Making new friends

Friday, January 11, 2013

Joe Marchilena photo

Justin Chiras, 5, of Bedford, watches as Bedford High School hockey players sign autographs before last Saturday's game against Lebanon.

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Joe Marchilena photo

Bedford's Chris Viola celebrates after scoring a goal in the Bulldogs' 8-0 win over Lebanon last Saturday.

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Joe Marchilena photo

Justin Chiras, 5, of Bedford, watches as Bedford High School hockey players sign autographs before last Saturday's game against Lebanon.

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The Bedford High School hockey team had to get to last Saturday’s game a little earlier than usual.

Marty Myers wanted a way for his Bulldogs to connect better with the community, so the head coach decided to hold a Meet & Greet session for fans before an afternoon game against Lebanon.

Fans arrived starting at 1:30 for a chance to meet the Bedford varsity players and get some autographs. For a first-time event, Myers felt it went well.

“We were looking to do a couple of things,” Myers said. “Reach out to the community to get anyone interested in playing to come meet our players. See what it is to be in a high school atmosphere and talk to actual high school players. For the first year, it went real well, and hopefully it grows.

“The kids really enjoyed it. I was happy to see how they responded to the younger kids. You never know what you’re going to do or say that’s going to impact one of those younger kids.”

As for the game, the Bulldogs cruised to an 8-0 victory over the Raiders to improve to 5-1 in Division II.

Chris O’Hara led the way with three goals and an assist, while Kurt Mitchell had two goals and two helpers and Neil Soucy also scored twice. Chris Viola also had a goal and Stevan Tempesta and Alec Lindberg combined to make six saves.

“It was a good game for us,” Myers said.We had a lot of offense and we didn’t spend too much time in the defensive zone. I saw a lot of things that we worked on in practice. We talked all week about bringing the puck to the net, so I thought we did a good job doing that.”