Squirts and Mites take titles in state and Boston

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:28:00 GMT

The New Hampshire Avalanche Squirt ’98 AAA team rolled through the Metro Boston Hockey League regular season, posting 35 wins without a loss.

The postseason was no different.

The top-seeded Avs, coached by Mike Potvin; his assistant coaches, Joe Silva, Mark Leach and Gary Saklad; and goaltender coches Bill McWhinnie and Bryan Ash, completed a record-breaking season with a 4-1 semifinal- round win over CD Select from Albany, N.Y., and an 8-0 drubbing of the Springfield Jr. Pics in the championship.

The team included players from Bedford, Hooksett, Goffstown, New Boston, Pelham, Concord, Londonderry, Manchester, Derry and Merrimack.

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The Avalanche ’99 AAA team, the top seed in the tournament, won the Tier 1 Mite state championship.

The Avs handled the Jr. Monarchs, 5-2, and tied the Flames, 2-2, in the preliminary rounds.

In the semifinals, the Mites outshot the Nashua Panthers, 29-10, en route to a 3-1 win. They carried the momentum from that victory into the finals, opening an early 2-0 edge in an eventual 5-1 win.

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The Avalanche Squirt ’97 AAA team won the Metro Boston Hockey League championship.

The Avs defeated the Edgewood Hawks in the semifinals, 2-0. Jeremy Duhamel connected midway through the third period after receiving a pass from Chad Thompson. Cam O’Neil’s empty netter in the final minute secured the win.

In the finals, the Avs outlasted the Springfield Jr. Pics in a shootout after a 2-2 tie. Goalie Michael Robinson turned aside both shots he faced, and Nicholas Burgess and Cole Anderson scored. Burgess and Colton McAllister tallied in regulation, with assists credited to Thompson and Isaac Segal.

The team earlier took second in the Tier I state championship.

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The New Hampshire Avalanche Mites ’00 team beat the Worcester Crusaders in double overtime, 2-1, to become the Mite minor champions of the Metro Boston Hockey League. Reese Popkin, assisted by Kyle Greer and Cody Sullivan, scored the first goal for the Avs, tying the match. Ryan Sledjeski, Cameron Leborgne, Brett Bliss, Daniel Israel and goalie Conner Laurendeau kept the Crusaders scoreless for the remainder of the contest.

First-overtime attacks by forwards Parker Roberto, Cade DeStafani, Drew Parsons, Josh Connor and Mick Pitarys were thwarted, but, 14 seconds into the second OT, Greer found the back of the net on a pass from Sullivan. The Avs, 11-6-1 in MBHL play this season, dedicated the win to defenseman Mason Hobbs, who was unable to make the playoff games.

Nyquists reach agreement with St. Paul’s regarding son’s drowning death

Goffstown Editor — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 00:40:00 GMT

BY ROD HANSEN

A settlement has been announced between St. Paul’s School in Concord and the parents of Clifford R. Nyquist concerning the teenager’s drowning death two years ago in a swimming pool owned and operated by the school.

Nyquist was a 15-year-old sophomore when he drowned on Nov. 7, 2004. The pool was part of a $24 million athletics and aquatics center, according to papers filed in Hillsborough County Superior Court.

He was removed from the pool without a heart rate or a pulse, and died hours later at Concord Hospital, according to the papers.

Nyquist’s family filed suit against the school in July 2005, claiming their son drowned in 4 feet of water following a “shallow- water blackout.” The lawsuit also claimed two lifeguards and the school athletic director were present at the pool at the time of Nyquist’s death.

St. Paul’s School accepted responsibility for the death in a statement released Oct. 30.

“St. Paul’s wishes to publicly acknowledge to Cliff’s family and to the community at large its sorrow and acceptance of responsibility for the loss of this wonderful young man,” according to the statement.

“Cliff was a talented and beloved member of the St. Paul’s community. On the day of his death he was a healthy, well-conditioned young athlete enjoying our newly opened pool with his friends. Through no fault of his own, his recreational swim turned into tragedy,” the statement said.

The statement offers no details on the settlement reached with the Nyquist family. Friends had earlier told police he may have been trying to see how long he could hold his breath underwater.

The statement from St. Paul’s School notes the school’s pool policy and procedure manual now specifically addresses the dangers of underwater breath holding and hyperventilating. The statement from St. Paul’s School enumerates other actions the school has taken in light of Nyquist’s death. Those measures include signs prohibiting underwater swimming and breath-holding, plus special lifeguard training on the dangers of those activities.

“The School’s hope is that these efforts will decrease the risk of any future swimming deaths occurring because of these activities,” the statement said.

Nyquist’s mother, Leslie Nixon Nyquist, said she could not discuss the terms of the settlement with St. Paul’s School, but she said she was satisfied that the settlement included an acceptance of responsibility from the school. She said she was also relieved to avoid a jury trial with the school over her son’s death.

“It’s obviously something we were not looking forward to,” Clifford’s mother said at the prospect of a jury trial. “We were not looking forward to having to involve the many friends and relatives that were going to have to be a part of the trial.”

A straight-A student throughout his educational career, Clifford Nyquist has been the subject of numerous memorials since his death.

A program Nyquist led in which St. Paul’s School volunteers visited Alzheimer’s patients at a Concord assisted-living facility has since been named in his honor, and a commemorative plaque has been placed there in his memory, his mother said. A slalom ski event has also been named in Nyquist’s honor at Gunstock Mountain in Gilford, where Nyquist had skied competitively, she said.

A former student at New Boston Central School and Mountain View Middle School, Nyquist’s talents in baseball earned him all-star status on the Goffstown Junior Baseball Little League and Goffstown Babe Ruth teams. He also served as captain on the Mountain View baseball team, and made the St. Paul’s varsity squad his freshman year.

Nyquist is also the namesake of the Clifford R. Nyquist Charitable Trust, a grants and scholarship program started by his mother and father, New Boston Town Moderator Lee Nyquist.

New Boston News : Concord

Squirts and Mites take titles in state and Boston

Nyquists reach agreement with St. Paul’s regarding son’s drowning death