He was so sick, he could barely walk, let alone skate. But Liam House-Myers, as Goffstown head ice hockey coach Peter Bedford later said, “did what captains do.”

He not only played in the contest against Merrimack on Saturday, Jan. 31, but he helped propel the Grizzlies to a 3-0 victory.

“He gutted it out today, because to be honest with you, he may have mono(nucleosis). Right now, we don’t know,” said Bedford of his senior forward, who notched a second-period assist, before lighting the lamp with a hard shot from the blue line. “That’s a captain. That’s a senior guy that goes out there, and you know, I can’t ask for anything better from a kid like that.”

Regardless of his captain’s health and availability, Bedford said he fully expects his 7-1-2 squad to continue winning.

“I built this program with the idea that with Liam or without Liam, we’re going to be competitive,” said the coach.

If nothing else, the Grizzlies have proven they’ve made the transition from middling Division II non-factor to legitimate title contender.

They proved it last season when they completed the best season in GHS ice hockey history, earned home ice in the playoffs and nearly pulled off a shocking comeback against perennial power Bow in the D-II quarterfinals.

They proved it when, earlier this season, they became the first New Hampshire squad to win the Nashua Holiday Ice Hockey Tournament.

And they continue to prove it as they successfully battle the Granite State’s elite.

In fact, Goffstown currently maintains a six-game winning streak, and its lone loss came courtesy of 3-2 setback at topranked Timberlane on Jan. 3.

“This is my fifth season, so I don’t have to teach my system anymore because I have my guys out there playing, and if you notice, I can mix players and move guys around on lines, and they all play the same,” said Bedford. “That’s a great thing, because there’s our consistency, and that makes it hard for teams like Merrimack to match up against us.”

GHS peppered the Tomahawks’ keeper with 29 shots, while controlling play for nearly the entire contest.

“I have to admit, that ice looked pretty tilted,” Bedford added. “I don’t think (the game) was ever in question. I think you just saw our players being physically stronger out there. They wear the other team down to the point that there just isn’t anything physically left.”

One of the main reasons for Goffstown’s success is the quality goaltending of sophomore Cam Myatt, who edged classmate Steve Garron for the starting job this season. He made 18 saves to help his team to its most recent win.

“I knew I had good goaltending, but I knew I needed consistent goaltending and that was the question. Because of his youth, was he going to be able to handle the load, was he going to be ready, and was he going to be consistent? Were we, as a team, going to be able to allow him the time to grow and give us the confidence that the guy back there was going to be able to make the stop when we needed him to make a big stop?’”

The answer, thus far, has been yes.

If Myatt and his teammates continue to show discipline and continue to triumph, even when they’re not playing their best, Bedford said his squad absolutely has the ability to garner its first championship.

“I think if we play our game, we are awfully difficult to beat. Class of the league, based on skill and goaltending, is Timberlane, and I think we can hang with them,” he said. “It’s a long season, and there is going to be an ebb and flow. I think the fact we’re a mature team, that’s where that lessening of that ebb and flow tends to occur.”

Game notes
Junior Brian Yost put GHS on the board late in the first period, courtesy of a Justin Lemire assist. Andy Gordon scored at 8:55 in the second, with the help of House-Myers, who tallied his third period goal on another Lemire helper.