\

\\\
 
"REPEAT AFTER ME..."


-Ricky Gaudreau

g
2010 New Hampshire Division III
State Champions Kennett Eagles


WMUR Video Highlights
\

2010 Boys Ice Hockey - Division III Tournament
Quarter-Finals	Semi-Finals	Finals
1) Kennett            6
8) Portsmouth      0
7:20 pm @ Ham Arena	1) Kennett    9
Saturday, March 06, 2010	5) Souhegan  0
	Everett Arena
4) John Stark Regional  1	7:30 PM
5) Souhegan                   3	Wednesday, March 10, 2010	1) Kennett    2
2:00 p.m. @ John Stark
Saturday, March 06, 2010		2) Bedford   1
		Championship
2) Bedford              4		Verizon Wireless Arena
7) Hollis/Brookline  1		12:00 PM
4:00 PM @ Hollis/Bedford	2) Bedford               4	Saturday, March 13, 2010
Saturday, March 06, 2010	6) Belmont-Gilford  1
	Everett Arena
3) Somersworth        1	5:30 PM
6) Belmont-Gilford   2	Wednesday, March 10, 2010
5:00 PM @ Somersworth
Saturday, March 06, 2010

BACK TO BACK

Seniors lead Eagles to second State Championship

There is only one way the Kennett class of 2010 wanted to go out, and that was on top. They did just that Saturday afternoon at the Verizon Wireless Arena in front of close to 1,000 fans who made the two hour plus trek to Manchester, beating Bedford High School 2-1. Griffin Meador scored both Kennett goals fifty nine seconds apart and Ricky Gaudreau made 31 saves to close out an incredible high school career. Taylor Cyr and Bryan Lamontagne added assists in the game as the Eagles finished the season a school record 20-1.

Bedford came out of the gate fast and had early pressure on the Eagles, who seemed to be getting their skating legs, but roughly five minutes in Griffin Meador picked off a pass and walked in on Bedford goalie Ben Firman. Firman made a great save, but the turnover seemed to shift momentum in the Eagles direction, and the remainder of the period belonged to the Eagles. At 10:59, on the power play, the Eagles moved the puck around the perimeter, Cyr to Lamontagne to Meador. Meador came off the right half wall and snapped a wrist shot past Firman for a 1-0 lead. “That first goal is always huge,” said head coach Michael Lane. “It really settles the team down and lets everyone relax.” The Eagles didn’t relax however as less then a minute later after a flurry of opportunities in front of the Bedford net, Kevin Murphy centered a pass to Meador who one timed it home for a 2-0 lead, Cody Richard picked up the second assist on the play. That’s the way the two teams would head to the dressing room after the first.

In the second the games momentum went back and forth with both teams having great scoring opportunities, maybe none better then Cyr. With the Eagles on the power play Meador made a beautiful pass across to Cyr, he one timed the puck but Firman made a great pad save to keep the game 2-0. Late in the period Bedford had a number of golden opportunities, but it was Gaudreau’s turn to make the spectacular save to keep the score 2-0 headed to the second intermission. In the locker room Coach Lane told the kids to stick to the game plan. “We wanted to get the puck deep, we knew that our legs were going fast because we had to skate two lines because of the number of power plays in the game,” said Lane. “We didn’t want to sit on the lead, but keep everything to the perimeter and let Ricky see everything.”

Bedford came at the Eagles with everything they had in the third and cut the lead to 2-1 when Doug Steere scored, beating Gaudreau over his shoulder from in tight with 8:21 to play. From there, the Eagles defense really clamped down and limited the Bedford chances. Bedford came very close to tying the game with under a minute left but couldn’t beat Gaudreau. With four seconds remaining and the Eagles shorthanded Bedford won the face-off and centered the puck, but the tip shot went wide to the back wall and the celebration was on! Gaudreau jumped into Meador’s arms and they were immediately tackled by Cyr, Dillon Smith, Murphy, Spoor and Lamontagne.

Lane credited his defense for a great job all night. “Dillon, Logan, Bryan and Matt (Kelly) all played fantastic, I also thought our wings did a great job on the half wall getting the puck to the neutral zone. Very few times did we give them second opportunities. Chuckie (Smith), Cody, Grif and Taylor deserve a lot of credit.”

Asked after the game how he felt, Lane put it simply, “its bitter sweet, these four captains mean the world to me. I am so proud of them and happy for them, but its going to be strange not seeing those four guys on the ice. The good news is the younger guys got a lot of experience this season and I am sure they will all be ready to answer the bell when called on next year, but that discussion is for another day,” he continued.

The Eagles had good news off the ice as well. Gaudreau was named Division III Player of the Year along with Somersworth’s Jaret Canney. Gaudreau was also named to the Division III All State First Team. Meador was named to the Division III All State Team First Team. Lamontagne was named to the Division III All State Team First Team and Cyr was named to the Division III All State Team Honorable Mention. All five seniors including Josh Potter were named to the Division III Senior Game which will be played in Laconia Wednesday night at 6 p.m. The Eagles will also announce the winners of the Jim Terry Award next week at the annual Kennett High School Sports Awards.

photos by Josh Spauldingg

GAUDREAU NAMED UNION LEADER PLAYER OF THE YEAR

All four captains earn All State Honors

The Kennett Eagles won their second straight Division III State Championship over two weeks ago, but the honors are still rolling in for their goaltender. Ricky Gaudreau, senior captain was named by the Union Leader yesterday, the New Hampshire player of the year. The award includes all three boy’s divisions, and was released in an article on the front of the Sunday Sports section. Gaudreau is the first Kennett player to be named to the Union Leader All State Team, which picks the top player at each position, as well as Player of the Year. His coach was happy, but not surprised. “Ricky earned this, it is nice to see him get recognized at a state level for everything he has done,” said Mike Lane.

Gaudreau finished his career with incredible numbers which can be seen below.

Perhaps the most impressive numbers are his play-off numbers, where the goaltender took his game to another level, earning seven win, one loss, a save percentage of .950 a goals against average of 0.88 and four shut-outs. “A lot of kids put up good numbers in the regular season and in some cases, those numbers are stacked against lower level teams, but Ricky has done it on the biggest stage for everyone around the state to see, for that I am proud of him,” said Lane.

                                                                                                                     photos by Jimmy Gallo

The recognition didn’t stop there however for the goaltender. Saturday he was named as one of only two goaltenders in the entire State (JJ Salloway of Pinkerton was the other) to be named to the New Hampshire/Vermont Make A Wish Game which will be played at the Gutterson Field House on the campus of the University of Vermont in June. Gaudreau is just the second Kennett Player to be named to the team (Michael Skelton was the other). “Another great honor, Ricky played really well in the NH Senior game last Saturday. He showed the coaches enough to be named to the team, were all very happy for him,” said Lane. The game is the equivalent of the NH Vermont Football Shrine Game.

Earlier this month all four captains earned awards.

Gaudreau was named Division III Co-Player of the Year (Jaret Canner of Somersworth was the other player), along with being named to the Division III All State First Team (Third time) and was awarded the Jim Terry Hockey Award which is given by the coaching staff for dedication to the program.

Griffin Meador who leaves Kennett as the all time leading scorer after he earned 78 points this season, which set a school record. Meador was named to the Division III All State First team and was also awarded the Jim Terry Award.

Bryan Lamontagne who leaves Kennett as the all time leading scorer for Kennett among defenseman scored 42 points as a senior and was named to the Division III All State First team. Lamontagne was named to the All State Second team as a junior. Lamontagne was also awarded the Jim Terry Award.

Taylor Cyr who leaves Kennett as second on the all time scoring list and the reputation as the best two way player in school history scored 47 points as a senior and was named to the Division III All State Team Honorable Mention. Cyr was also awarded the Jim Terry Award.

All four seniors leave the school with a record as a class of 68-12-1, one semi-final appearance, one runner up and two state championships. “What can you say, the numbers speak for themselves,” said Lane.