Winter Sports

Coincidental Minors: Merrimack boys hockey starts tough stretch with win

Mark Davis knows every season comes with ups and downs. The Merrimack High School boys hockey coach is hoping that his team already experienced its lowest point. If not, given the upcoming schedule, the Tomahawks could be in for another downward trend. Merrimack started off the year by winning its f

Mark Davis knows every season comes with ups and downs.

The Merrimack High School boys hockey coach is hoping that his team already experienced its lowest point. If not, given the upcoming schedule, the Tomahawks could be in for another downward trend.

Merrimack started off the year by winning its first three games, but followed that up with a four-game winless stretch (0-3-1) that saw the Tomahawks get outscored 20-6 in the three losses.

But the tie came against Bow, one of the teams at the top of the Division II standings, and Merrimack followed it up with a big win over Belmont-Gilford, a top team in Division III, and a come-from-behind win over Windham, snapping the Jaguars six-game winning streak.

"Every year, you hit a couple of hiccups and you hope to work through it and we did," Davis said. "It's a simple game and I think sometimes we try to make it too complex. Just shooting on net, and finishing shots, and finishing checks, and always making sure we have two men low and one guy high, it doesn't get more simple. The confidence is there now."

The Tomahawks are going to need it, starting with Wednesday's home game against Portsmouth-Newmarket (6-2). Merrimack follows that up with a trip to face Dover (8-1-1) on Saturday, then a road game against Portsmouth-Newmarket on Feb. 3 before returning home to face Spaulding (6-4) on Feb. 6.

The schedule gets lighter after that, but by that point, the Tomahawks could be fighting just to get into the postseason.

No. 1 spot

Concord and Bishop Guertin have cruised through the Division I season unscathed to this point, but when the two teams meet in the regular-season finale on March 5, it may not be for the division's No. 1 seed, and it all has to do with scheduling.

The big difference between the schedules? The Cardinals traditionally play games against teams from Massachusetts, and this year, they have three, all of which count in the standings.

Bishop Guertin (8-1) has already fallen to Arlington Catholic, putting it a loss behind Concord (7-0), and still has to play Malden Catholic and Billerica.

The Crimson Tide still have some big games left before that finale, starting with Saturday's game against Exeter (5-3), but its not out of the question that both teams could enter that game undefeated against New Hampshire competition, and Concord would already have the No. 1 seed locked up.

Ups ...

Pelham-Alvirne started the year six losses in a row, scoring just six goals and losing by an average of 5.3 goals. But in its last two games, wins over Nashua North-Souhegan and Pinkerton, the Avalanche have scored 10 goals.
Kingswood got off to a 2-3 start this season, but since losing 5-4 to Somersworth-Coe-Brown on Jan. 9, the Knights have gone unbeaten in five games (4-0-1). They get another crack at Somersworth-Coe-Brown on Wednesday.

... And Downs

Goffstown won its first three games this season, and four of its first five, but the Grizzlies have gone in the other direction since. Goffstown dropped three straight one-goal games to Keene, Oyster River and Windham before winning 7-6 over Belmont-Gilford on Sunday.
Manchester Memorial also opened the year with three straight wins, but the Crusaders have gone 3-5 since, with the five losses by an average of 4.2 goals.