For the second straight year, the Goffstown Grizzlies put together an exemplary regular season, earned home ice in the first round, then suffered a heartbreaking overtime defeat and missed the Division II semifinals.

After coming back from a late two-goal deficit before falling to Bow in last season’s quarterfinal round, GHS lost to Dover this year, 4-3, with six minutes remaining in the third overtime on Saturday, March 7.

“It’s tough, let me tell you. We outplayed this team. I mean, it wasn’t even close, but we just didn’t finish. It’s as simple as that,” said Goffstown coach Peter Bedford. “It certainly wasn’t for lack of effort … We just didn’t execute when we needed to.”

The Grizzlies outshot the Green Wave, 49-24.

In the first period alone, the Grizzles created multiple breakaway opportunities, snagged rebound after rebound and sprayed the Dover netminder with a barrage of point-blank shots.

“We should’ve been up by five goals,” said Bedford.

Instead, Goffstown took a 1-0 advantage into the first intermission, maintained the one-goal lead after the second and allowed the Green Wave to pull even in the third. The hosts came out aggressively in overtime, but again failed to light the lamp.

“We were over them so much. We made three line changes and the puck never came out of their end,” said Bedford, who struggled to find the right words following the defeat. “The kids played very hard, and they did everything they were supposed to do. This one is tough to swallow … Now the program needs to take the next step and win these playoff games and move on.”

The Grizzlies must do so without Liam House-Myers, the star senior forward who this season broke the Goffstown scoring record with 117 career points, eight more than the previous best.

GHS also bids farewell to assistant captain Ryan Valcourt, “a character guy,” who, like House-Myers, understood the importance of team play, sportsmanship and a strong work ethic, said Bedford.

Justin Lemire, another four-year varsity player, departs after a career season in which he stepped from the shadow of his brother Joey, a former GHS captain and standout, and became an exceptional hockey player in his own right. AJ Plourde and Justin Duford, on the other hand, played with the JV team for three years and earned the opportunity to contribute nightly for the varsity squad.

“They really became impact hockey players,” said Bedford. “They’re a testament to their own hard work, and to the system, in that we developed them from underneath and they were able to come up this year, get regular shifts and show people what Goffstown hockey is all about.”

GHS should still find itself in the 2010 playoff mix. After all, the program has 11 juniors salivating for their shot next season. “Next year’s group is going to be senior-laden, so there’s really no reason why we can’t continue to play and win at the level we have the last couple years,” said Bedford. “These guys are feeling unfulfilled, and I think that’s going to drive them next season. They’ve sat back and watched these other guys go out there and establish a tradition of winning, and now it’s their turn. They want that (playoff) win. They want to go deeper.”

Bedford said Riley Palmer is already one of the top defensemen in the state. He combines with Brad York, Josh Andruchuk and Garrett Gunski to form a staunch blue-line group heading into next year. In net, Cam Myatt, who exceeded everyone’s expectations as a sophomore this season, heads into his second full year as a starter.

While the offensive production of House-Myers is likely to be distributed among a crop of talented forwards, including the already-proven Andy Gordon, Bedford said he’s confident defense and goaltending carry next season’s team.

“We don’t lose anything defensively, so we’re really going to come in with four experienced front-line defensemen,” he said. “Going in with that type of defense and the experience we have in net, we’re already one step ahead of most teams in the state.”

Game notes
House-Myers completed his record-setting career with another standout effort. After scoring Goffstown’s first goal on a Gordon assist, the senior captain combined with Palmer to provide the helper on Lemire’s second-period tally. In the third, House-Myers and Gordon delivered the puck to Patrick Naughton, who capped the Grizzlies’ 2009 scoring.