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.)
Brighton Scores 1st, DCC Scores Rest to Run D1 Title Streak to 3
March 12, 2022
PLYMOUTH — Nick Galda would be the unquestioned No. 1 man in net for most high school hockey teams in Michigan.
So would Bobby Masters.
At Detroit Catholic Central, the senior goalies operate on a time share, alternating starts regardless of the importance of the upcoming game.
Last year, it was Masters whose turn came up when the Shamrocks played in the MHSAA Division 1 championship game.
On Saturday, the rotation worked out so Galda would start in the final game against Brighton.
Galda stopped 17 of 18 shots, as Catholic Central won its third straight MHSAA championship with a 5-1 victory over Brighton at USA Hockey Arena.
Of all the things Shamrocks coach Brandon Kaleniecki stresses about, goaltending isn’t one of them.
“From a coaching standpoint, I didn’t have to overthink at all,” he said. “I just had to say, ‘Hey, this is it.’ Both guys started early last year and we just kind of let them play one and one. We learned really quickly, hey, they’re both really good. I don’t need to get crazy, unless something weird happened where one of them got sick or got injured. That’s the only time we’ve changed the rotation for that.
“Outside of that, it was back and forth and let it go. When we talked about the Semifinals and Finals, the great part about it is neither one of them questioned it. They’re just, ‘OK, Coach.’ They knew the routine, and they were all in.”
Galda played in 14 games this season, going 11-1. Masters played in 17 games, going 13-2.
The two have a working relationship that is mutually beneficial.
“Me and Bob, all we want to do is win and do what’s best for the team,” Galda said. “At the end of the day, as long as we win, that’s all that matters.
“Bob pushes me every day to get better. So, I wouldn’t be where I am today without him at practice pushing me to keep going.”
It was the 16th MHSAA championship for the Shamrocks, but the feeling of winning remains fresh in the program. There are always players who won for the first time or who are ending their careers on the highest possible note.
“The seniors who win a state title and go out on top, it’s an unbelievable feeling for us as coaches to see them go out that way,” Kaleniecki said. “It means so much.”
Brighton opened the scoring on a goal by Cameron Duffany at 3:11 of the second period, but that only seemed to light a fire under the Shamrocks.
They stormed back, getting a goal from Parker Jamieson less than three minutes later. Brian Apple’s goal at 11:52 of the second put the Shamrocks ahead, 2-1, entering the third period.
Catholic Central broke it open with goals by Jack Swamba at 2:11, Justin Hubenschmidt at 4:44 and Landon West at 12:11.
“Our response to it was huge,” Kaleniecki said. “They were playing really well. You’ve got to give them a lot of credit the first half of the game. We had some chances in the first and couldn’t quite find pucks around the net. They had some chances in the first. Maybe the goal was a bit of a wake-up call.”
Brighton came into the game with a 13-game winning streak since losing 2-1 to Division 2 champion Hartland on Jan. 15. The Bulldogs were playing in their first Final since winning back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018.
“We left everything out there,” Brighton coach Kurt Kivisto said. “It’s not like we didn’t try. We competed. We blocked shots. We wore a lot of pucks. The effort was there. They were the better team tonight.”
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Catholic Central celebrates its third-straight Division 1 championship Saturday night. (Middle) Brian Apple scores what ends up being the game-winning goal during the final minutes of the second period. (Click for more for Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)