BY DAN STICKRADT
CORRESPONDENT
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
HARTLAND — It wasn’t that long ago when Hartland began to make a name for itself in Michigan’s prep hockey circles.
Now the Eagles are considered a state powerhouse and are knocking on the door of trying to win its first state title.
Hartland is ranked No. 1 in the state in Division 2 this season after deep postseason runs in five of the past six seasons.
The Eagles are an impressive 15-1 on the campaign, outscoring the opposition 102-26 with three shutouts through Jan. 23. A 5-2 victory over Walled Lake Central is the latest impressive victory for Hartland.
After losing its only contest of the season to Howell (2-1) back on Dec. 1, the Eagles gained their measure of revenge on the Highlanders Jan. 6, torching Howell 10-4.
To validate its start, Hartland also has wins over powerhouses Brighton (4-3), Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood (5-3) and Birmingham Brother Rice (3-1), outscoring those three stalwart opponents 12-7 in the process.
Hartland reached the regional finals in 2010 but failed to get back to that point in 2011. Beginning in 2012, the Eagles reached the state quarterfinals before bowing out to Grosse Pointe South (11-6).
The following year in 2013, Hartland advanced al the way to the D-2 finals before stalling out against Livonia Stevenson (4-3) and again finished as the state runner-up in 2014 with a 8-3 loss to powerful Trenton in the title match.
Last season the Eagles won a fourth straight regional championship only to be ousted in the state quarterfinals by Brother Rice 4-3 in a four-overtime thriller.
CATHOLIC CENTRAL STILL ON TOP
There’s no question that Novi Detroit Catholic Central is one of Michigan’s all-time most dominant programs. The Shamrocks have won 10 MHSAA state championships in Class A or Division 1 and an additional four state titles in coaches association state tournaments prior to that.
Dating back to 1979, CC has also captured 19 MHSAA regional championships and finished as the state runner-up four times.
This season, under the direction of new head coach Brandon Kaleniecki, not much has changed for the Shamrocks.
Catholic Central has played a brutally-tough schedule and escaped with a 9-4 record and a No. 1 ranking in Division 1, where the school is the two-time defending state champions and winners of four crowns in seven seasons.
This season the Shamrocks have outscored its foes 52-25 with four shutouts through Jan. 23.
“Overall I have been pleased,” admitted Kaleniecki. “We have a really nice core of seniors that have led the way and we have played well in most games. We do have some areas where I’d like to see us improve. We’ve had a couple of bad periods in a couple of games. But we’ll learn from it. We are building towards the (state tournament).”
The Shamrocks have already defeated Orchard Lake St. Mary’s twice this winter with quality wins over Trenton, Birmingham Brother Rice, Port Huron Northern (twice), Brighton, Rochester United and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood.
CC has two losses at the hands of Toronto (Ont.) St. Andrews, along with two in-state losses to Brother Rice and Detroit U-D Jesuit, a pair of state-ranked teams.
Senior forwards Nick Macari, Joe Mancinelli and Brian Kerns have led the attack. Senior goaltender Alec Calvaruso and senior defensemen Luc Krasicky and Brendan Cleary have been solid on the defensive side.
A trio of sophomores, Brendan West, Jared Lee and Kam Ottenbreit are a trio of fast-rising prospects and the future of the program.
“This program has a lot of success over the years and always has high expectations,” said Kaleniecki, who carries 16 seniors on a roster of 22. “I played at CC and graduated from there (2000). I understand the expectations. I’m sure we would love to make another run this season, but we have a ways to go. We must continue to work hard and continue to improve. It’s a long season.”
WALLED LAKE CENTRAL RISING
When Gary Quitiquit gained the reigns of Walled Lake Central’s hockey program some 2.5 years ago, the Vikings were a mess.
“They were 5-21 the year before I got here,” noted Quitiquit. “I saw some good things my first year and we were 12-12-2, a major step up. The one thing we didn’t have before was commitment. Not only from the players, but from parents and the boosters. It takes a lot from a lot of people to build a successful program. I think with the help of our parents now and the backing and assistance from the boosters, we are headed in the right direction.”
Walled Lake Central is a respective 11-3-0 through Feb. 21. A 6-0 record in the KLAA North Division puts the Vikings in the title race with White Lake Lakeland (7-2) and places high hopes of a rare division championship for a program that hasn’t enjoyed much success in recent years.
“That would be a nice (benchmark), winning the division,” said Quitiquit, who previously coached the club team at the University of Michigan. “That is something to shoot for. Overall, we are getting better. We are (light years) ahead of where we were a couple of years ago.”
Senior newcomer Ian Smith has made a impact after not playing as a junior. Senior defenseman Nick Wood and senior forwards Cam Stevenson and Ryan Kalis, a fourth-year varsity veteran, have also been steady for the Vikings.
Back on defense, seniors Brandon Joyner, Jackson Esterline and Nick Pfautelf have become rock solid, while senior Jake Butler has showed flashes between the pipes as the team’s top goaltender.
On a team of 12 seniors, juniors Dylan Richards and Ryan Sutcliffe and sophomore Noah Luff, all forwards, have stepped into the rotation and provided plenty of depth and hope for the future.
“We have a nice group of seniors, guys that have stepped up and become leaders. You need that from your seniors in order to be successful,” said Quitiquit. “We have some good underclassmen (climbing the ranks) that have helped us out.”
So far the Vikings have more than doubled up the opposition with a 70-30 scoring edge and that includes four shutouts.
Two of the three losses have come against top-five teams — Hartland, No.1 in Division 2 and Chelsea, No. 5 in Division 3 — while Walled Lake Central has quality non-league victory over Farmington.
“We haven;t beaten any big-time programs yet, but that will come in time as we continue to build up our program,” added Quitiquit. “I can;t say enough about everybody involved so far. The players are committed, the parents are supportive and so are the boosters. We are all working together to make this a respected hockey program.”