Tonight will possibly produce a very historic moment.

When the final buzzer sounds at Conway Arena around, oh, 8:30 or so tonight, players from Nashua South-Pelham and North-Souhegan will line up to shake hands for what is very likely the final time. If all goes according to plan (meaning final NHIAA approval in May), future players from Souhegan and Pelham will be elsewhere next year while North and South will become the city’s co-op hockey team. So this will be a memorable moment. It won’t be the final game of the season for either, as the Saber-Titans have three games left after (the last at Manchester on Saturday) and South-Pelham two (the last at home vs. Keene). Plus, the Kings are still barely alive for the final tournament spot but can’t lose another game.

Here some other tids and bits as we’re finally able to feel our fingers and toes when we go outside:

— We erred in the print version of this prose when we said the Rivier Universty women’s basketball team would be hosting a GNAC quarterfinal game. That won’t happen, as the Raiders, despite an 11-3 record, will be on the road as the No. 5 seed come Tuesday at St. Joe’s of Connecticut. That’s a tough, tough break, and unless there are some upsets, that means the Muldoon Center fans have seen the last of a generational player in the school’s all-time leading scorer, Lyric Grumblatt. Riv was in a three-way tie with the Blue Jays and Albertus, and Albertus had beaten both and Riv was 0-2. Conference games are oh, so important. Meanwhile, the men at 7-7, seeded sixth, also got a tough draw – they too have to head to face Saint Joe’s of Connecticut on Tuesday, so assume there’ll be a doublheader. Yikes.

— Congratulations to Justin Hufft for beating the field for the Alvirne High School athletic director’s job that was to be vacant in June when longtime AD Karen Bonney retires. Hufft had an impressive run at Goffstown as a football coach and then an administrator, but his run at Pelham will only be a year and it began with him having to take over football for the season at virtually the last minute. The lure of returning to Division I and one would guess knowing that Bonney enjoyed a 25-year run – meaning longevity – was too good to pass up. And in the last couple of years athletic directors are changing all over the place at schools in the state.

The L word is the key in our mind for any athletic director. That’s why Lisa Gingras has been so successful in Nashua, because she provided stability for a Nashua position that had lacked it ever since Al Harrington retired in 2000. Marc Maurais had an incredibly long run at Milford, and of course the great Bill Dod did the same at Souhegan. Merrimack had Joe Raycraft for years. And of course on the college level, it’s tough for anyone to match the 40-plus year run Rivier enjoyed with Joanne Merrill. And those athletic programs benefitted from that kind of longevity. Coaches know what to expect. The ADs know how to navigate the NHIAA waters, etc. Hopefully, Hufft and Alvirne will enjoy a similar long-term relationship.

—– Despite the snow and ice we keep looking out at, baseball is obviously in the air. Remember we told you that Brockton was bowing out of the FCBL to focus on its professional independent Frontier League franchise known as the New England Knockouts. Well, the Knockouts are no more and neither is Brockton owner Brian Kahn. But the franchise is still in Brockton, having been sold to a group that includes Red Sox Hall of Famer Jim Rice, and you can bet the group is using Rice as a big marketing tool. And it’s been rebranded as its Can Am and FCBL name, the Brockton Rox. Perhaps things are improving in Brockton after all.

— So you’re the Boston Bruins, and one of your best players, Charlie McAvoy, suffers what looks to be a possible long-term injury (weeks, maybe months) to his shoulder playing in a tournament that while taken very seriously by players and fans, was an exhibition. Tell us how this makes sense? As well as the ridiculous ticket prices. We loved the 4 Nations event, but when to have it? In the middle of the season when players can get hurt? Tough call.

—- March 16 is a big day for high school boys basketball with the Division I and II finals at UNH and the area has a couple of possible teams (Nashua South, Hollis Brookline) in the boys and perhaps Bishop Guertin and Milford in the girls? But it’s also a date for a very worthwhile event in Manchester, the annual Battle of the Badges Hockey Game benefitting Dartmouth Health Children’s and the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (CHaD). The game is at 1 p.m.at Manchester’s SNHU Arena and there will be all sorts of other activities like a Kids Zone at the Arena. For more info go to ChaDHockey.org.

— Just wondering, are there flights available from Manchester Airport to Rochester? Maybe that’s what the NHIAA was figuring when it decided to hold the Division I and II boys semis at the Spaulding Rec Center. Just wondering.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on X, formerly known as twitter, @Telegraph _TomK.