Eastbayri.com

PORTSMOUTH — Fans who open the doors at the Portsmouth Abbey School ice rink are always met with a blast of cold air. The Abbey is probably the coldest high school rink in the state. The night of January 11 is no exception, at least as far as the indoor temperature is concerned.

But this time, those who enter for the Barrington-Mt. Hope boys’ hockey game, notice right away it isn’t an ordinary school function. Instead of being met by a shivering, school-appointed ticket attendant standing behind a lone table, there are two or three women, at least one sitting, behind a couple of tables loaded with paraphernalia.

The tables are set up so everyone entering has to walk between them since there is no room to get around them. There is no admission fee. However, there is a donation jug

The occasion? The 10th Annual JP Medeiros Jr. Memorial Cup hockey game, a contest played in memory of the former Mt. Hope High School hockey player who died in an auto accident while away at college. All of the proceeds from the game go toward scholarships for Barrington and Mt. Hope High school hockey players. Heading into this year, 34 scholarships have been awarded.

One of the women manning the front table is Maryem Medeiros, JP’s mother.

“He’s still with us in spirit,” Mrs. Medeiros says. “Hockey is what he lived for.”

One of the tables is loaded with hockey pictures of past Cup games. A photo of JP. Jr. sits on an easel. There are programs with each team’s lineup. There also are special wool hats for sale.

One side of the hat features an Eagle and a Husky, the team mascots, staring at each other. Flip the hat over and you find the #17 encircled in an emblem with a halo over the number, JP Jr.’s old uniform number. Hats can be bought for $10 each.

Former Mt. Hope hockey coach Chuck Cruz is to the left, standing up against the glass watching the preliminary game between the co-op girls’ teams from Barrington and Toll Gate.

“This means a lot to me because JP (Jr.) was my assistant coach the first year I took over the team,” Cruz says. “I didn’t have an assistant. Every time he’d come home from college I’d call him up and ask him what he was doing that night.

“He’d tell me he was going out with his girlfriend. So I’d say, ‘I could really use you for a couple hours.’ He was with me every chance he could. His main love was hockey, that’s for sure. This night brings it all back for (his parents).”

On the wall to the right are enlarged versions of newspaper accounts of previous Memorial Cup contests. A handful of fans peruse them.

“They’re articles from the Phoenix and Warren paper that Mariem blew up,” says JP Medeiros, Maryem’s husband. “I think they’re just tremendous because it gives a time factor where people can see it’s been going on for quite a few years now. They reminisce when they read the names of the old players.”

JP resides above the crowd, the ice and his wife directly below. He’s in the announcer’s booth in a dual role. He’s there to let the fans know who scores the goals and probably more importantly to him, play music prior to faceoffs and between periods.

No rap music and no current hits blare from the sound system. It’s a steady diet from the past. Steppenwolf, Foreigner, 3 Dog Night, Edgar Winter, Pat Benatar, Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers, Kiss, ACDC, Aerosmith etc, etc, etc...

One woman climbs the stairs to the heated booth, knocks on the door and walks in looking for the answer to something. When she gets the answer she says thanks and, “I love the music.”

Medeiros is a physical education teacher at Barrington High School and he and his wife reside in Warren. There is a steady stream of current and former students to the booth during the games.

“Nobody likes me. They just come up here for the heat,” Medeiros says.

The crowd grows as the puck is about to be dropped for the main game. It doesn’t seem like as many fans as usual but a rink worker says it’s the largest crowd he’s seen for a high school game this season. Fans line up against the glass three-quarters around the rink and the stands are full. Not bad for a Wednesday night.

“The crowds have been phenomenal,” says Barrington High Athletic Director George Finn. “The kids have this great sense for JP and what this game means for all of them. Year in and year out it’s amazing how the kids come together and play for this great cause. It’s nice to see. It’s special. It’s a special time.”

It’s not just the current students and players it’s also former players who show up. Medeiros family relatives from Cape Cod to Connecticut make the trip to attend the annual contest and this year is no exception.

“That speaks of the impact JP had on kids and of the impact his parents still have,” says Finn.

The game comes to an end about 9:40 p.m. with Mt. Hope a 3-1 victor. Mr. Medeiros leaves the warmth of the booth and heads to the ice for the trophy presentation. He shakes hands with each player from both teams before presenting the trophy to the Mt. Hope seniors.

Scott MacGovern, one of those seniors, says, “This game is always the best. It’s my favorite game to play in. It’s the whole team’s favorite game to play in. Everyone is so hyped up.”

MacGovern, who was 7- or 8-years-old when the first Memorial Cup game was played, goes on to say, “I didn’t know JP but my older brother and his friends play hockey so I’ve always come to the games. It’s always been an occasion in my house.”

The fans begin to trickle out of the rink after the ceremony, catching a last glimpse at the pictures and old game stories posted on the wall. Some linger longer before heading to their vehicles.

“A lot of the old guys come back and come up to see me or wave to me up here,” Mr. Medeiros says. “It’s kind of fun to see some of the older guys. They’re all getting a little older. It just goes on and on. It’s really something.”

A few people stay, help clean up and shuttle items to the Medeiros’ car. Mariem clears the way at the main doors while JP stands above in the announcer’s booth and loads all his CD’s into a backpack. Perhaps even higher up, looking down on both of them, is JP Jr.

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