Alan Greenwood

It took years for the Nashua hockey community to find a rink to call home. The Nashua Garden came and went all-too quickly, with local teams left to find ice time outside the city.

Decades later, the Conway Arena opened and Nashua high school, youth hockey, figure skaters, and any other activity requiring a sheet of ice were on solid footing.

Just think how their hockey ancestors were at the mercy of the weather gods.

JAN. 16, 1951: Telegraph sports editor Frank Stawasz featured the amateur Nashua Royals, who were antsy at the lack of New England’s cold gusts.

“Lack of ice isn’t too great a problem insofar as preparing the team for action is concerned, insists coach Tony Joyal. … The real problem is scheduling games to coincide with weather conditions that afford the proper ice conditions.

“Once the elements get together with the Nashua Royals hockey squad Nashua fans with a yen for the ice sport will be able to see some hockey.”

JAN. 17, 1956: From Fred Dobens’ “Around the Town” column:

“It looks now as Nashua High will have to book largely out of state grid opponents for future years. There are two reasons for this, the main one being the smaller schools do not want to schedule such big-time opposition as the Purple and the other is that only three schools in the state – the others being Bishop Bradley and Central – have a big enough male student body to compete with the locals on the gridiron.

“… We can hardly blame Keene, Portsmouth, Laconia and Concord for wanting to sidestep Nashua in the future. The (Buzz) Harvey teams, year in and year out, are pretty good.”

JAN. 18, 1961: “Scoring almost at will and penetrating the porous Keene defense without difficulty, Nashua High’s basketball team roared to its eighth straight Class L hoop victory by trampling the Blackbirds 67-43 last night at the Elm City.

“Frank Ulcickas and Kenny Kane were the men who held the hot hands and blazed the Purple’s trail with 22 and 18 points, respectively. Tom Gondek came through with 11, Dave Mellon had six, and rounding out the scoring was Everett Crosscup’s five and Carl Tamulevich’s four.”

JAN. 19, 1976: “Jim Collins scored two goals and Jim Browder tied a league record with his ninth consecutive victory yesterday when the Skate 3 Huskies downed the Berwick, Maine Vikings, 6-4, in a New England Junior Hockey league game.”

JAN. 20, 1991: “The Milford AREA Senior High School wrestling team moved to 4-4 on the season, Saturday, splitting a pair of matches. The Spartans whipped Con Val of Peterborough, but fell to powerful Exeter, 42-33, in the second match.

“Double winners for Milford included Tim Logan at 103 pounds, Justin Hammerstrom at 140, Jim Manley at 152, co-captain Matt Parker, who won by decision at 171 and by pin at 160.”

JAN. 21, 2001: “Bishop Guertin peppered Pinkerton goaltender Steve Raymond with 62 shots Saturday in a 5-0 victory at Tri-Town Arena in Hookset.

“Kevin Crowder scored the game’s first two goals with assists on both from Bobby Langlais. Chris Cadieux also was credited with a first-period assist.

“Seth Beamer scored Guertin’s fourth goal and set up Dan Travis five minutes earlier. Mike Gleason scored with less than two minutes left in the game to wrap up the scoring on a feed from Billy Bonn.

“… Guertin goalies Matt Pettinato and Derek Chaput combined for five saves.”

JAN. 22, 2011: “The Nashua Collegiate Baseball Club is officially open for business. The club signed three local players for the upcoming inaugural season at Holman Stadium. These signings mark the first contracts with the soon-to-be-named franchise.

“All three are freshmen in the Merrimack College baseball program in North Andover, Mass.

“Right-handed pitcher and first baseman Alek Morency, a former team captain at Nashua High School North, was a first team all-state selection as a senior and a third team all-state as a junior.

“Right-handed pitcher Travis Terrill, of Hudson, was a first team all-state selection at Alvirne High School. He was also awarded the team’s Cy Young Award.

“Infielder Brandon Cox was twice named as a first-team Telegraph all-star at Nashua High School South. He was also a second-team all-state selection as a senior and a third-team honoree as a junior. In addition to baseball, Cox captained his varsity basketball team.”

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