Last-Second Goal Sets Off Brother Rice Celebration
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
March 27, 2021
PLYMOUTH – Second chances don't come along very often in hockey, especially in the final seconds of a hard-fought state championship game.
But Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice's Alec Hamady made good on his Saturday, jamming a rebound into the net for the game-winning goal with 6.7 seconds remaining to lift the Warriors to an eventual 2-1 victory at USA Hockey Arena.
The championship was the fourth in Division 2 and fifth overall for the Warriors (15-4).
For Byron Center (17-1), it was a sudden, heart-stopping end to a memorable season.
"There's no way to describe it," Hamady said of winning Saturday after his team's 2020 championship bid was thwarted when the season ended before the Semifinals due to the coronavirus.
The winning goal came as the Warriors were swarming in front of the Byron Center goal.
"I hit (the goalie’s) blocker, and the puck slid back to me," Hamady said. "I hit it backhanded, and it slid under his blocker."
The Bulldogs then pulled goalie Carson McKenzie for an extra attacker during the final seconds, but Brother Rice shot the puck into the Byron Center end with three seconds left and began celebrating.
The first two periods were a defensive battle, led by McKenzie and Brother Rice goaltender Drake Danoo.
The spell was broken when Brother Rice's Carson Moilanen scored on a rebound with 10:56 left in the third.
But the Bulldogs responded immediately when Logan Nickolaus skated in on Danoo, then passed to Mason Breit, who tied the game just 10 seconds after Moilanen's goal.
Brother Rice coach Kenny Chaput, who won his second Finals title, said his team's response was critical.
"We could have collapsed," he said. "We told the kids it was the same game as before and to keep playing. They did a good job of that."
Byron Center was playing in its first Final after it reached the 2020 Division 1 Semifinals before the season ended early.
"We have 10 seniors who built this program from nothing," Byron Center coach Taylor Keyworth said. "I couldn't be more proud of our team. No one's had it tougher than the teams that got cut short last year at the end of the season. We go into this season thinking we had a good team, only to get cut short in November. We finally get a chance to play and our guys stayed positive and stuck with it, banded together and had a fantastic season."
After the game, several Brother Rice players, including Hamady, skated to their Byron Center counterparts.
"I used to play with those kids on the TPH Top 80 team," Hamady said. "I became really close with them. I told them they played an outstanding game, they are amazing players and not to worry. It was a battle."
PHOTOS: Brother Rice celebrates after scoring the eventual winning goal with six seconds to play in Saturday's Division 2 Final at USA Hockey Arena. (Middle) Brother Rice's Alec Hamady and Byron Center's Ryan Pratt line up for a face off. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Dedication Pays Off With Hartland Title
March 10, 2018
Second Half reports
PLYMOUTH — Josh Albring and Jake Behnke didn’t have to keep playing hockey for Hartland High School.
They were certainly good enough to go back to AAA travel programs, but they never bought into the notion that going that route is the only way to move on in the sport.
The reward for their loyalty to Hartland came Saturday when the senior centers led the Eagles to their first MHSAA championship after the program had come close each of the past six seasons.
Behnke scored two goals and Albring one in Hartland’s 4-2 victory over 14-time MHSAA champion Trenton in the Division 2 title game at USA Hockey Arena.
Behnke finished with five goals in Hartland’s two games this weekend at USA Hockey Arena, while Albring had a goal and four assists over the Semifinal and Final.
Albring was the first Hartland player to break free from the pile of players in the championship celebration. He headed for the team bench to exchange hugs with the coaching staff.
“I came here my sophomore year,” Albring said. “I had zero confidence in my game and where I was at. All the coaches on the bench I went and hugged today, they’re the only reason we’re here today and they’re the reason I’ll probably play hockey next year. They changed my love for the game, made it so much more fun, so much more enjoyable and easier to learn, too. Everything goes to them. They’re by far the best coaches I’ve ever had.”
It’s hard to believe a player like Albring lacked confidence, considering he made all-state as a sophomore and junior and likely will make it this season after scoring 10 goals and tallying 42 assists.
“He was the same size as a sophomore,” Hartland coach Rick Gadwa said. “He’s a big boy that’s got some puck skills and can play the hard part of the game. Josh didn’t get worse because he scored less goals this year. That guy decided that, as a player, if I’m going to play at the next level, I’m going to have to change my role. He leads our team in blocked shots; he probably leads the state in blocked shots. He doesn’t lose board battles. He’s going to be a guy who somebody is going to be lucky to have next year.”
Behnke, a second-team all-state pick last season, emerged as one of the top players in Michigan this winter. He finished with 35 goals and 21 assists.
“Jacob Behnke has proved, as well as some other guys, you can play high school hockey and still develop,” Gadwa said. “Jacob Behnke will play junior hockey. He, in my opinion, was the best player in the tournament thus far and will probably finish that way. He’s dominant. To watch where he was his sophomore year, he was always good, to watching him become elite is really a special thing to see. He worked his butt off every offseason and he got better every day from the first day he stepped on the ice.”
Trenton reached its 21st MHSAA championship game by defeating three teams ranked among the top six over five playoff games. The third-ranked Eagles proved to be too much, jumping out to a 4-0 lead after two periods and holding off a late charge by No. 5 Trenton.
“I don’t think anyone gave us much of a shot at the beginning of the year,” Trenton coach Chad Clements said. “To get here, I know all the guys wanted to win, but I was proud of their efforts. They proved a lot of people wrong this year. A couple bad mistakes by us early on, but they never quit battling. I wish it would’ve ended differently.”
Behnke scored the only goal of the first period with 6:58 left when he took a pass from Joey Larson and put a shot up high while falling to the ice.
The biggest period in Hartland hockey history was the second. The Eagles took control of the game by scoring three times in a 7:17 span.
Albring scored with 9:31 left in the period, Behnke scored with Hartland two men short with 3:11 left and Larson made it 4-0 with 2:14 to go.
Nolan Szczepaniak and Brandon Clark had power-play goals to get Trenton within two with 2:05 left in the third period, but the Trojans couldn’t get another puck past Hartland goalie Brett Tome. Tome finished with 27 saves.
“It was hard to battle back,” Clements said. “It just kept getting harder and harder, but they stuck with it. The third period we came out and their goalie played exceptionally well. We just couldn’t get enough past him.”
Trenton allowed only three goals over five playoff games before the Final. Hartland outscored six playoff rivals by a combined 48-4.
PHOTOS: (Top) Hartland players celebrate their first MHSAA championship Saturday at USA Hockey Arena. (Middle) The Eagles push a goal past Trenton into the back of the net.