Final Varsity Meeting to be Held Thursday

The Whitman-Hanson varsity hockey team will hold its final break-up meeting on Thursday, March 3rd, at 2:15 in the high school gymnasium. Players should bring all uniforms that still need to be turned in, and the coaches and players will give closure to the 2010-11 season. It was a fun year despite the unfortunate ending, and everyone is looking forward to continued success from this team transitioning into next season.

Coach Smith will be in touch with JV players when a date is established for the JV team meeting.
 

Panthers' Hopes Fall Short With 4-1 Loss to Vineyard

The Panthers needed to bring two points back onto the ferry from Martha's Vineyard in order to qualify for the postseason tournament. Unfortunately for Whitman-Hanson, tonight wasn't their night -- a 4-1 loss to the Vineyarders ended their season in its tracks and sent them golfing for the offseason.

In a packed house at Martha's Vineyard Arena, the Vineyard was honoring its senior players for senior night. Emotions were swirling and energy pulsed in the building. It was a perfect environment for a must-win affair, and the Panthers came out of the gates looking as though they were fully aware of that circumstance.

Just over three minutes into the game, captain AJ Glynn fired a shot from the point that was turned aside by Martha's Vineyard's goaltender, but freshman Charlie Murphy was on the doorstep for the Panthers to backhand the rebound home and give Whitman-Hanson a quick 1-0 lead. The fans were smiling and the players were pumped. It looked like a fabulous start and a sign of good things to come. Trust me, I wish I could say the same in hindsight.

Just 13 seconds after the Murphy tally (in Boston Bruins fashion, to say the least), the Vineyard answered down the other end with a goal that evened the score. The PA announcers hardly had a chance to read off Murphy's 4th goal of the season before the purple and white crowd on the other side was erupting at the equalizer. The early edge that Whitman-Hanson earned gradually faded away, and when the final five minutes of the period arrived,  MV preemptively put the final nails into the coffin. On a third-chance opportunity with a sprawling Tom Leonard attempting to keep the disc out of the cage, the Vineyarders batted home a rebound to take the lead with 4:40 to go in the period. Three minutes later, they executed a 2-on-1 that deflected off a Whitman-Hanson stick and into the net for a 3-1 MV lead after one. They never looked back.

We had mentioned the need for Leonard to be strong between the pipes for WH tonight -- he was. Leonard made several timely saves, including two breakaway stops and a point-blank 2-on-1 opportunity, when his team needed him the most. Plain and simply, the Panthers made too many mental mistakes and turned the puck over in the dangerous areas of the ice. It was somewhat of a frustrating affair to watch. Halfway through the second period, MV added their fourth and final goal right after the Panthers had failed to execute a power play opportunity that could have brought the deficit within one. It just wasn't happening tonight, and the black and red were sent home with that bitter taste in their mouths once again.

For the seniors, it is a disappointing ending -- coming up a mere 45 minutes short of a postseason birth, two seasons in a row. Last year, the dream was shattered with 23.4 seconds remaining. This year, it was decided a bit earlier. Still, those seniors left everything on the ice in their honorable careers. Phil Boussy. Coleman Lenane. Tom Leonard. Scott McArthur. Chris Mulrey. Adam Robinson. The Panther hockey community thanks each and every one of your for your contributions, and it wishes you all the best moving forward with your lives after high school hockey.

As for the returners, it will be a long and bitter offseason. It will be full of hard work and determination. For some of the sophomores, the only feeling they have felt on this team is the agony of falling just short. For the freshmen, they experienced this in their only season. For the juniors, they were in the program back when the Vineyard took down the Panthers in the first round of the 2009 tournament. Plenty of pain and adversity has passed under the bridge. But that's why the bridge is always being built -- one piece at a time, they will work their way back. What's under the bridge is gone. What is before them, for the guys returning, is a bridge to be walked upon. Unfinished business. It seems like it's in the distant future, but you'll be setting your alarm clock an an ungodly hour for the first day of tryouts before you know it.
 

Attention: Martha's Vineyard Ferry Update

Attention Panther fans making the trip: Steamship authority has said that starting from the 10:45 shuttle to the Vineyard, every other ship may be cancelled. They said that the 12:00 and the 2:30 ferries are the larger ships and should be running.
  

Panthers Seeking Playoff Berth With Trip to Vineyard

The Panthers (7-8-4) seek their first tournament seed since 2008-09.

For the second straight season, it will come down to one game. One forty-five minute session, on the road, with their own destiny in the palm of their hand. The Whitman-Hanson Panthers will board a ferry across the water to Martha's Vineyard on Friday morning with their minds set on turning the tables and earning their first postseason birth since the 2008-09 season.

One year ago last Thursday, the Panthers rolled into Mansfield's barn in the exact same situation -- win and you're in. Two points and you're tourney-bound. In that game, Whitman-Hanson had some late heroics, rallying from a 3-1 deficit to take a 4-3 lead with six minutes to go. Six minutes of scoreless hockey would send the black and red to the playoffs. And when their hearts were broken by Mansfield's game-tying goal with 23.4 seconds left, the bitter taste was embedded in the mouths of a hockey community. This weekend, our group of high-schoolers will look to rid themselves of that lingering pain.

Postseason dreams are always at the forefront of a player's mind. Fittingly for the Panthers, they will get a chance at redemption in more than just one area -- the last time they dropped the puck against Martha's Vineyard was in the first round of the 2009 MIAA Division II tournament, a game that quickly and brutally ended their hopes of a deep postseason run. On Friday, Whitman-Hanson will be trying to earn another shot in that very same tournament, and they will have to go through those Vineyarders for two hard-earned points in order to do it.

Tom Leonard:   7-8-4,   2.99 GAA,   .892%

The black and red will be relying on a solid all-around attack in their single most important game of the season. Per usual, they will be looking for a strong performance between the pipes from senior goaltender Tom Leonard. A first-year Panther, Leonard has been a workhorse all season for this team. Having played 874 minutes heading into this contest (97% of the team's minutes), he has been as solid as Coach Manning could have asked entering the season. With a goals-against-average below 3.00 and a saves pecentage nearing .900, his numbers have been there for a team that has needed his consistent production. The Panthers will look for more of the same out of Leonard on Friday evening.

A strong performance from their goalie won't be the only thing necessary for Whitman-Hanson, though. Their captain, junior defenseman AJ Glynn, will look to lead the charge in the biggest game of his career thus far. Glynn was around for both of the previously described bitter losses in the past few seasons, and he will be as hungry for redemption as anyone. With a team-leading +5 rating (tied with Chris Boussy and Scott McArthur), Glynn's physical presence will be a key to the game for the Panthers. The back end will be anchored by their big, strong defenseman, and the offense will come from all around the squad. WH's top three scorers this season are from three different classes -- sophomore Chris Boussy (18 pts), senior Scott McArthur (16 pts), and freshman Charlie Murphy (14 pts) have all had impressive seasons thus far. Getting goals from five different players in their final two games, the offensive attack will seek balance once again in what the coaching staff, fans, and players all hope will be a successful effort on the road.

Regardless of the outcome, each of the players boarding that ferry on Friday morning will bring back unforgettable memories with them on Saturday. But I, too, was a hockey player, and hockey players don't have the same mindset as your everyday human being. Each of the 20 young men that have pulled on the Whitman-Hanson sweater this season will be pulling for the same result. Win or go home, boys. You get to deal the cards.