![Houghton captains Sully Rajala (4), Camden Markham (9), Gaborik Carlson (8) and Landon Stevens (13) hold up the John McInnes Memorial Tournament trophy Dec. 28.](/sites/default/files/2023-01/230105_Houghton_2H.jpg)
Houghton Earning Opportunity to Dream Big with 12-0 Season Start
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
January 5, 2023
HOUGHTON — One might be tempted to say the Houghton Gremlins are living the dream this hockey season.
The Gremlins remained undefeated through 12 games, earning a 7-3 victory over neighboring Hancock in the Dec. 28 championship game of the John MacInnes Holiday tournament to finish their calendar year 2022 schedule.
“This is an awesome tournament, and we’re proud to be part of it,” said Houghton coach Corey Markham. “This is something we always end the first half of our season with. It provides a real good atmosphere.”
Houghton is coming off a 15-12 season that ended with an overtime Regional Final loss to Calumet, which went on to reach the Division 3 Semifinals. The Gremlins have downed Calumet twice already this winter, including 8-0 in a Dec. 27 MacInnes opener.
“Our top line is super skilled and fast,” said Markham. “Our depth is really strong for a high school team. We returned our top two scoring lines, and our top four scorers are seniors. They’re physically strong. This is a real strong group. This is my 24th year and I’ve had few teams that could skate as well as this team.”
The MacInnes title contest against Hancock was tied at 3-3 after the first period before the Gremlins added two goals in each of the next two periods.
“Hancock came ready to play,” said Markham. “Our top defensive player was injured, and they took advantage of it. We had kids playing in different positions, which tends to break up your chemistry. We keep coming and score a lot of goals and don’t give up many goals. It’s unusual for us to give up three goals in one period.”
Senior Landon Stevens was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, and senior Camden Markham scored four goals to go with two assists against Hancock.
“This feels really good,” said Stevens. “We played good the whole tournament. Hancock played really good in the first period. We just worked real hard in our defensive zone.”
On Dec. 20, the Gremlins overcame a two-goal deficit after two periods to defeat Calumet 4-2.
“Calumet is young, but has a real good program,” said Camden Markham. “Being down 2-0 was scary, but once we scored our first goal the momentum changed. We ran into a hot goaltender, but found a way to score on him.”
Another highlight took place three days earlier when the Gremlins defeated Division 1 power Hartland 5-1.
“They were the top-ranked team in the state,” said Stevens. “They’re really good. We had never beaten them before, but were excited to play them. They have a super skilled team.”
That victory also gave Corey Markham his 379th coaching victory, breaking the school record of longtime coach Don Miller, who led the program from 1969-76 and 1978-99. Markham is up to 12th in MHSAA hockey coaching history with a record of 382-213-22 since his start with the 1999-2000 season.
Camden Markham, an all-state first-team forward last season, has 20 goals and a team-high 43 points this season. Stevens has scored a team-high 21 goals, with 15 assists, and junior Mike Maillette has 12 goals. Senior Gaborik Carlson, an all-state second-team forward last winter, has 22 assists with seven goals, and junior goalie Bryant Lee is giving up 1.12 goals per game with a .941 save percentage over eight games.
“They (Houghton) have a super team,” said Hancock coach Scott Mikesch. “They’re a real gifted offensive team. They’re well coached and they play hard. They can play any type of game. We had to play everybody tonight just to stay with them. There’s no shame in losing to Houghton. It’s nice to score on a team with that much horsepower.”
The Gremlins are No. 1 in the latest Division 3 rankings and next host Division 1 No. 3 Brighton on Friday at Dee Stadium.
Despite their success, Coach Markham knows the Gremlins still have work to do.
“We have to keep getting better,” he said. “We’re going to get everybody’s best game. They’re going to be coming after us. Hancock has a good defensive team. They tried to slow us down and it worked.”
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTOS (Top) Houghton captains Sully Rajala (4), Camden Markham (9), Gaborik Carlson (8) and Landon Stevens (13) hold up the John McInnes Memorial Tournament trophy Dec. 28. (Middle) This season's Houghton team celebrates with a photo after the historic Hartland win. (Photos courtesy of the Houghton hockey program.)
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'Team 43' Delivers 1st Livonia Title
March 9, 2013
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
PLYMOUTH — Livonia is one of the great hockey communities in Michigan, but had never been home to an MHSAA Finals champion.
Until now.
Livonia Stevenson brought a championship to the birthplace of former NHL star Mike Modano, beating Hartland 5-4 in the Division 2 title game Saturday at Compuware Arena.
Prior to this weekend, Livonia's three hockey-playing schools had combined for only eight regional championships during the 39-year history of the MHSAA tournament and just one semifinal appearance (Stevenson in 1987). It doesn't help that the Livonia schools often encounter some of the state's perennial powerhouses early in the postseason. Stevenson has been eliminated 10 times by Detroit Catholic Central and five times by Trenton in regional play.
"I couldn't be happier for the Stevenson administration, the alumni and the whole Livonia community," fifth-year Stevenson coach David Mitchell said. "We're in the 43rd year of high school hockey in Livonia.
We're the 43rd team in Stevenson history. This is the first chance a Livonia school has had to play in a state final. To get it done, this is not just for Stevenson, but for all of Livonia high school hockey. We've had some great teams and some great kids go through our program. To do it is very special. Hopefully, the whole community can enjoy this."
To win its first championship, Stevenson denied Hartland the same opportunity. The Eagles had won 11 regional titles before this season, reaching the semifinals only twice until playing in their first final on Saturday.
Hartland coach Rick Gadwa praised captains Nick Pleshakov, Justin Bailey and Ned O'Boyle for laying the foundation for Hartland's first march to the championship game.
"These three guys changed Hartland hockey," Gadwa said. "It was their leadership on and off the ice. We put Hartland on the map. That's something that hopefully stays."
Junior Dominic Lutz was the star in Stevenson's historic season, scoring 42 goals with 32 assists in 31 games to easily lead the Spartans in scoring. It was fitting that the 6-foot, 185-pound forward scored the team's biggest goals in the championship game, popping in two in a 2:37 span of the second period to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 advantage. Stevenson never surrendered the lead.
"We've been preaching Team 43," Lutz said. "It's just great to see it all come together in the end. We've got it. It's unbelievable. We're like a family. This is the closest team I've ever played on."
Stevenson senior Travis Harvey, who scored two goals and had two assists in the semifinal on Friday, opened the scoring off a faceoff win at 4:55 of the first period. Hartland junior Austin Flores tied it off a
feed from Chris McRae at 6:26 of the first.
Despite being outplayed in the first period, Hartland found itself on top by a 2-1 count when McRae scored just 54 seconds into the second period.
The pace picked up considerably after that, as the teams combined for five goals during an 8:18 span. Stevenson took the lead for good on two goals by Lutz at 4:30 and 7:07 and Harvey's second goal of the game at
9:10.
O'Boyle brought Hartland within 4-3 at the 9:56 mark, only to have Stevenson regain a two-goal advantage at 12:48 on a goal by Ray Chartier.
"We would rather not play that way," Mitchell said. "We'd rather play a little more defensive and shut things down. These guys, when they see opportunities, they tend to go. We saw a few opportunities and
took some. Give Hartland credit. We were starting to look for goals and they caught us and they turned around and buried some of their own. They played an outstanding game."
"It was just go, go, go," O'Boyle said. "It was incredible emotionally."
Hartland didn't take long to trim the lead once the puck dropped in the third period, making it a 5-4 game on a goal by McRae at the 14-second mark.
The Eagles had eight more shots on net the rest of the game, but couldn't get another puck past Stevenson goalie Connor Humitz. Hartland called timeout with 2:21 left and pulled goalie Nick Wineka in the final minute, but couldn't generate a shot in that time against an aggressive Stevenson forecheck.
"We just want to keep it deep in their zone as much as we can," Lutz said. "Just gain the red line, get it deep and forecheck. We didn't want anything in our zone. We wanted everything down there, just keep
all the pressure off Connor. It seemed like it worked out."
Stevenson finished with a 23-7-1 record, while Hartland ended 19-9-2.
PHOTOS: (Top) Livonia Stevenson players celebrate a goal during Saturday's Division 2 Final in front of their fan section at Compuware Arena. (Middle) Hartland goaltender Nick Wineka makes one of his 35 saves Saturday. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)