White River Junction
The two players who connected for Wednesday night’s game-winner created a fitting end.
Allen, a junior forward, has spent the last year recovering from a broken left collarbone he suffered in practice the day after last year’s Bouthillier tournament, a journey that included four months in a sling and another four in physical therapy. On Wednesday, Allen found himself on a two-on-one with Rouillard immediately following an unsuccessful Lebanon power play in the third period. Rouillard deked and connected with the streaking Allen, who beat Raiders goaltender Jordan Hammond for the go-ahead score with 7 minutes, 58 seconds remaining in the third period.
“I saw Ben coming down the wide side, so I gave him the pass. I just kept going to the net and saw the puck bounce out, and I just went for it,” Allen said. “It was amazing. I didn’t play much my freshman year; sophomore year I only played half the season. I felt like I needed to start doing something.”
Veteran Hartford head coach Todd Bebeau couldn’t have asked for a better tournament, his team ending up on top for the first time since the Holiday Classic began in 2014. The Hurricanes defeated rebuilding Woodstock, 1-0 in overtime, in the tournament’s first round on Tuesday to reach Wednesday’s championship game.
“Just a classic high school hockey game,” Bebeau said. “I think people got their money’s worth. I’m just thoroughly impressed and proud of my kids. We’ve grown so much as a team in the past couple of days. I care for them; I want good things to happen for them. When it does, it’s very rewarding.”
It was the first time Hartford boys hockey has faced Lebanon since 1985, according to the Hurricanes’ athletic department. Despite the result, Lebanon head coach Gary Smith was pleased with the way his team competed as it works back to 100 percent health after preseason injuries hit several key players.
“For us, it was a good playoff-type atmosphere,” Smith said. “We don’t get a lot games like that, especially this early on in the year. We got on the ice in December. So for only being on the ice for a couple weeks, this was exactly the type of game I wanted to get our guys into the season.”
Lebanon jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the game and took a lead into the first intermission, something that Smith said his team has been working on. Nate Chickering scored unassisted, cleaning up a wraparound try that snuck past Canes goalie Richie Morrill.
After finishing last season at 9-10-0, Smith’s team — powered offensively by Chickering, Nate Damren and Nate Gariepy — still has a lot to prove.
“The current team we played with this week hasn’t really practiced together yet,” Smith said. “It was good to see everyone back together again, but now we’ve got to get the line chemistry going.”
Damren returned to the ice this week after missing the first few weeks with a hip injury. The Raiders are 2-2 overall.
Hartford (3-1) took advantage of its opportunities down the stretch. Rouillard, largely hidden last season behind prominent goal scorers Nate Lemieux and Kyle Weeks, torched Lebanon’s defense for several easy chances at the Raiders’ net. Hammond was able to stop Rouillard’s breakaway opportunities but couldn’t stop him on Hartford’s five-on-three power play midway through the second period, a shot top shelf that tied the game 1-1.
Allen gave the Hurricanes their first and only lead midway through the third period. Rouillard has scored a goal in each of Hartford’s first four games and has a goal and an assist in three games out of four.
“You kind of have to approach it head-on,” Rouillard said when asked about his new role as Hartford’s go-to offensive weapon. “Me and Tyler (Hamilton) we were on a line sophomore year, so we had that connection. Jordy (Allard) is just a great athlete. He’s definitely working with us. We’re just trying to build more chemistry.”
Allen returned to physical activity with the Hartford soccer team this fall but said he didn’t trust his shoulder completely. Now back on skates, he’s finally starting to feel like himself again thanks to Wednesday’s game-winner.
“It all started with soccer,” Allen said. “I was worried about playing physical sports; I didn’t want anything to happen again. But I started getting back into it and getting ready for hockey. When I started the hockey season, I was still a little nervous, but after going through losing every single preseason game, I was tired of losing. I’m ready to start winning games again.”
Woodstock High freshman forward Owen Coates scored two goals to give the Wasps their first victory of the season.
Senior Luc Issa scored Woodstock’s insurance goal with 10:31 remaining in the third period. Junior Josh Kennedy finished the game with two assists. Defenseman Jack Kamb, freshman forward Trevor White and defenseman Tristan Black all added helpers. Senior goaltender Jason Drebber made 24 saves.
Woodstock (1-3) travels to Middlebury on Wednesday.
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.