering how the heck this happened.  Because what we saw tonight shows what happens when you want it more, play more physical, play smarter, coach better – that talent alone doesn’t win hockey games.  Dick Dodd’s Marauders wanted it more tonight, and today they showed that they can beat anyone as they came away with the 3-1 victory.

There wasn’t too much to report in the first except that you could tell the boys had a chip on their shoulder – heck even the Hanover moms looked a little pissed (at least our family’s mom did).  High energy, aggressive fore-check, D holding and Trinity killer Luke Ives between the pipes.  But in the second the boys got it going early when Jack Stadheim kicked it out to Tom Lyons at the point who rifled in a wrister on senior Ryan Brewitt who like Rick-O-Shay kicked it back to a waiting John Hill poaching exactly where he should be in front and hammered it home at 1:22.  But almost immediately thereafter, in a new wrinkle in the hockey rules, Trinity’s Marc L’Herueux gang tackled Ives as he lay sprawled in the net on the goal line having made the save.  However, I guess there is a new position in hockey called fullback and with the goal-line push, Trinity was awarded a dubious goal to tie it at 1-1.  The rest of the period featured strong penalty kills by both teams, with Trinity really owning the better of play to finish the period knotted at 1.

Into the third they went and from the beginning, you could see that all of that controlled anger since the Saturday night massacre at Tri-town was starting to have its effects on the visitors.  Hanover was hitting harder, skating faster, trash-talking more – love this game.  But despite out shooting Trinity 10-2 on the period, Hanover could not finish it.  Both teams had great chances with the Pioneers rattling the post and Cam Woods’s sniping one that Brewitt’s quick glove hand stoned.  But it was deep in the third when the Pioneers committed the Cardinal sin – well maybe not the Cardinal sin but bad enough – and were rung up for the penalty while pressing in their own offensive zone.  Down the puck game to an offensive zone face-off for Hanover, and from there Stadheim collected it at the near left circle, walked it in a few steps and lightning fired it on net with a screening Curtis Rice and Woods in front.  Not sure if it was tipped or not but doesn’t matter – 2-1 Hanover with just over a minute left.  In desperation, Trinity then pulled their goalie and Rowan Wilson iced it with the empty-netter with 2 seconds left.

Ives was awesome and lived up to his Pioneer-killer reputation making 25 saves on the night.

So with the win, Hanover sets up a showdown with Trinity at their place in two and half weeks.  From now until then we get to rumble with Salem, Concord twice and Exeter amongst others.  Tonight we will allow one green bean on the dinner plate, then it’s back to the brown meals until Saturday.  And I have a feeling the boys don't see another puck in practice until Presidents Day.

See you at the rink…

Lanced

Coming in to tonight’s away game pitting the Hanover Marauders against the Londonderry Lancers, on paper this seemed like an easy one for Hanover.  6-2 league record, a win against Pinkerton who had knocked Concord from the unbeaten ranks, and a four game league winning streak going up against a 2-4-1 Lancer team.  However, those records are somewhat deceptive, as Hanover had squeaked by some lesser hyphenated teams while Londonderry owned a tie against Salem, and had really thus far played only the big boys on the NHIAA Division 1 circuit.  And when it was over, we once again learned that the old hockey mantra of “you can’t mail it in against anyone” is unimpeachable, as the Marauders sputtered to a 2-1 loss to fall to 6-3 in league play and 8-4 overall.

Certainly Hanover owned the better of play throughout this one, but again had trouble on the offensive end despite some line shuffling and parental prayers to the goal gods.  But clearly the Hanover boys and their parents have spent too much time over the years going to hockey games on Friday nights and Sunday mornings and not being where they should be, so all of those prayers to the goal gods were promptly ignored and Hanover found themselves knotted at 0-0 after the first.  We got a little love at the beginning of the second, when John Hill found Patrick Daly behind the net and his nifty pass found a wide open Jack Stadheim in the mid slot for a quick wrist shot score to make it 1-0.  But the gods are cruel, and soon thereafter an excruciating one minute span saw the Lancers stuff one in close, get a penalty on the play, and then score on the ensuing power play to completely upend the game sheet.  Despite heavy pressure throughout, including a 6-4 to end the game being on a man-up and pulling goalie Ben Plottner (who had another stellar performance in the loss) that’s how it ended.

And it doesn’t get any easier because once the dust settles and you’ve taken your third shower to finally clean off the Tri-Town arena stench, the boys face Trinity, Salem and Concord. So for those parents who still monitor their son’s google search history, in addition to “JLo” and “Shakira” on the list, be prepared to see search terms like “death skate”, “what is the world record for number of burpees in one hour”, “Miracle skating scene” and “hockey coach torture”. 

See you at the rink…