August 13, 2013
Who's Number 1? The Top 4
The 2012-13 Grand Valley B team was able to do something only one other GV B team was able to do before: win an MCHRL Regional Title. This is not too surprising when you take a look at their roster. The Lakers roster consisted of a slew of Junior and Seniors, including Greg O’Hearn, Eric Moblo, Robby Swain and Matt Figlewicz. Despite a sluggish first half of the season, Grand Valley was able to figure it out and win games down the stretch when they mattered most. They finished with a 6-4-2 regular season but it was a different story during Regionals.
Season Highlight: Leading up to Regionals, predictions were made about who would receive the five “at large” bids for Nationals and Grand Valley was thought to be on the outside looking in. This made a strong performance at Regionals all the more important. Grand Valley entered Regionals with a 0-3-1 record in regular season games against rival Michigan State. They matched up with them in the semi-finals and there was a bit of a role reversal. Grand Valley was able to beat MSU 6-5, but due to the double elimination format, it was a GV vs MSU final. Even though Michigan State came out trying to avenge their loss from earlier, the Lakers defense and goaltending, by Noah Zucker, proved to be too much. They went on to narrowly beat Michigan State 5-6 and went on to win their first Regional title since 2009.
From a wins-loss standpoint, the 2011-12 season was the most successful in Michigan State B history. It was going to be a tall order for last years Spartans to match what they did in 2012. The team was left in good hand as Aaron Boundy took over the team along with a handful of second year players. Besides a tie in the first game of the season, Michigan State finished the regular season with an unblemished 11-0 record. They were also able to make it to the Final 4 at Nationals, matching their best finish at Nationals. They also boasted individual player awards from Boundy, Richard Kobylski and Matt Sobecki including three MCRHL All-Conference, one second team All-America (Boundy) and a first and second team All-Tournament team (Kobylski and Boundy, respectively). That’s a pretty good pedigree and the Spartans had a pretty good season.
Season Highlight: It was another great season for MSU. What’s most impressive is Michigan State’s recruiting and their ability win as many games as they did with lots of new guys. Their overhauled roster was composed of six new guys and six veterans. Usually a roster full of new player means a rebuilding year, but not for Michigan State. As mentioned before, they matched the schools best finish at Nationals and went undefeated in the regular season. They still have a relatively young roster and I expect to see more of the same in the future.
Season Lowlight: The 2012-13 season came to an end and Michigan State walked away with no trophies to show for what was otherwise a solid season. The Spartans were looking to add a fourth consecutive MCRHL B division title but ran into a tough Grand Valley team. Prior to Regionals, Michigan State did not lose a game to Grand Valley since 2010 (regular season or playoff games). But once final buzzer sounded and Regionals concluded, Michigan State lost to Grand Valley twice. In the end, Michigan State had to watch Grand Valley lift the MCRHL B league trophy.
It wasn’t long ago when Miami was the new kid on the block, still getting their feet wet in the MCRHL. The 2012-13 season started with a mix of veterans, rookies and high hopes. It was clear from the beginning of the season, the Redhawks were on a different level than every other Division II team in the MCRHL. A big reason for Miami’s success this year was its dynamic mix of young talent and experienced seniors. Kevin Putnam simply could not be stopped as he scored at a ~4 points per game clip. Ty May not only beefed up Miami’s defense, but also was the playmaker on the team with nearly 2 assists per game. Lead by captains, Paul Hinrichs and Ryan Costello, Miami finished with their best record in school history.
Season Highlight: You don’t have to look far to find Miami’s season highlight. Just look at their regular season. Miami played 15 regular season games and finished with 15 wins. This record was better than any other team in Division II in the nation. Of those 15 wins, 12 games were won by four goals or more. This perfect record crowned them as regular season champs. They train kept on rolling during Regionals. They defeated Western Michigan and Northern Illinois (twice) to go on and win their first MCRHL Regional Championship. With that, could their be a lowlight in the Red Hawk’s season?
We have finally reached the end of our “Who’s Number 1” countdown and the lone team remaining is Michigan State Spartans of Division I. Although they had a level of confidence, there was a bit of uncertainty about the 2012-13 season for the Spartans. Seniors Aaron Rivkin, Alex Gammicchia and Jason Stross inherited a team with a handful of veterans, like Ryan Kish and Zach Paul, but also had a few positions to fill in the offseason. Michigan State was very fortunate to find a diamond in the rough. NCRHA rookie Zach Rourke proved to be an X-factor and ended up being the leading scorer for the Spartans. By seasons end, Michigan State finished with a slew of awards: ranked #2 in the country for the majority of the season, Winterfest Runners-up, MCRHL Division I regular season Champs, MCRHL Regional Champs and NCRHA National Runner-up. There is no doubt that Michigan State had the most successful season of any other MCRHL team.
Season Highlight: The argument can be made being regular season and Regional champs in the best conference in the nation. Being runners-up at National could also be argued as a season highlight. In my mind, Michigan State’s season highlight came in January in a small town just an hour outside of Pittsburgh. After an early loss to eventual National Champ’s Lindenwood, Michigan State got booted into the losers bracket. After that game, Michigan State went on a tear. MSU had to beat teams like West Chester, Bethel, Neumann and Eastern Michigan to get the championship game. There, they matched up with Lindenwood again and played a very exciting game. The game was tied in the third but Lindenwood was able to pull away and win 6-4. Beyond the high caliber teams they beat and nearly winning Winterfest, Michigan State played eight games in two days and the only two games they lost were against Lindenwood.
Season Lowlight: Michigan State did had two losses in the regular season, but that will happen when you play in the MCRHL. The lowlight on the MSU season was their inability to beat Lindenwood. The Spartans had three shots at beating Lindenwood, including the National Championship game, and could not capitalize. Relatively speaking, losing to Lindenwood three times is not a very low “lowlight”. This “lowlight” is more of the only small blemish on what was otherwise an extremely successful season.