The Northeast Sled Hockey League’s championship kicked off today in a terrific way. Teams ranging all the way from Maine to Ohio converged on the Rinks at Exeter in Exeter, NH for the start of a three day event. Click here to recap 2018 and preview this year’s tournament.
The first matchup between the New England Warriors and Columbus Blue Jackets North was a wild one and a great sign for everything to come. We saw much more aggressive play out of the Warriors here than we’ve seen all season, presumably as they finally found an equal opponent. The Warriors won 2-0 off an early Gordie Ide (#6) goal and a late Kyle Jacques (#18) score, but that doesn’t tell the full story. Despite the lead, the Blue Jackets were playing offense for much of the match, getting shots on goal left and right. Josh Gould (#25) (great goalie name btw) made several truly sensational saves to hold the Warriors lead.
The Blue Jackets’ two squads, North and South are both competing in Division B and were doing so simultaneously for some time this morning. It was another exciting match, but the South squad was able to cruise by the Central VT Pioneers 6-2. The Pioneers were able to redeem this performance in the last match of the day with a 3-0 victory over the Johnstown Sitting Bulls.
Matches featuring the Pittsburgh Mighty Penguins squads have been among the most fun to watch so far. The B team took a 3-1 win over the Spaulding Shamrocks while the A team started strong with a 10-1 trouncing of the Gaylord Wolfpack. The B squad couldn’t ride that momentum high enough against the Northeast Passage Wildcats as they lost 8-1. Tensions were clearly high in this match, as a Penguin was called for a five minute penalty for a (very) late check.
In their first and only match of the day, the Springfield Thunderbirds took care of business with a 3-1 win vs. Johnstown Sitting Bulls. The Sitting Bulls were unfortunately the only team to go 0-2 on the first day. Much of the rest of the day we found ourselves watching hosts Northeast Passage Wildcats beat up on their competition. Their B Tier II team took out the Ohio Warriors 8-0 alongside the previously mentioned 8-1 win over Pittsburgh. The A team was just as dominant, winning 10-1 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
And with that we’re now halfway through the group stage, with the other half scheduled for Day 2. Things will certainly heat up as teams fight for playoff seeding, and we’ll be there taking it all in! Keep scrolling for full results, the Day 2 schedule and the full photo album!
Day 1 (3/8/19) Results
| Time | Group | Visitor (score) | Home (score) |
| 10:30 am | B | New England Warriors (2) | Columbus Blue Jackets North (0) |
| 11:10 am | B | Central VT Pioneers (2) | Columbus Blue Jackets South (6) |
| 12:10 pm | B Tier II | Spaulding Shamrocks (1) | Pittsburgh Mighty Penguins B (3) |
| 12:50 pm | B | Springfield Thunderbirds (3) | Johnstown Sitting Bulls (1) |
| 1:40 pm | B Tier II | Ohio Warriors (0) | Northeast Passage Wildcats B (8) |
| 2:20 pm | A | Gaylord Wolfpack (2) | Pittsburgh Mighty Penguins A (10) |
| 3:20 pm | A | Philadelphia Flyers (1) | Northeast Passage Wildcats A (10) |
| 4:50 pm | B Tier II | Pittsburgh Mighty Penguins B (1) | Northeast Passage Wildcats B (8) |
| 6:10 pm | B | Johnstown Sitting Bulls (0) | Central VT Pioneers (3) |
Day 2 Schedule
Athletes Roll 
[…] terrific first day laid the groundworks for the 2019 NESHL Championship group stages and today continued the […]
LikeLike
[…] Day 1: Intensity Starts High […]
LikeLike