Salem Observer : Salem, hockey

Saints start to skate

Salem Editor — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:22:00 GMT

The Salem Saints began their second season in the Valley Hockey League. Nine Saints teams play there, while the Midget 1 team competes in the Granite State League.

During games played the week of Sept. 14 to 20: The Mites beat S & S, 7- 2, with Mason Drouin and Nick Peters garnering two goals apiece. Brendon Banks, Michael Drouin and Jake Wrobel also tallied. Goalkeeper Hunter Drouin turned in a solid outing between the pipes.

The Squirt 1 team played aggressively and blanked Wilmington, 4-0. Dylan Salvo, Jonathan Last, Kevin Bolio and Michael Borrelli scored the goals, with Paddy Capsalis earning the shutout in net.

The Squirt 2 team fell to the Wizards, 5-4, despite tallies from Will Bickford, Mason Healey, Hunter Healey and Owen McNamara.

Shea Kingsley and Thomas Defelice recorded assists.

The Pee Wee 1 team shut down Lowell, 3-0. Thomas Gillespie and Andrew Gosson combined for the shutout in net. Chad Desautels, Connor McCurley and Brad Brock found the back of the net for the locals.

The Pee Wee 2 team, despite strong netminding from Nick Sturgess and Evan Phair, lost to Andover, 3-1. Seth McCarthy scored the lone goal.

The Bantam 3 team lost to Greater Lowell, 8-1.

Salem bests West, but Bishop Guertin draws curtain on Blue Devils’ season

Salem Editor — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:43:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

After erasing a 3-0 deficit in the first round of the Division I tournament against West, Salem was unable to hold onto a 2-0 lead versus Bishop Guertin, falling in overtime to the one-loss Cardinals.

On March 4, the Blue Devils won, 5-4, at the Icenter to advance to the quarterfinals on Saturday, March 7, where they nearly pulled off a gigantic upset at Tyngsboro’s Skate 3 before losing, 4-3.

Mike Frahm and Ken Frazier notched first-period tallies to give their team the early advantage on the defending state champs from BG.

The Blue Devils were outshot, 52-22, on the afternoon, but Mc- Ginn said his team executed its pregame strategy.

“(Goalie Rob Liberatore) knew going in that he would see a lot of shots,” said head coach Mark Mc- Ginn. “Our game plan was to keep our defense as tight as we could. Most of the shots they took on us weren’t in the prime scoring areas, so I was happy about that.”

Liberatore managed 48 saves and returns next season as a senior. In overtime, momentum swung back and forth between the two teams.

The Cardinals believed they won the game when a shot hit the post, and several skaters rushed the ice in celebration. Referees ruled there was no goal, and Guertin was instead assessed a penalty.

Salem couldn’t capitalize on the power play, and at 11:37 in the extra session, BG’s Ward Gleason ended the contest when he found the back of the net.

McGinn said entering the game his team felt no pressure as the eighth seed facing a Division I powerhouse.

“I think we were happy to be in that position to even have a chance in overtime,” said McGinn. “Most of the year when we’ve been loose we’ve played really well. When we’re tense and tight, we don’t play that well. We had nothing to lose going into that game, no matter how it turned out.”

When the two teams played in the regular season, the Cardinals topped Salem, 5-2, in a physical, sometimes chippy game. That was not the case in the postseason.

“It wasn’t as … intense as the last one,” said McGinn. “I think we had one penalty, and they had three or four. Last game there were 15 or 16 in the first period. People realized what kind of game it was.”

The Blue Devils lose just three seniors – Joe Simone, Corey Lavallee and John Pettoruto – so Salem stands poised to make a deeper run in next season’s D-I playoffs, led by Liberatore in goal.

“If Rob can see a puck, he’s going to make the save,” said McGinn. “(Against BG) he played what is to me a normal, average game. I see him all the time do those great things, so it’s normal to me. If you haven’t really seen him before, though, you say, ‘Wow. That kid can really stop the puck.’”

Playoff notes
Mike Frahm scored three playoff goals, Bryan Thibodeau added two, and Pettoruto, Lavallee and Ken Frazier all scored one. Pettoruto collected two assists, and Lavallee, Tyler Phair and Shane Delandy dished one helper apiece.

In rough-and-tumble battle, Salem hockey loses to Bishop Guertin, falls to .500

Salem Editor — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:43:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

Salem and Bishop Guertin hit hard all afternoon, but the Cardinals saved their biggest blows for the back of the net, skating past the Blue Devils, 5-2. BG scored twice in each of the first two periods and added an empty-netter in the final frame, dropping Salem to 5-5- 0 on the season following the contest on Saturday, Jan. 31.

Throughout the game, both sides delivered thunderous checks on their opponents, and several times players exchanged words after an official’s whistle blew. The physical play eventually hurt the Blue Devils; three Guertin goals were scored on the power play.

“That’s what happens when these two teams play each other,” said Salem’s head coach, Mark McGinn. “They’re a physical, strong team, and … I was happy with how we were able to keep up with them. Even the little guys were getting physical with them.”

Already trailing, 2-0, Salem missed an opportunity to cut the deficit late in the first period. The Blue Devils, with a 5-on-3 opportunity and subsequent man-advantage, produced five scoring chances. They couldn’t capitalize.

“They don’t give you many second chances when it comes to being down in front of the net,” said McGinn of BG. “You really have to bear down in front of the net and find the puck.”

Salem senior forward Aaron Mackey broke up the shutout with 9:02 remaining in the game, and Cory Lavallee added a second tally three minutes later, breathing life into the previously lethargic Blue Devils. Michael Frahm and Michael Rocheleau assisted on the two Salem goals. And with 40 seconds left, Salem’s last chance to climb within a goal, with the puck bouncing dangerously in front of Guertin’s net, was foiled by a crease violation.

The Cardinals’ empty-net tally quickly followed. McGinn said his team came out with a different – and better – attitude in the third period.

“They took it personally in the last period,” said McGinn. “They went to the net more and were able to catch a bounce or two.”

The Cardinals, now 7-0-0, top the Division I standings, and McGinn said it was a welcome challenge for his team to play the defending state champions.

“I needed it more to see how we would play against a top team. They responded the right way. We just need to play with that intensity versus everyone we play,” said McGinn. “Hopefully we’ll get another crack at them in the finals.”

Salem High School looks to keeper and some seasoned veterans for rock-solid play

Salem Editor — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:23:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

When rebuilding, what better way to start than with a brick wall?

The Salem High School hockey team, trying to recover from the loss of five top scorers, turn to defense, led by standout goalie Rob Liveratore.

“Since we are rebuilding, I don’t know what to expect on certain issues this season,” said head coach Mark McGinn. “The kids who are returning we’ll count on heavily. I have a really good goaltender, and we have some decent defensemen to lead the way.”

In addition to losing his top five scorers from last year, Mc- Ginn said he also had his top two lines and two defensemen graduate, tempering his expectations for the current season.

“I think the team may start to find their roles around midway through the season,” said Mc- Ginn. “My expectations are usually pretty high every year, but I am realistic at the same time. As long as they’re trying to learn the system and get better, I won’t be too upset with them. We’re going to hit some bumps.”

McGinn said he expects Liveratore to maintain the consistency he showed last year in net; the junior keeper is the main on-ice cog keeping the Blue Devils’ machinery in motion.

Liveratore made a habit of snagging opponents’ shots with ease as an underclassman, and McGinn is often impressed with what he sees from his spot on the bench.

“He seems to play at a level that everything in front of him is slow,” said McGinn. “He looks so smooth out there, moves well and is our backbone. Our last game and the scrimmages – he makes it look easy.”

In front of Liveratore are experienced defensemen Mark Baroni and Corey Lavallee, while Mc- Ginn said he expects the team’s top scoring line to be seniors Jared Henderson and Joel Vastl, who team with junior Mike Frahm. While Liberatore is a valuable weapon, McGinn said the Blue Devils can’t depend on him to make every save.

“Confidence-wise, it helps a lot having him back there, as long as we don’t get lazy and rely on him too much,” he said. “Statistically, if you give (foes) too many shots, they’re going to get goals. You can make some mistakes in front of him and he’ll bail you out, but we can’t get into bad habits.”

Though currently limited in his offensive options past the top line of Henderson, Vastl and Frahm, McGinn said with Liveratore in net and a sturdy defensive mindset, a few well-timed goals are all Salem needs.

“We don’t score a lot. We’re not going to score a lot. We’ll have to play that way,” said McGinn. “If we can score two or three a game, we’ll win most of those games – especially if we get them early.”

Youth movement – Families’ focus shifts to children in multiple athletic endeavors

Salem Editor — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:20:00 GMT

BY MATT STOUT

It’s a Sunday afternoon in late January, and Colleen and Bob Nagri plan to eventually settle in for the night to catch the New England Patriots’ playoff showdown with the Indianapolis Colts.

Their Dodge Durango – its back windshield plastered with eight metallic silhouettes of different athletes, representing the sports their children, 10-year-old Alex and 9-year-old Kyle, play – sits idle for the moment. Soon, they’ll drive Alex to her soccer practice, and hopefully make it back in time for kickoff.

Tomorrow, she’ll have a lacrosse clinic to attend, while Colleen plays in her Monday night women’s soccer league. In the days to follow, Kyle will run from a travel hockey practice to one for basketball – recreation or travel, take your pick. Alex will also train with her basketball team, and if Bob hadn’t blown out the same knee twice years earlier, he’d have a men’s league basketball game to look forward to. Then it’s games the following weekend.

But it’s not too bad. It’s winter – “kind of that offseason,” Colleen said – and the typically busy week comes after what Bob called a “light weekend” of four practices and three games.

Of course, it didn’t compare to a weekend earlier in the season when Kyle and Alex, between two jamboree soccer tournaments, two basketball games and two hockey games, combined for 10 contests – on a Saturday.

“Half our friends think we’re nuts,” Bob said, referring to the Salem family’s demanding sports schedule, mapped out event-by-event in an oversized day planner. “And the other half is doing the same things.”

With the growth of options and demand in youth sports, the Nagris’ story isn’t uncommon.

At a national and local level, single-sport youth athletes have become more uncommon; neighborhood and regional organizations, better organized than ever before, are accommodating more and more kids; the attraction of higher levels of play, such as those offered by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), has intensified.

From the popularity of events such as the Little League World Series to the growing sums of money families pay to play, there’s no denying youth sports have become a different beast than 15, 10 or even five years ago.

How some of these families juggle it all can be an art in itself. Why they do it can be as abstract.

Youth sports, parents and coaches assert, keep kids active, teach them life lessons of succeeding and failing, and, for a select few, provide an avenue to bigger and better opportunities. For some, it’s fueled by competitive drive; for others, it’s a way to meet and be with friends.

“But other than that, I don’t know why,” said John Riehl, president of Goffstown Junior Baseball and father of 14-year-old Matt and 10-year-old Timmy, who play sports year-round. “I think we’re all crazy.”

‘The Life’

For Marianne and Todd Philbrick, the introduction to youth sports – or “The Life” as Marianne called it – started when now 13-year-old daughter Ellie signed up for cheerleading at 7. It began with five practices a week in August, three to four during the fall season, before her schedule ballooned with intensive lessons at the Bedford Dance Center.

Then Ben, now 12, started playing sports. He tried baseball and currently plays for the AAU’s Black Flies. He also enjoyed hockey and competes for a travel team out of the Manchester Regional Youth Hockey Association. Along the way, he picked up football, lacrosse and basketball.

Next, 9-year-old Rachel found soccer and gets her kicks playing for the Bedford-based New Hampshire Classics, in addition to taking dance lessons.

“It was more like it kind of crept in our day-to-day living,” said Marianne, a Bedford resident. “In the beginning you stay through every practice. You just stay and watch. And then you can’t because child No. 2 has their own stuff, and you have to bring them there. And then two years later, child No. 3 comes along. And before you know it, they’re all in elementary school with a hugely busy schedule.”

The Philbricks are not alone. Desiree Casey, also of Bedford, said between her three children – 12-year-old Ryan, 10-year-old Andrew and 6-year-old Carly – the family covers six sports in football, hockey, lacrosse, softball, swimming and tennis. She didn’t include skiing and snowboarding.

Scott Sprague of Hooksett has two boys – Austin, 11, and Devon, 9. Each plays travel soccer, travel hockey and baseball.

“I think Easter Sunday was the first day in over a year that neither of my kids got out of their PJs,” Sprague said. “It hasn’t happened much, but they got up and Devon goes, ‘What do I have for sports today, Dad?’ I go, ‘You have nothing.’ And he says, ‘What? I don’t have any games or anything? Oh man.’”

As a result, families like the Philbricks, Caseys and Spragues have helped spark some interesting phenomena.

One has been pure growth at the local level. Organizations such as the Hopkinton Youth Sports Association feature roughly 300 kids in baseball, 200 in soccer and 200 more in basketball, all kindergartners to eighth-graders, said president Darren Winslow.

Though there aren’t exact numbers on how many of those kids play multiple sports, that’s 700 registered athletes from a town of 1,544 households, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.

Salem girls softball is another example. Based in what’s always been considered a “softball town,” said president Ann Gubellini, the organization shifted from Little League to Babe Ruth last summer, added several travel teams and saw registration swell from 360 to 440 girls.

The attraction of playing for those travel teams in Amateur Softball Association (ASA) tournaments was a huge draw, Gubellini said, as the opportunities in the sport, from facilities to available leagues, have grown.

“In this area,” she said, “it’s just spun out of control.”

That’s at the local level. Mix in travel teams, and schedules become more hectic.

The juggle

When sports overlap, which parents agree happens most often in October between fall and winter sports and March or April between winter and spring, conflicts arise and the multi-sport athletes are left with decisions.

The general rule is, Marianne Philbrick said, when two events conflict on the schedule, her family and others she knows tend to stay loyal to the sport concluding at the time. When an early April hockey playoff series interferes with a baseball tournament, hockey comes first.

Some coaches are more flexible than others.

“In lacrosse, they (the coaches) said, ‘If you’re trying out, we expect that lacrosse is your primary sport,’” said Desiree Casey of Bedford. “Andrew made the decision that he wanted to try out and that he didn’t want to play baseball. And that’s OK with him. At least the expectations were up front.”

As children get older and the competition become more serious, different choices have to be made – which sports stay and which go.

Marianne Philbrick said her son, Ben, has experienced that, giving up lacrosse and basketball when his AAU baseball commitments became too much at age 10.

Bob and Colleen Nagri of Salem said the same thing about their daughter, Alex, who stopped participating in gymnastics when that clogged her growing schedule.

These decisions are nothing new. Children needing to choose at an earlier age, however, is a recent trend.

“And I’m kind of torn on that, and I think a lot of other coaches are, too,” said Bill Gahara, president of the Hooksett Youth Athletic Association. “But it seems once they become 12 or 13 years old, kids are starting to specialize and are starting to play that one sport year-round.”

That, in turn, has led to even more changes.

The next step

At 12, Jay Yennaco, a Red Sox third-round draft pick in 1995, played 15 games of Little League baseball and a handful more for his town’s all-star team in 1988. He had at his disposal private instructors – perhaps a parent who used to pitch or a high school coach who worked with talented youngsters.

Baseball was the Windham native’s primary sport, and these were his options less than 20 years ago.

“Today, if I was 12 years old, I can play a 70-game AAU schedule. Today, private instruction is run by college coaches, past professional players or at minimum, college players. It’s really an expertise,” said Yennaco, who offers private lessons mainly to high school and college-age players but has had parents of youth players approach him.

“I’ve worked with 7-, 8-year-olds,” he continued. “But I think there are parents out there who would have a 4-year-old come, although I necessarily wouldn’t encourage it.”

Yet, that is the reality for families whose children have chosen to take their athletic abilities to the next level.

With individualized lessons on the rise and more chances to play on a regional or national stage, many families willingly devote the extra time and money, and do so far more than they used to.

Ed Skovron, president of the New England AAU office, said the organization was home to 15,000 regional members when he took over roughly six years ago.

Now, with the addition of more sports like lacrosse and diving, New England AAU features roughly 25,000 members, Skovron said.

The biggest growth among the more established sports has come in baseball, up to 4,000 from 2,500 four years ago, he said.

“That’s what’s happened – kids that have that type of ability, the parents want to see the maximum ability that they have,” said Skovron, who’s been involved with AAU since 1990.

Today, Skovron agreed, families are more concerned with realizing their young athlete’s potential.

“Absolutely,” he said. “All you need to do (to understand why) is go down to Disney World when
they run the (AAU national championships) down there, and you’ll see 375 Division I coaches watching kids there play basketball.”

The draw of earning a college scholarship is strong for many talented athletes, but not every AAU athlete is after that.

“I think you have to play AAU basketball if you want to make the school team or to continue to play,” said Chrissy Sylvain, a Weare native who started the Weare Lady Generals 14-and-under AAU girls basketball team this year. “Even if you want to play (junior varsity), you have to play AAU. If you don’t play, you’re really behind everyone else.”

That’s where many coaches and parents feel youth sports have moved. And it’s not cheap.

Marianne Philbrick, for example, said her family pays $1,500 for Ben to play AAU baseball with the Black Flies.Yennaco, who also serves as the Nashua Pride’s pitching coach, said private instruction for baseball players, depending on the instructor, can run from $30 to $45 for a 30-minute lesson and $55 to $75 for an hour.

Rob Day, goalie coach for the Hooksett-based New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs and co-founder of Puckstoppers goaltending, said private instruction in his field can range from $80 to $100 per hour and, in some cases, up to $300 per hour.

He also estimates there are eight to 10 legitimate goaltending instructors in New Hampshire alone.

“The day of the three-sport guy is pretty much gone,” said Day, who has 139 athletes in his database and added 65 in the last two years. He said he’s worked with some as young as 8. “The bar has been raised quite a bit. There are more opportunities for kids, but everybody’s always looking for that little edge.”

The sacrifice

When Bob Nagri drives through his neighborhood, he sees driveway basketball hoops and hockey nets. Much like in his home, he knows there are buckets of balls and sticks in neighboring garages and basements.

Rarely does he see kids playing with them.

“When I was a kid, we’d rush home, get our homework done and get out there playing as a group until the lights went out,” Nagri said. “Now, they do their homework, and they have a half an hour before they have to be at practice.”

It’s just another subtle change in the landscape of youth sports. The costs, which several families estimated were $5,000 to $15,000 annually, stand out.

The miles do, too. Scott Sprague and his wife, Lisa, whose two sons play travel hockey, bought a sedan a year and a half ago for better gas mileage on tournament trips to Canada. The car, new then, now has 36,000 miles on it.

Steve and Kelly Kirkpatrick, Bedford residents with four boys who play year-round sports, have two minivans to make the travel easier.

But maybe it’s the small changes – fewer family dinners, lazy Saturday afternoons that are no more, extinction of family vacations taken on a whim – that stand out most.

“Family life in general has changed,” said Steve Kirkpatrick. “It’s more accepted that parents take their kids one direction or another a lot of different nights, and they give up family dinners and stuff like that.”

In the end, these are changes they embrace.

“My life is around my kids,” said Colleen Nagri. “So if they want to do it, I’ll do whatever I can to make it happen.”

Back on their feet – After a penalty-marred slip, Blue Devils stand tall

Salem Editor — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 18:22:00 GMT

BY MATT STOUT

Following a 3-1 loss to Manchester Central on Jan. 6, the Salem boys hockey team wasn’t playing like a Salem boys hockey team, coach Mark McGinn said.

Nearly two weeks later, the Blue Devils may have started to find themselves – and at exactly the right time.

Despite jumping out to a 4-2 record even with the loss to Central, Salem looked nothing like the teams McGinn had led to Division I semifinal appearances the last two years.

Penalties, for one, had taken their toll. Entering a 4-2 win over Berlin on Wednesday, Jan. 10, Salem had amassed 222 penalty minutes through nine games, meaning it spent, on average, more than a period each game in the box.

Not coincidentally, as it played short-handed more and more, offensive production was down; the Blue Devils were well under three goals scored per game.

Thanks to just nine total penalties taken in two straight wins, including a 3-1 decision over Londonderry on Saturday, Jan. 13, McGinn said “he’s feeling pretty good” about his 6-2 Blue Devils entering their toughest stretch of the season.

Salem travels to face 5-3 Manchester Memorial on Saturday, Jan. 20, then treks to Everett Arena in Concord to face Bishop Brady – which sits at second place in the league – before hosting powerhouse Bishop Guertin, the division’s only undefeated team and runaway favorite for the tournament’s top seed. Salem finishes the month at Everett Arena once again, that time against Concord.

Though McGinn still would like to see more offense – of Salem’s seven goals last week, two were empty-netters – the Blue Devils ability to keep it 5-on-5 more often is certainly a step toward achieving that.

“It seems we would get up for the challenges these last few years, and we have the top two teams in the state, the third-place team and Concord,” McGinn said. “As long as we can keep these penalty minutes down, we’re a team that 5-on-5 is pretty decent, and I would expect most of those games to be tight games, which they usually are.”

One positive coming out of the score sheet has been Salem’s ability to spread the production around. Derek Tomes leads the team with six goals. But Josh Frahm, with five, including Wednesday’s game winner; Ryan Desroches, with five and a team-leading 14 points; and Jay Paradis, with three plus seven assists, are all helping fill the net.

Of course, the road hasn’t been as rocky thanks to the young man filling Salem’s own net. Scott Crowther has been, as expected, spectacular, with a 1.43 goals against average and .942 save percentage.

Having the junior gives Salem the confidence that it can win every game, McGinn said.

Quite possibly, discipline will determine if Salem will win every game. McGinn has shown sloppy play will not be tolerated.

“Coach skated us a lot the last few practices because we have been killing ourselves with penalties,” Frahm said after the win over Berlin. “So we’ve been trying to cut back, skate harder and not to take so many.”