Lessons learned for ’Hawks

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom Tomahawk players celebrate their first goal during a hockey game against Bow Wednesday, February 17, 2010, at the West Side Arena in Manchester.

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Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom Merrimack's Tyler Caron breaks away with the puck in front of Bow's Dominic Cesarini during a hockey game Wednesday, February 17, 2010, at the West Side Arena in Manchester.

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Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom Merrimack's Colby Hoyle looks on as teammate Cal Lezama lines up a shot while under pressure from Bow's Bryan Barker during a hockey game Wednesday, February 17, 2010, at the West Side Arena in Manchester.

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Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom Tomahawk players celebrate their first goal during a hockey game against Bow Wednesday, February 17, 2010, at the West Side Arena in Manchester.

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Wednesday, Feb. 17, was a day for hockey; let’s play two.

It featured the two biggest games of the regulars season, Merrimack going up against Division II-leading Bow at Manchester’s West Side Arena. The ’Hawks went in with a 10-3 mark, looking to avoid a three-game skid.

Then, at Skate 3 in Tyngsborough, Mass., Division I-leading Bishop Guertin faced Pinkerton. A win and BG could basically take a huge step to clinching the top seed. Pinkerton, meanwhile, came in with an eight-game winning streak, and the defending champs had eliminated the Cards in the semis last year.

All sorts of hockey drama. Let’s take you through one person’s hockey doubleheader, a 5-3 Bow victory, followed by a surprisingly easy 7-2 Guertin win

3:50 p.m. – Arrival at West Side Arena, a.k.a. The Coldest Place On Earth. Fans are milling outside in the parking lot, not going in right away because they know it’s colder inside (20s) than outside (mid-30s). Such are the venues for high school hockey.

4:10 p.m. – The puck drops and about 27 minutes later, the players leave the ice with Merrimack trailing, 2-1, thanks to a goal by Bow’s Bryan Barker. The ’Hawks had trailed 1-0 but within a scant three seconds later evened the score on Chris Fortin’s tip of a Chris Kinney slapshot. The period ends with a frustrated Kinney firing wide on the power play.

Toward the end of the period, one of the Bow fans, who were strong in number and noise, taunts Merrimack forward Erik Glendye when he hits the ice. “How’s that feel, Glendye?” he said.

4:53-5:25 p.m. – One of the more action-packed but bizarre periods of the season unfolds. The Falcons emerge with a 4-3 lead, but Merrimack took six penalties after taking none in the first and came away with not one, but two short-handed goals, one by Tyler Fortin and the other from Kinney, both off steals of the puck. But Bow’s Gregg Bueddeman scored on the power play to give the Falcons the lead for good at 3-2 and Kyle Tracy’s blistering wrist shot down left wing makes it 4-2 at 12:32 of the period.

“The only way we can beat them is if we stay out of the penalty box and make smart decisions with the puck,” Merrimack coach Dan Legro would later say.

5:50 p.m. – Bow’s Eddie Berke, falling down, fires one past Tomahawk netminder Brett Glendye for a 5-3 game-clincher, at 10:47 of the third period.

5:56 p.m. – The game ends, the ’Hawks shut out for the final 15 minutes. After about 10 minutes, Legro emerges from the dressing room. His team has lost three straight, but he’s taking things matter-of-factly.

“We lost today because we got too many penalties, we weren’t even strength,” he said. “And we made some mistakes that cost us goals, that’s it. Any mistake immediately turned into a goal.

“ We’ve got a lot of work to do. A lot of people in our camp and outside of our camp were blown away by the way we started the season, but we really haven’t done anything in my opinion. We won some games, that’s it.”

Legro revealed he has Kinney back on the blue line because Corey Eno is out with an illness for the season and he’s had to juggle others. “No excuses,” he said.

6:09 p.m. – Leaving West Side, return to Nashua to thaw out.

7:45 p.m. – Arrival at Skate 3 in Tyngsborough. Now, hockey games never start as scheduled and you again don’t want to spend too much time in the chilled conditions. Skate 3 is a bevy of activity as Alvirne had just finished up, losing 4-0 to Dover.

8:02 p.m. – Guertin and Pinkerton drop the puck and it takes the Cards just 2:40 to put the puck in the net past surprising Pinkerton starter, junior Kevin Kent, who got the nod over consensus No. 1 goalie, senior J.J. Solloway, Kent had been 5-0-1 on the year.

“Kent’s played real well this year,” Astros coach Casey Kesselring would say. “We wanted to get him some more games before the end of the year; we thought this would be a good test for him.”

Kent ended up playing two periods, stopping 15 of 22 shots. Guertin would score again just 28 seconds later to set the tone for the night.

8:26 p.m. – Guertin’s Greg Girtatos, playing the sniper role, wrists one in with seven seconds left in the period, giving Guertin a stunning 4-1 lead. “Just one of those games,” Kesselring would say later. “They jumped us off the bat.”

8:51 p.m. – Brian Bottari scores at 14:05 of the second period, giving the Cards a 7-1 lead. That’s significant because the six-goal margin means running clock time, stopping only for injuries, in the third period, the NHIAA’s mercy rule for hockey. Clearly unexpected for this one.

8:56 p.m. – A text message comes in with news of Nashua North’s 3-2 win at Bishop Brady in Concord.

That gives the Titans five wins and basically all but assures them a berth in the Division I state tournament that begins in two weeks. “Oh, they’re in,” Guertin coach Gary Bishop would say later. “Five wins gets you in … Good for them.”

9:21 p.m. – Game ends, a 7-2 Guertin final which puts the Cards at 10-1-1 and creates some distance between them and the rest of the pack. Bottari has two goals, Girtatos has a typical night with a goal and three assists.

9:32 p.m. – It’s quite the gathering in the cramped coach’s room off the Cardinals locker room as Pinkerton coaches Kesslering and assistant Jim Fletcher are trading game stats with Bishop, seated in his throne, a comfy chair suitable for any living room. “How did you manage to get that chair in here?” Kesselring says with a grin.

Meanwhile, Bishop admits he was “mildly” surprised over the ease of the win.

“We wanted to go at them quick,” Bishop said. “We were able to go in low and pinch their ‘D’ … We told the kids shoot the puck and follow it to the net … This gives us some separation now.”

9:41 p.m. – Departing Skate 3 to end the day of hockey. Two first-place teams show why they are in first place to begin with. Warmth awaits.

Tom King can be reached at 594-6468 or tking@nashuatelegraph.com.