Highlight Reel: Ice Hockey Finals
March 14, 2015
By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director
This MHSAA hockey season came to a close Saturday with all three championships won by teams from the Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League.
Click below for highlights from all three Finals, with one for each of the six teams that took the ice at Compuware Arena.
Division 1: Detroit Catholic Central 5 Grandville 2
BANG-BANG BULLDOG GOALS – Grandville got both of its goals 14 seconds apart. Jacob Baum on the power play, and Gianni Vitali on a scramble in front of the net closed the CC lead to 3-2.
BUT CC ANSWERS – A power play gave Detroit Catholic Central an opportunity to quell the Grandville rally. Evan Rochowiak scores the first of his two goals a minute after the Bulldogs pulled close.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Division 2: Birmingham Brother Rice 6, Livonia Stevenson 3
STEVENSON TIES IT UP – Livonia Stevenson got two goals two minutes apart in the second period to tie the Division 2 Final at 2-2. Joe Alcantara scores for the Spartans on the deflection.
PYC-ING UP THE REBOUND – Brendan Pyc put Birmingham Brother Rice on top to stay with two power play goals late in the third period. Here he scores his second on a rebound with 40 seconds left.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Division 3: Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood 3, Houghton 0
CRANES LIGHT IT UP QUICKLY – It took less than a minute for Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood to get on the board in the Division 3 Final against Houghton. Mason Schultz goes top shelf on the rebound.
ADASKAVEG ADDS TO THE LEAD – Cole Adaskaveg picks up the second goal for Cranbrook Kingswood with Sean O'Leary getting his second assist of the game on the play.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Shamrocks Complete Long-Awaited Repeat Run
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
March 27, 2021
PLYMOUTH – It took two years, but Detroit Catholic Central finally was able to conclude its repeat hockey championship run Saturday.
The Shamrocks (18-1) did so by beating first-time finalist Rockford 5-1 at USA Hockey Arena.
"This was truly a program win," said coach Brandon Kaleniecki, who led DCC to a title for the third time in his six years as Shamrocks coach. "We found a way through."
He wasn't just blowing smoke. The Catholic Central varsity was sidelined last week due to the coronavirus, but the junior varsity stepped up to the challenge beating Berkley and Troy before the varsity was cleared to return for the Quarterfinal.
The Shamrocks also swallowed the bitterness of the sudden end of last season due to the virus.
"We wanted to win it for last year's seniors," co-captain Brenden Cwiek said.
"I was on the team that won in 2019, and it was the most fun team I ever played on in hockey," co-captain Nick Borchardt said. "This year is like the end of the perfect story."
The ending got off to a good start, with DCC scoring twice on special teams
Brennan Sass got the scoring started with a power-play goal at the 7:43 mark. A little over a minute and a half later, William Shields stole a puck during a Rockford power play and scored a shorthanded goal to make it 2-0.
The Shamrocks scored two more in the second period, by Bret Beale and Ryan Wartuck to make it 4-0. Rockford's Carson Korte scored early in the third period to get the Rams back in range, but Kaden Hemme scored late in the third to put it away.
"I think we got a little too comfortable," Kaleniecki said of Korte's goal. "It was a good reminder of how we need to play.”
Rockford (15-6-1) became only the third school from the west side of the Lower Peninsula to reach the Division 1 Final, following Grandville (2015) and East Kentwood (2005).
"They're deep," Rockford coach C.J Pobur said. "There's not many public schools, if any, that can go four lines deep. We thought that 5-on-5 our group was ready to go, but their execution on special teams was exceptional tonight."
The Rams' run to Plymouth was fueled in part by a core of teammates who grew up playing together. Some of the players have been together nearly a decade. That cohesion, along with the addition of Korte and Owen DeVries this year from travel hockey, lifted Rockford to the best finish in school history.
Rockford and Division 2 runner-up Byron Center represented the west side of the state.
"I think it's a great area,” said Pobur, who like Kaleniecki is a Detroit Catholic Central graduate. "I think there's great hockey over there, but it's just not as big. You don't have as many big players. You might have two or three strong programs (on the west side), but they have 10 or 15 on the east side."
While they didn't get the result they hoped for, the Rams went home with heads held high.
"It wasn't a great result," DeVries said. " I think everyone in our locker room can say we gave it (our) all, and that's really all we ask for."
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Catholic Central celebrates its Division 1 championship Saturday at USA Hockey Arena. (Middle) DCC's Bret Beale (28) and Rockford's Owen DeVries work for possession. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)