BY RYAN O’CONNORSitting at a youth hockey conference, watching what was likely to be another boring prerecorded training video, Kermit Brunelle sighed. On the screen, Don Lucia, coach of the national champion University of Minnesota ice hockey team, was giving a speech. “A lot of people think I have the best job in hockey, and I tell ...

BY RYAN O’CONNORIt was a year of near-misses and so-closes on the 2007 Bedford sports landscape, though there were a few spot-ons mixed in. While dozens of local teams and individuals competed for the top prize in their respective class and/or division, from the youth level through high school and sometimes beyond, many went home empty ...

BY RYAN O’CONNORPost-game emotion on the two sidelines was quite different, but the feeling was the same: this was no ordinary exhibition. The annual Queen City Turkey Bowl, featuring Manchester’s top two teams, saw West and Central pass the stuffing back and forth for three-plus quarters before Blue Knights running back Nick Clement ...

BY RYAN O’CONNORFor the Bishop Guertin seniors, it was the first time they failed to celebrate following the season’s final whistle. For their opponents, the Blue Hawks of Exeter High School, it was sweet revenge against a foe that had beaten them in the same contest the two previous years. On Saturday, Nov. 17, the Cardinals fell, ...

BY RYAN O’CONNORIt was the sloppiest game he could remember, but coach Tony Johnson knew his Bishop Guertin battleship could win, even when taking on water from a Green Wave. In a rare Friday night playoff football game on Nov. 9, the No. 2 Cardinals opened with a 34-12 victory against third-seed Dover despite eight combined turnovers and ...

BY RYAN O’CONNOR The Blue Knights entered the contest having been in control of their own destiny all season, while cross-town rival Central was still in the process of climbing out of an early-season hole created by an 0-2 start. When Central quarterback Scott McCurdy took a knee on the final snap of a 28-16 victory, it was the 4-3 ...