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Finals Preview: Power Teams, Power Play
March 5, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This weekend's MHSAA Ice Hockey Finals at Plymouth's Compuware Arena feature a two-time reigning champion in Division 1 and the winningest hockey coach in MHSAA history.
And fans also could see some lesser-known but similarly incredible stories continue to unfold.
In Division 3 alone, Sault Ste. Marie is going for its first title since 1989, while Farmington is going for its first after shocking the state with an upset of reigning champion Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood in the Quarterfinal. Grand Rapids Catholic Central advanced after surviving six overtimes in its quarter, while in Division 2 Muskegon Reeths-Puffer will play in a Semifinal for the first time.
This weekend's pairings are as follows:
Division 2 Semifinals - Thursday
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer (19-8-1) vs. Hartland (19-9-1), 5 p.m.
Trenton (24-4-1) vs. Warren DeLaSalle (13-14), 7:30 p.m.
Division 3 Semifinals - Friday
Sault Ste. Marie (24-2-2) vs. Monroe St. Mary CC (19-8-2), 11 a.m.
Farmington (19-10) vs Grand Rapids Catholic Central (18-4-6), 1:30 p.m.
Division 1 Semifinals - Friday
Detroit U-D Jesuit (21-7) vs Brighton (22-6-1), 5 p.m.
Detroit Catholic Central (22-7) vs Grandville (16-10-3), 7:30 p.m.
FINALS - Saturday
Division 2 – 10 a.m.
Division 3 – 2 p.m.
Division 1 – 6 p.m.
All Semifinals and Finals will be streamed live per subscriptiion basis on MHSAA.tv, with live audio available on MHSAANetwork.com.
Click for a full schedule of this weekend's games plus full results as they come in. Players statistics below are through the Regional round and were submitted by participating schools, except for Muskegon Reeths-Puffer and Farmington stats, which are through Quarterfinals.
Division 1
BRIGHTON
Record/rank: 22-6-1, No. 4
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2013).
Coach: Paul Moggach, 19th season (352-118-38)
League finish: First in Kensington Lakes Activities Association (Central and overall)
Best wins: 8-0 over No. 6 Bay City Central in Quarterfinal, 2-0 over No. 10 Plymouth, 6-5 over No. 9 Northville, 5-3 and 7-1 over Division 2 No. 3 Hartland, 6-5 over Division 2 No. 1 Livonia Stevenson, 4-2 over Division 2 No. 4 Novi, 5-2 over Division 3 No. 10 Hancock.
Players to watch: Danny Bosio, senior forward (32 goals, 26 assists); Brian Dowd, senior forward (17 goals, 20 assists); Jimmy Milletics, junior goaltender (18-6-1, 2.50 GAA, .867 save %); Brett Pietila, senior defenseman (six goals, 16 assists).
Outlook: Brighton is the back-to-back Division 1 champion and returns to Compuware with most of the top contributors from last season’s run. Milletics remains a standout in net after making the all-state first team last season; total, the Bulldogs have 10 shutouts this winter. Pietila also made the all-state first team last season, with Bosio on the second and Dowd earning an honorable mention. Brighton opened with a 4-3 loss to DCC in a rematch of last season’s Final, and started 3-4 before going 19-2-1 heading into Friday.
DETROIT CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/rank: 22-7, No. 2
Championship history: 10 MHSAA titles (most recent 2010), four runner-up finishes.
Coach: Doug Itami, first season (22-7)
League finish: Second in Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League North
Best wins: 2-0 and 5-2 (Quarterfinal) over No. 10 Plymouth, 5-0, 7-4 and 5-2 (Regional Final) over No. 1 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, 4-3 over No. 4 Brighton, 7-0 over No. 9 Northville in Regional Semifinal, 8-0 and 4-1 over No. 3 Birmingham Brother Rice, 8-0 over No. 7 Detroit U-D Jesuit, 5-2 over Division 2 No. 1 Livonia Stevenson, 4-3 over Division 2 No. 2 Trenton.
Players to watch: Ryan Burnett, junior forward (16 goals, 18 assists); Mitch Ossowski, junior forward (13 goals, 20 assists); Carter Cerretani, senior defenseman (10 goals, 22 assists); Jim Considine, senior forward (11 goals, 11 assists).
Outlook: Itami took over this season for former coach Todd Johnson (who now is an assistant), and the Shamrocks haven’t missed a beat. They have to be favorites this weekend after beating the best of the rest of Division 1 during the regular season; those seven losses came from Division 3 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood, Division 2 Trenton and Indiana’s Culver Academy. DCC lost four all-state first teamers from last season, but a balanced lineup has shined with seven players posting at least 10 assists and six at least eight goals entering the week.
DETROIT U-D JESUIT
Record/rank: 21-7, No. 7
Championship history: Has not appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Coach: Rick Bennetts, 19th season (234-224-32)
League finish: Second in MIHL South.
Best wins: 4-2 and 4-3 over No. 3 Birmingham Brother Rice, 5-3 over No. 8 Lake Orion in Quarterfinal, 4-2 over Division 3 No. 1 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood, 5-3 over Division 3 No. 9 Flint Powers Catholic, 6-2 over Divsiion 3 No. 5 Dearborn Divine Child.
Players to watch: Tommy Apap, junior right wing (12 goals, 45 assists); Brian Hubbard, senior forward (24 goals, 28 assists); Sam Knoblauch, sophomore forward (20 goals, 15 assists); Christian Wirth-Karbler, junior forward (17 goals, 12 assists).
Outlook: This is the fourth time Jesuit has made at least the Semifinals over the last decade, and it’s seeking its first championship game berth after falling to eventual champion Brighton last season. The Cubs have outscored their four postseason opponents by a combined score of 29-4, keyed in part by first-line center Apap, a second-team all-stater in 2012 and first-teamer a year ago.
GRANDVILLE
Record/rank: 16-10-3, unranked
Championship history: Has not appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Coach: Joel Breazeale, fourth season (64-43-4)
League finish: Third in O-K Tier II.
Best wins: 3-2 OT over Grand Rapids West Catholic in Quarterfinal, 6-2 over East Kentwood in Regional Final, 4-1 over Grand Rapids Catholic Central.
Players to watch: Brandon Rozema, junior forward (24 goals, 28 assists); Mitchell Parsons, junior forward (12 goals, 26 assists); Gianni Vitali, junior forward (14 goals, 20 assists); Max Houtman, senior forward (11 goals, 19 assists).
Outlook: Grandville played Tuesday in its fifth Quarterfinal over the last decade and finally broke through for its first Semifinal berth since 2001. The Bulldogs did so with an overtime win and have plenty of experience in extra periods this season – total they are 2-4 in games that go past regulation. Five players have scored at least 11 goals and eight have at least 11 assists including senior captains Ryan Fischer and Isaac Lippert, who center the top line and lead the defense, respectively.
Division 2
HARTLAND
Record/rank: 19-9-1, No. 3
Championship history: MHSAA Division 2 runner-up 2013.
Coach: Rick Gadwa, third season (53-28-5)
League finish: First in Kensington Lakes Activities Association Lakes Conference
Best wins: 5-4 over No. 4 Novi in Regional Final, 5-2 over Division 1 No. 9 Northville, 3-0 over Division 1 No. 8 Lake Orion, 3-2 over Division 3 No. 9 Flint Powers Catholic.
Players to watch: Austin Flores, senior forward, Chris McRae, senior forward, Brent Pietila, senior goaltender, Josh Ruthig, senior forward. (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: Hartland has run its string of Regional championships under Gadwa to three and just missed its first MHSAA title last season, falling 5-4 to Livonia Stevenson in the championship game. The Eagles again loaded the schedule this season and beat a solid handful of ranked teams, and also recovered from a tough stretch of eight losses in nine games to close the regular season.
MUSKEGON REETHS-PUFFER
Record/rank: 19-8-1, unranked
Championship history: Has not appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Coach: Eric Sikkenga, eighth season (120-107-8)
League finish: First in O-K Tier 1
Best wins: 5-3 over No. 7 Saginaw Heritage in Quarterfinal, 3-2 over No. 9 Traverse City Central in Pre-Regional, 5-3 over East Kentwood
Players to watch: Josh Smith, senior forward (34 goals 23 assists); Kyle Kendra, senior forward (27 goals, 35 assists), Riley Draper, junior forward (14 goals, 21 assists), Jacob Vanderlee, junior goaltender (8-1-1, 1.53 GAA, .934 save %).
Outlook: Reeths-Puffer just missed its first MHSAA Semifinals last season, falling in overtime to East Kentwood in a Division 1 Quarterfinal. The Rockets are in Division 2 this winter and stormed into Finals weekend led by a top line of Draper centering Kendra and Smith. Reeths-Puffer has won the close ones this tournament; the Rockets went 4-4 in one-goal games during the regular season, but opened the playoffs by edging both Traverse City Central and Muskegon Mona Shores by a goal apiece.
TRENTON
Record/rank: 24-4-1, No. 2
Championship history: 13 MHSAA titles (most recent 2010), six runner-up finishes.
Coach: Michael Turner, 28th season (627-126-52)
League finish: First in MIHL South
Best wins: 4-1 and 3-2 (Regional Final) over No. 1 Livonia Stevenson, 5-3 over No. 3 Hartland, 9-1 over No. 9 Traverse City Central, 3-2 and 3-2 over Warren DeLaSalle, 8-0 and 5-2 over Division 1 No. 7 Detroit U-D Jesuit, 5-3 over Division 1 No. 3 Birmingham Brother Rice.
Players to watch: Andrew Sawyer, senior forward (17 goals, 40 assists), Mitchell Galea, senior forward (35 goals, 31 assists), Justin Dunn, senior forward (33 goals, 34 assists), Philip Pugliese, junior forward (14 goals, 15 assists).
Outlook: Trenton will play to add another giant highlight to a season filled with them. Turner last month became the winningest hockey coach in MHSAA history and has led the Trojans to 10 of their titles during two tenures as coach. Trenton eliminated reigning champion Livonia Stevenson to advance on its longest run since winning that last championship, in 2010. Sawyer is a returning all-state first-teamer and Dunn made the second team in 2012-13.
WARREN DELASALLE
Record/rank: 13-14, unranked
Championship history: Has not appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Coach: Daniel Barry, 12th season (277-72-11)
League finish: Third in MIHL South
Best wins: 3-2 over Port Huron Northern in Quarterfinal, 7-6 over Division 3 No. 6 Detroit Country Day, 6-1 over Division 3 No. 7 Farmington
Players to watch: Mario Ruggeri, junior forward (13 goals, eight assists); Trevor Reno, senior forward (11 goals, 17 assists), Joey Mastej, junior forward (18 goals, 19 assists)
Outlook: DeLaSalle likely is the surprise of the tournament so far, entering the postseason with a sub-.500 record for the second season in a row but winning its first Regional title since 2010. The Pilots’ record is a little deceptive, however, considering six of those losses came to ranked teams in Division 1. They are on a 6-3 run, and the Quarterfinal win avenged a 4-2 loss to Northern earlier this season.
Division 3
FARMINGTON
Record/rank: 19-10, No. 7
Championship history: Has not appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Coach: Bill Newton, first season (19-10)
League finish: Sixth in Oakland Activities Association Red.
Best wins: 3-2 over No. 1 Cranbrook-Kingswood in Quarterfinal, 3-1 over No. 5 Dearborn Divine Child in Regional Final, 3-1 over No. 6 Detroit Country Day in Regional Semifinal, 2-1 over Division 2 No. 4 Novi, 2-1 over Division 2 No. 10 Rochester Hills Stoney Creek, 4-2 over Division 2 No. 8 Escanaba, 4-1 over Division 1 No. 9 Northville.
Players to watch: John Lethemon, senior goaltender (18-10, 2.05 GAA, .936 save %); Drake Cole, junior forward (21 goals, 16 assists); Nick Heffron, senior forward, (14 goals, 16 assists), Nick Kozoro, senior defenseman (nine goals, 22 assists).
Outlook: Farmington dominated the spotlight of Wednesday’s Quarterfinals after eliminating reigning champion Cranbrook-Kingswood, but the Falcons have fared well all season against strong teams including a large number from Divisions 1 and 2. Newton was a longtime assistant who returned this season to take over the program. Lethemon reportedly made 60 saves Tuesday and is a returning all-state second-teamer.
GRAND RAPIDS CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/rank: 18-4-6, unranked
Championship history: Division 3 champion 2011, two runner-up finishes.
Coach: Mike Slobodnik, fourth season (68-33-10)
League finish: First in O-K Tier I.
Best wins: 2-1, 6 OT over No. 9 Flint Powers Catholic in Quarterfinal; 3-0 over No. 8 Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills in Regional Semifinal, 5-3 over East Kentwood, 2-1 over Division 1 No. 8 Lake Orion.
Players to watch: Andrew Wallick, junior defenseman (11 goals, 14 assists); Brian Cain, senior defenseman (two goals, eight assists); Brendan Kane, senior forward (nine goals, 18 assists); Tommy Bailey, junior goaltender (1.45 GAA, .943 save %).
Outlook: Slobodnik, a former four-year varsity player at East Kentwood who went on to play at Wisconsin-Stevens Point, has led GRCC to the final week of the season three of the last four and has the Cougars back in the Semifinals after one of the longest games in MHSAA history. GRCC is on a 7-2 run and gave up one or fewer goals in 14 games this season – keyed in part by Bailey and top defensive pair Cain and senior Max Tierney. Cain made the all-state second team last season.
MONROE ST. MARY CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/rank: 19-8-2, unranked
Championship history: Has not appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Coach: Brian Hughes, second season (34-16-6)
League finish: First in Huron League and Southeastern Hockey League
Best wins: 6-5 over Chelsea in Regional Final, 4-2 over Riverview Gabriel Richard in Quarterfinal, 5-2 over Grosse Ile, 4-3 over Southgate Anderson.
Players to watch: Shane Hughes, senior forward (21 goals, 31 assists), Henry Mikesell, senior defenseman (17 goals, 27 assists), Anthony Cicero, sophomore forward (22 goals, 14 assists).
Outlook: St. Mary has improved four wins from last season and won its first Regional title since 2009; it’s going for its first Semifinal appearance since the year before in 2008. The Falcons have won eight of their last nine coming into this weekend. Mikesell earned an all-state honorable mention last season and is one of six who have scored double-digit goals and eight with 10 or more assists.
SAULT STE. MARIE
Record/rank: 24-2-2, No. 4
Championship history: Two MHSAA titles (most recent 1989), six runner-up finishes.
Coach: John Ferroni, third season (59-22-3)
League finish: Does not compete in a league.
Best wins: 2-1 over No. 2 Houghton in Quarterfinal, 4-2 and 7-1 over Division 2 No. 8 Escanaba, 6-3 over Division 2 No. 9 Traverse City Central, 3-2 over Division 1 No. 7 Detroit U-D Jesuit, 4-3 over Muskegon Reeths-Puffer.
Players to watch: Will Gauthier, senior center (21 goals, 35 assists), Blake Mastaw, senior forward (14 goals, 13 assists); Chase Gamelin, senior forward (28 goals, 20 assists); Nickolas McKenzie, senior goaltender (3.80 GAA).
Outlook: Sault Ste. Marie has come back even stronger after falling 4-3 to Cranbrook-Kingswood in last season’s Division 3 Final. Many of the standouts from that team are back, with Gathier an all-state first-team selection in 2013, McKenzie a second-teamer and Mastaw an honorable mention. The lone losses were to Houghton (avenged in the Quarterfinal) and No. 3 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, and the Blue Devils also posted impressive ties against Division 1 No. 10 Plymouth and No. 3 Birmingham Brother Rice.
PHOTO: Sault Ste. Marie's Will Gauthier is among standouts back for Sault Ste. Marie as it pursues its first MHSAA hockey championship since 1989.
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Brighton Trip North Always Unforgettable
January 22, 2018
By Tim Robinson
Special for Second Half
It starts before dawn on a chilly Thursday in Brighton.
Cases of water and sports drinks, a bucket of pucks, water bottles, 20 hockey bags, five dozen or so sticks, luggage for players, parents, coaches and others, bags of oranges and apples – all are loaded in the belly of a chartered bus.
On the bus, computers are temporarily stowed away. Blankets, pillows, school books and a couple of coolers full of bottled water and sports drinks and another bag of nutritious snacks are loaded in the front seats for consumption on the 540-mile drive to Houghton.
The bus leaves at 7:45 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 4, bound for Michigan’s Copper Country and returning Jan. 7. It’s a trip Brighton hockey teams have been making since the 2002 season.
THURSDAY
Hockey teams like to refer to themselves as family, but it was more traditional family ties that led to Brighton making the trips north in the first place.
Pete Sturos, who had three sons who played for Brighton at various times, went to coach Paul Moggach and asked if he had ever considered playing Houghton, Hancock or Calumet.
Moggach did some research and decided to follow up on Sturos’ suggestion in 2002.
The Bulldogs promptly were swept. But the time spent together by the players helped the team to gel that much faster, and the trip became a permanent part of the team’s schedule.
Until last year, Brighton and Novi went up every year, with Novi playing at Calumet on Friday and Brighton on Saturday.
Hancock and Houghton rotated facing the visitors each year until 2017, when Orchard Lake St. Mary was added, pitting three Lower Peninsula powers against the three Upper Peninsula schools.
“It’s been an incredible experience,” Calumet athletic director Sean Jacques said. “The relationship has gone on so long with Brighton and (Bloomfield Hills) Cranbrook and (Detroit) U-D Jesuit. It’s been a great experience and always good hockey, and I think the fans appreciate seeing these top-notch programs on a given weekend.”
Birmingham Brother Rice has made a trip north this season as well, along with Rochester United and Traverse City Central.
The competition during this trip was as high-quality as ever. This week, Brighton is ranked No. 3 in Division 1, while Calumet is No. 3 and Houghton No. 4 in Division 3.
“Any time you get to play a strong team from below the (Mackinac) Bridge, everyone gets excited for that,” Houghton coach Corey Markham said. “We have some great competition with Hancock and Calumet, (but) it’s nice to play other teams and see how we stand with the top of the bunch.”
10:30 a.m.
The bus has stopped at a rest area south of Gaylord and unloads to allow passengers to use the bathroom.
The players, to varying levels of disgruntlement, make a jog of about a quarter-mile in temperatures of five below zero.
“It’s to get them off the bus and doing something, so we don’t sit on the bus and vegetate,” Moggach said. “It’s easier riding in a bus than a car, but it’s still a long trip. We’re coming off the Christmas break, and some of these guys didn’t have a lot of activity during the break.”
12:30 p.m.
The bus stops at the Cut River Inn, located in Epoufette along US-2 between St. Ignace and Engadine, and it marks the halfway point of the bus ride.
The itinerary has evolved over the years. The team used to stop in St. Ignace, and players were able to go to whichever fast food restaurant they preferred.
That ended when the team began to emphasize nutrition as part of its off-ice regimen. Players resisted at first, until the results were too obvious to overlook.
Moggach, a Northern Michigan University grad who vacations near Marquette each summer, put the restaurant on the itinerary about a decade ago. The first year there, a player offered this in prayer: “Lord, we thank you for this food, which I’ve been told is pretty good. ...”
Up to this point, the bus has made good time in sunny if cold weather.
Shortly after returning to the road, snow blows in from Lake Superior, covering the roads. The bus maintains a steady pace, winding its way on M-28 through Munising, where what appears to be a group of students is playing on the ice a few yards out from Munising High School. It’s a first glimpse of Lake Superior.
3 p.m.
Another stop, optional for non-players, mandatory for players, to stretch their legs along a section of old M-28 between Munising and Marquette.
Assistant coach Kurt Kivisto and his family, including his wife and two preschoolers, bound off the bus while Moggach keeps up with them.
The players take their time, with numerous snowball fights, added whooping and hollering.
One year, about a decade ago, the bus was covered in Pistons logos, with pictures of Allen Iverson, et al, on the side. When it stopped to discharge its passengers, some residents came out, wondering if it was a Pistons team bus that had taken a few wrong turns.
“The walk (along) Lake Superior is a hidden gem to me,” Moggach said. “I vacation there and I know that spot. Maybe I’m sharing with them the love I have for Lake Superior and the Upper Peninsula.”
Moggach claims the walk is about three-quarters of a mile, and smiles a Cheshire Cat-like grin when a reporter challenges the claim, believing it’s longer. A subsequent Internet search finds no evidence one way or the other, but one conclusion is unassailable: It’s still cold.
6 p.m.
The bus arrives at the hotel in Houghton. Passengers unpack the bus, get settled in their rooms, and the players and a few others get back onto the bus for a skate at the MacInnes Student Events Center on the Michigan Tech campus.
“We’ve been doing this 2-3 years,” Moggach said. “It gets them off the bus with something to do. I think it’s an important start for when they get up there. These guys are hockey players. They love to skate. This is what they love to do. We get off the bus, (skate) and have pizza afterward. Those are two things they love and are rewarded with.”
While on the bus, the players did some studying, worked on a Brighton history quiz administered by Kivisto, and watched a movie on the DVD player.
In the early years of the trip, some Brighton teachers objected to student-athletes missing two days of school, but the team’s grade-point average, which is around 3.10, never suffered for it, and the objections faded away.
“There’s a player here or there who isn’t as academically gifted as others,” Moggach said. “But you want them to understand and be around those who put a lot into it and expect a lot from themselves. I think that experience, too, while understated, is really big, that they see how these other kids study. On a day-to-day basis, they come to practice, they do their off-ice conditioning, they go home and have dinner, they study by themselves. In this environment, they see others doing the same thing.”
FRIDAY
At 9 a.m., the team and several parents climb into the bus for the trip to the Calumet Colosseum, the second-oldest operating hockey arena in the U.S.
And it’s cold. Cold enough to where drops of water freeze as they run down your coat.
One of the team managers abandons all pretenses and wraps a blanket around her so tightly only her left eye is visible.
The Bulldogs will play in another icebox, the Dee Stadium, later that night when they take on Houghton.
“I think they’re two of the neatest rinks, with tradition and history, in high school hockey,” Kivisto said. “It’s a good experience for our guys to go into these rinks, these barns, to go against these teams that have been around a lot longer than the Brighton High School hockey program has. Hopefully someday in the future we’ll have the history these guys have up here. It’s a neat experience that a lot of high school programs don’t get to see on a year-to-year basis.”
11 a.m.
The skate lasts an hour, with a lunch served in a meeting room at the rink.
At the same time, parents are curling at the nearby Copper Country Curling Club’s rink in what is called The Drill House.
The building, which is more than 130 years old, once manufactured and maintained drills used in nearby copper mines. It’s drafty, like a barn, and except for an interior room built two years ago, is unheated.
Curling was added to the itinerary in 2011, when a parent spotted a sign and went to investigate. Such are traditions born.
The parents compete while the players skate, then adjourn to a nearby tavern while the players get their competition in.
In years past, long explanations of curling and its rules preceded the competition. These days, it’s a shorter explanation of dos and don’ts, and they let the players have at it.
“They aren’t listening anyway,” one of the CCCC representatives says with a smile.
No one is the worse for wear, and the bus returns them to the hotel.
“I think it’s especially good for the new guys,” Moggach said of the curling competition. “It gets them bonding again and having some activity, so it all fits.”
2 p.m.
The team has a study hall for a short time, and the players are then excused for a little down time.
“The change we’ve made this year is more nap time,” Moggach said. “This trip takes a lot out of you. It’s 10 hours on the bus with the walk and the run and the skate on Thursday night, and that’s before anything really starts. I’m learning, and by watching them I believe they need more rest and sleep.”
5 p.m.
After a pregame meal, the bus takes the team to the Dee Stadium, which was built on the site of the first professional hockey game in America played more than a century ago.
Before the game, bus driver Phil Haag drew a round of applause after he announced his daughter had given birth to his first grandchild.
While the players on their respective teams warm up, Moggach, Kivisto and Markham catch up, talking about their seasons and their outlooks for the second half of the season.
Markham is enthusiastic about having Brighton on his schedule.
“It means a lot to us,” he said. “To play an opponent the caliber of Brighton does nothing but help as we get ready for the second half of the season and for playoff time. You can’t say enough about how great a job Paul and Kurt do with the program they have. The state championships they’ve won states that. For us, we can’t ask for anything more than to play such a quality team on our home rink. It helps our program and helps our players get better.”
For Brighton, it’s a chance to get back on track. The team ended 2017 with a four-game winless streak, losing the last three and scoring only one goal over those three games.
There’s an adage Moggach endorses that says scoring is contagious.
“I would like to see that happen,” he said. “I don’t care how it goes in. Just get it into the back of the net.”
Moggach, who usually wears a sports jacket, has on a thermal jacket for the game.
“But I do have a tie on,” he says, laughing.
After a scoreless first period, sophomore Will Jentz scores twice in the first period for Brighton, which goes on to a 5-1 win.
“It feels good,’ he said. “Our power play hadn’t been that good. We’d scored one goal in the last three games. It felt good to get five tonight.”
“It was huge to get our confidence back as an offensive unit,” senior captain Sam Brennan added.
It had snowed all day, and the traffic had helped pack it, making the roads slick.
That complicated things for Haag, who made progress up the hill from downtown Houghton to the hotel, only to have the bus slow to a stop.
After sitting for a few minutes, a Houghton County sand truck pulled up in front of the bus. Both vehicles backed up a short ways, then moved forward, and the traction provided by the sand was enough to get the bus going again, to another round of applause.
SATURDAY
11 a.m.
After breakfast and a study hall, the team gets back onto the bus for a morning skate at Michigan Tech.
But after about 20 minutes, all but two of the players are sent off the ice to help conserve energy,
“The thing is, they would have loved to stay out there,” Moggach said. “They would have stayed out there for two hours if we had two hours’ ice. But we had 50 minutes, and it’s pulling them back, so they get a taste of it. They got through a couple of things, and that’s all we needed.”
The two players who remained on the ice were goalie Cade Groman and forward Noah Stanko, who are sitting out the first semester due to the transfer rule. Kivisto stays with them on the ice and puts them through a workout.
“Kurt loves to compete himself,” Moggach said. “And he loves to let them compete, so he had them out there a good 15-20 minutes. They really worked hard. We have a goalie and a forward, and it worked out perfectly.”
After returning to the hotel, lunch was served and the team had another study/nap break.
The Bulldogs take their meals in a conference room at the hotel. They are coordinated, this year, by Mary Erkkila, whose son Tim is a defenseman on the team.
“I can’t give enough thanks to Mary Erkkila and her husband, Dave,” said Christa White, president of Brighton’s Blue Line Club, the organization in charge of the trip. ‘They have made our lives so much easier. They have family up here, and they know what food to order. It’s fabulous food. It’s hot. It’s ready, and it’s very enjoyable.”
It also disappears quickly, and leftovers are usually distributed to Brighton students, most of them former hockey players, who are studying at Michigan Tech.
4:45 p.m.
After a win the night before, the team is in a relaxed mood.
Everyone is on the bus except Moggach.
He arrives at 4:48, to some ribbing by adults up front. Then a voice pipes up from the back.
“Coach?” the voice asks.
“Yes?” a grinning Moggach says.
“Bus is at 4:45,” the voice replies as players hoot and laugh.
With all aboard, the bus leaves for the Colosseum.
Brighton has played Calumet in all 17 trips it has made to Copper Country.
At first, the reception was a little frosty.
“Jim Crawford was the coach at Calumet for a lot of years,” Moggach said. “When we first went up there, we had no relationship. He was a cantankerous guy, but over time, we developed a relationship. He’s (retired), and the new coaches we have good relationships with.”
The success of the series has helped lure more schools north, which Jacques says has been a boon for the Copper Kings.
“It spices up the schedule quite a bit,” he said. “If you look at it year-to-year, a lot of the teams we see up here are the same teams playing for a state championship on a yearly basis.
“We’re incredibly happy it goes on,” Jacques added. “Every year I dread the phone call that maybe someone’s not coming, but every year teams keep coming back. I think it’s the experience of the trip and the snow and the old building and the tradition. Kids seem to love it, and we sure love having it.”
There also is the family factor.
Bob Erkkila, who has been active in Calumet hockey for decades, has a grandson playing for both teams – Tim, the Brighton defenseman mentioned above, and Sam, a forward for Calumet. Both are juniors who wear No. 8 for their teams.
“Bragging rights to next year; that’s a long time to wait to get back at ’em,” Bob Erkkila said. “So they play hard against each other. They’ve had that rivalry going since they were little kids. They know each other and have grown up together, even though they’re a long ways apart much of the year.”
A bit of wisdom, perhaps gained from past pick-up games in the Keweenaw Peninsula, pays off on this trip.
“Some of the boys were kidding Timmy Erkkila for switching from his bubble (mask) to a cage up here,” Kivisto said. “I think it was a smart move. He’s not getting the condensation, the frost on his mask like some others might. It’s a veteran move by Timmy.”
The Bulldogs never trail in the game, but have to hold off a furious flurry in the final minute when Calumet pulls its goalie for an extra skater. Brighton holds on for a 5-4 win.
10 p.m.
Back at the hotel, a final meal, and several players jump into their swimsuits and hit the pool.
As parents watch from the lobby, some players emerge, head outside with steam pouring off their bodies, and return with giant chunks of snow, to much whooping in the pool.
Moggach has suspended his curfew, sticking to a promise that the players could stay up as long as they wanted.
“It’s so much fun,” Brennan said on the bus ride home. “It’s kind of funny, but I look forward to the night after the second game almost as much as the games themselves. It’s just so much fun.”
The pool party ends when the lights go out a little before midnight.
SUNDAY
6 a.m.
The bus is loaded again for the drive home.
Players, some who were up all night, help pack the bus and then find sleeping spots on the floor.
Before the bus leaves Houghton, it’s mostly silent except for Moggach, who reviews a stat report compiled by team statistician Tom Brennan.
As the team begins its journey, it begins to snow again. Moggach checks with driver Haag, but mostly is lost in his own thoughts.
“There were some nice surprises that we got, and some come-on-you-have-to-pick-it-up kind of things,” he said. “We came in not having won in our last four and we picked up two wins against two good teams. I think there’s a positive energy we’ll take back, which is really good. I take the first 100 miles, before we get to Marquette and the sun comes up, to think about everything.
“I love that time,” he continued. “It’s probably one of my favorite times of the year. I’m not by myself. I’m with people I love, but it’s a time I can reflect on them, on us, and life in general, so it’s a pretty cool time for me.”
A walk back to the restroom on the bus involves navigating a maze of legs and torsos of players sleeping on the floor, requiring care in foot placement reminiscent of the old game “Operation,” where you had to remove the body part without setting off a buzzer. Here, the idea is not to step on anyone.
The snow intensifies east of Marquette, and by the time the team makes a stop for brunch, visibility is about 100 yards.
But Haag, who has made several trips with the team, is up to the challenge.
The snow begins to let up as the bus reaches St. Ignace, and once back in the Lower Peninsula it fades away as passengers sleep, contemplate and read.
Despite the snowy conditions, the bus reaches the Kensington Valley Ice House about 4 p.m., and in the next half hour, the bus is unloaded and participants depart, with a couple of wins under their belts and another unforgettable weekend concluded.
Sam Brennan finished his fourth and final U.P trip.
“It just means I spend more time with the boys,” he said. “It gets more fun every year. This year is more special to me, because I’m a senior and last year I was injured. But every year, it gets more and more fun.”
“When you get 20 athletes together on a trip like this, especially when the parents are along and others like you and our bus driver, it’s all about the life experience that they have,” Moggach said. “I’ve been texting a couple of guys who are alumni of the trip, and they loved this trip. It’s a life experience they’ll never forget.”
Tim Robinson is a longtime radio voice of Livingston County athletics and the former longtime editor of the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus. He currently writes for the Livingston Post and contributes to Second Half.
PHOTOS: (Top) Brighton assistant coach Kurt Kivisto runs his players through drills at the Calumet Colosseum. (2) The bus is loaded full of gear before the sun comes up. (3) Brighton takes in a quick skate at Michigan Tech. (4) The Bulldogs get some competition in against each other on the curling sheet. (5) An adult hockey game finishes up at Dee Stadium before Brighton takes on host Houghton. (6) Bulldogs coach Paul Moggach works with his defensemen at the Colosseum. (7) Brighton players, coaches and managers at the curling rink enjoy a break during their annual trip to Michigan’s Copper Country. (Photos by Tim Robinson.)