Manning Up for Brother Rice Title Run
March 14, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
PLYMOUTH — For Matt Manning, there were no hard feelings.
From his standpoint, it was a clean hockey play, even though a penalty was called on his opponent.
He just happened to be on the wrong end of a devastating hit that nearly deprived him of his senior season at Birmingham Brother Rice and the opportunity to lead his team to an MHSAA championship.
In a scrimmage on Nov. 17, two days before the season opener against Livonia Stevenson, Manning was forechecking on a penalty kill when he got the puck and slipped it behind a defender. With his head down as he was chasing the puck, Manning never saw what was coming.
"This kid just came from my blind side," the 5-foot-6 Manning recalls. "He got me in the right spot. He was a lot bigger than me. He won that battle."
But Manning and his teammates were the ultimate winners Saturday. He was in the stands as a freshman when Brother Rice won its last MHSAA title, in 2012, but was a key reason why the Warriors won their fourth with a 6-3 victory over Livonia Stevenson at Compuware Ice Arena.
Manning didn't immediately realize he was injured back in November, but he felt sharp pain when he tried to move his left arm on his way back to the bench. His left collarbone had been broken in half, an injury that required a plate and seven screws to repair.
Manning experienced some dark days in the immediate aftermath of the injury.
"It killed my confidence, basically, because we were just starting the season," he said. "We hadn't played our first game. It was the first scrimmage, the third shift. I was getting down about it. After that, and getting through the therapy, realizing it was going to get better with all the sessions we had, it just got much better a lot quicker."
Manning was back in the lineup on Jan. 7, adding a high-end talent to a team already ranked No. 1 in Division 2.
Manning had only one assist Saturday, but makes an impact as a tenacious, high-energy forechecker that isn't always quantified on the scoresheet. Stevenson coach David Mitchell agreed that Manning's presence was a huge plus for Brother Rice, which beat Stevenson 4-3 in the teams' season opener on Nov. 19 in Livonia.
"You saw some things around the net today where he made plays that were special hockey plays," Mitchell said. "It's tough playing an opponent like him, but I'm thrilled he's in high school hockey and he's helping high school hockey grow. Having a player like that in our game makes our game better and makes the level of competition better for everybody and more enjoyable for people to watch."
Brother Rice coach Lou Schmidt, in his 12th year with the Warriors, said Manning's comeback from a major injury was remarkable.
"I've never in my years seen anybody come back like he did," Schmidt said. "Usually, there's this very cautionary period where you don't want to get hit. He started skating five weeks after the injury; you never would've known he was out. He was a huge addition to our team. He made us deeper, he made us better."
Brother Rice wouldn't have had the opportunity to play for the title on Saturday had Manning not scored on a backhander 25 seconds into the fourth overtime to give the Warriors a 4-3 victory over Hartland in the Quarterfinals on Tuesday. It was one of two one-goal victories for the Warriors on their march to the championship.
Although Brother Rice won by three goals, the Warriors found themselves in another tough battle against a Stevenson team that was two years removed from an MHSAA championship.
Brother Rice dominated the early going, outshooting Stevenson 10-2 in the first period and taking a 2-0 lead just 53 seconds into the second period on a goal by Joey Vassallo.
The Warriors swarmed the Spartans' net after that in search of a knockout blow, only to be thwarted by junior goalie Cullen Barber.
After going without a shot on its first two power plays, Stevenson injected some life into the building when Alex Allen scored on the power play at 8:41 of the second period. The Spartans quickly tied it when Joe Alcantara scored at the 10:36 mark.
"I'm so proud of our guys," Mitchell said. "I think everybody saw it had the potential to get away when it was 2-0 and they were still carrying the play. But like we did all year, we answered back and made a game of it, which was great not only for us, but for the game of high school hockey. That second period was exciting. It's good that it was a good, solid hockey game that I hope did high school hockey proud."
Brother Rice regrouped and regained its two-goal lead on goals by Brendan Pyc at the 12:58 and 16:19 marks of the second.
"It was a big momentum shift when they scored their first one," said Brother Rice senior Nick Rosa, the only player remaining from the 2012 championship team. "When they got the second one, we knew we had to get the next one; that was big."
Stevenson got back within striking distance when Vince Glenn scored on the power play 44 seconds into the third period. Rosa's team-leading 25th goal of the year with 8:58 remaining in the game re-established Brother Rice's two-goal cushion.
Stevenson failed to click on two late power plays before the Warriors put an exclamation point on the championship with an empty-net goal by Jack Dansbury with 20.3 seconds to go.
"It's the longest journey ever," Rosa said. "Nine months ago, we started working out in the summer five days a week. We never stopped. This was our ultimate goal. We achieved it. Every day we came to practice and tried our best. I'm really proud of the boys."
Brother Rice was 3 for 4 on the power play, while Stevenson was 2 for 6.
"It was a special teams kind of day," Schmidt said. "We played well when we had to. We made it interesting there in the second — maybe for the fans, but not so much for the coaches."
PHOTOS: (Top) Brother Rice celebrates one of six goals Saturday against Livonia Stevenson. (Middle) Stevenson’s Nate Sudek drives into the Warriors’ zone during the Division 2 Final. (Photos by Andrew Knapik/Southgate).
Hancock Finishes Long Trip on Top of D3
March 12, 2016
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
PLYMOUTH — The stage was big, the lights were bright, but no bigger or brighter for Hancock freshman Alex Nordstrom than for his older teammates.
Many of Hancock's players weren't born the last time the Bulldogs skated in an MHSAA championship hockey game back in 2000.
So, competing for the Division 3 title on Saturday was a foreign experience for all of the Bulldogs, from the oldest to the youngest.
Nordstrom certainly didn't perform like a nervous freshman, following up his Semifinal overtime heroics by scoring two goals in Hancock's 4-2 victory over Grand Rapids Catholic Central before 1,154 fans at USA Hockey Arena.
Pressure? What pressure?
In Hancock's biggest games, Nordstrom produced with the poise of a veteran. He had two goals and one assist in a 5-2 Quarterfinal victory over Sault Ste. Marie, scored the overtime winner in the Semifinal against Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, then had another two-goal, one-assist performance in the title game.
"I kind of just focused and told my brain it's another game," Nordstrom said. "Just go out there and do what I do; just play."
In 30 games, he tallied 33 goals and 26 assists to finish second in team scoring to sophomore linemate Teddy Rendell.
"He was a key part of this puzzle," Hancock coach Dan Rouleau said of Nordstrom. "The kid was our second-leading scorer this year. He had great chemistry with a sophomore on his line. The kids were our top two scorers this year. It bodes well for the future of this team."
So, maybe Hancock won't have to wait 17 years for its next MHSAA championship. Although the Bulldogs have had a strong program for decades, their only title came in 1999 when they beat Big Rapids, 7-3, in the Class B Final. They lost to Cranbrook in the 2000 title game.
The team's goaltender, Dawson Kero, is only a sophomore. Kero made 20 saves.
The Bulldogs (24-6) won the championship not only for their own school, but for the Upper Peninsula as a whole. U.P. teams had gone 0-5 in MHSAA Finals since Marquette (Division 1) and Calumet (Division 3) won titles in 2008.
"Usually when a team from the U.P. comes down, you have the whole Upper Peninsula-backing mentality up there," Rouleau said. "It's really cool. We're a little isolated up there, but we've got some good hockey players up there, I'll tell you that."
Even bitter rivals become supporters when U.P. pride is at stake downstate.
"There might be a couple kids or parents who do not, but I think we got about 95 percent who are backing us," Rouleau said.
It looked like Hancock would run the Cougars out of the rink after one period, as the Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-0 lead and had a 17-8 advantage in shots on goal.
Jack Fenton scored at 7:17 of the first period to open the scoring, then Nordstrom made it 2-0 at 10:05.
A potential back-breaker came with 18.2 seconds left in the period when Danny Hill buried a two-on-one pass from Nordstrom for a shorthanded goal to make it 3-0.
"Obviously, in any hockey game you want to get out to the quick start," Rouleau said. "That was our game plan for here today. To get a three-goal lead was huge, because it turned out to be the difference."
But the Cougars weren't at or near the top of the rankings all season because they're pushovers. They got on the board at 8:41 of the second period when a shot by Ethan Tellier made it under the crossbar. Catholic Central cut the lead to 3-2 on Chase Madden's power-play goal at 12:24 of the second.
Despite being outshot 30-16 through two periods, the Cougars were back in the game.
"Obviously, a disappointing start for us," Catholic Central coach Mike Slobodnik said. "We got overwhelmed. A lot of credit goes to them. They just really came out and pressed. We didn't have the start we wanted, being down 3-0. We came in between the first and second period and talked about how we've got to be better than that. We didn't change anything. We didn't feel it was a system thing. We had to work harder. We had to be better in certain areas of the ice. In the second period, we did that. We lost to a great hockey team, too, that's for sure."
The Cougars stayed in the game throughout the third period, thanks to some stellar netminding from junior Jacob McClelland.
With Hancock trying to get a two-goal cushion, McClelland made three saves in a row while playing without a stick with just under five minutes remaining. McClelland finished with 37 saves.
"He was great," Slobodnik said. "Jacob's a great goaltender. He's a great kid. He has over a four-point GPA. He's one of those guys on our team who understands the core values of what it means to be a Catholic Central hockey player."
Hancock's biggest scare came with 7:58 left in the game when Kero made a save and ended up on his back, not appearing to know the location of the puck. After the Cougars got a whack or two trying to get the puck loose, the whistle stopped play.
The Bulldogs could breathe a little easier after Nordstrom took a pass from Rendell and scored into an empty net with 57.4 seconds remaining. Even then, some of the Hancock players weren't taking anything for granted.
"Me and Jack (Fenton) and Danny (Hill) try to pound into the younger kids' heads that we have to keep going hard, not ever giving up," Hancock senior captain Dylan Paavola said. "That's when comebacks happen. We don't want any of that, because we haven't won a state championship. We didn't want to screw this one up, I guess you could say. I could say I felt comfortable with 3.6 seconds left."
Hancock players praised their fans, many of whom got on a bus in the middle of the night to make the nine-hour trek to Plymouth for the championship game.
"It's nice to bring back a state championship for all these fans," Nordstrom said. "They drove down today at 3 in the morning to come watch us. It's nice to bring back a state championship for them."
A Go Fund Me page to help pay for Hancock's trip to Plymouth raised $6,620 from 99 donors in two days.
"It's awesome to see the support of the whole community," Fenton said. "Not just the school, but you see people from all over the country supporting us, alumni coming together and supporting us in our run to achieve this goal, the one goal everyone has to get this state championship."
PHOTOS: (Top) Hancock players begin to celebrate during Saturday’s Division 3 championship victory. (Middle) Grand Rapids Catholic Central’s Andrew Holland (5) works to keep control of the puck in front of a Hancock pursuer. (Click for more from Andrew Knapik.)