John Raffel
Sports Scene
Midland hockey entered the mid-February stretch at 18-5, but coach Jeff Brown was extremely hopeful of going a long way in the post season.
“We’re having a pretty good season,” Brown said. “We’re undefeated in our league [7-0] with two league games to go.”
A major highlight of this season, Brown’s 15th year as coach, was going undefeated in the prestigious Trenton Showcase.
Midland lost in the finals of the 2008 and 2010 Division 2 state hockey tournament. Brown wouldn’t mind seeing his team return to Compuware Arena for the state finals.’”We have the potential of making a pretty good run,” he said. “But we have to get through our crosstown rival [Midland Dow]. If we play a three-period game, one period at a time, we can make a run.”
The two Midland powers play on February 27 at the Midland Civic Arena.
Thomas Nick Mammel and Sam Gannon have been among the leading scorers for Midland. Mammel had the game-winning goal in a 2-1 victory in mid-February against the Bay City Wolves.
Senior Keith Inman has been in net for Midland.
“We’ve had pretty good team speed,” Brown said. “If we can get going, we have quickness coming out of our zone. Our forecheck has been good. We’ve forced some turnovers and have gotten scoring opportunities from that.
“We have put three periods together. We need to be more consistent in doing that. We need to play it period by period.”
Midland’s tradition in hockey has been strong in recent seasons.
“We’ve had a pretty good run since 2008,” Brown noted. “Now, some of the stronger schools want to play us. We’ve played a tough schedule the last few years. But that pays off in the long haul.
In the most recent Division 2 ratings, Brother Rice was first, followed by Trenton, Port Huron Northern, Marquette, Grosse Pointe South, and Midland in sixth.
BAY CITY
The Wolves were 17-3-1 as of mid-February. They lost 2-1 to Midland with Chandler Foco scoring his team’s lone goal.
MIDLAND DOW
Dow, with a 7-8 record, has been led in the net by Derek Stryker with a .878 save percentage, with Conrad Lather leading the team in scoring.
MOUNT PLEASANT
The Oilers are 8-13, but they recently defeated Midland Dow 3-2, despite being outshot 39-14. Nick Conscarelly, Eric DelLorenzo, and Danny Pulver scored for Mount Pleasant and Robert Backus had two assists.
STATE TOURNAMENT
State tournament action begins February 27. Detroit Catholic Central and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s are the favorites in Division 1, Brother Rice and Trenton in Division 2 and Cranbrook-Kingswood and Grand Rapids Catholic Central in Division 3.
Early-round match-ups to watch include Grand Ledge vs. Holt at Kalamazoo in the first round of the regionals. DeWitt goes up against Haslett and Lake Fenton faces Lansing Catholic.
Bay City Central faces Gladwin and Swan Valley meets John Glenn in regional action at Flint. In Division 2 at Midland, Dow faces Midland with the winner meeting Heritage in the finals.
At Ferris, Cadillac takes on Big Rapids, with the winner meeting Mount Pleasant at the finals in Gaylord. Nouvel Catholic Central faces Freeland in a pre-regional at Flint Powers.
The semifinals and finals are March 8-10 at Compuware Arena in Plymouth.