Traverse City Record-Eagle

Hockey

March 13, 2010

West's memorable hockey run comes to end

Howell blanks TC West, 2-0

BY JAMES COOK

PLYMOUTH -- Traverse City West's stay in Plymouth wasn't as long as the Titans hoped, but their 2010 playoff run was the longest in school history.

The Titans' school-best hockey season ended with a 2-0 Division 1 semifinal loss to Howell at Plymouth's Compuware Sports Arena on Friday.

Howell scored off a second-period West turnover and added another in the third on a fluke goal that bounced off an official's skate with 5:10 remaining.

Howell (23-4-2) moves on to play Detroit Catholic Central in today's state title game.

"Two bad bounces," Titans coach Jeremy Rintala said. "One goes off the referee's skate and on to a guy's stick for an empty net. That's how it is. You need luck in the playoffs, and unfortunately we didn't have any. But our boys worked hard, and I'm so proud of them. They really came together this year and accomplished so much. They came together at the right time of the season and made this a very special run for us. It was such a good group to be on the ride with. These guys set the standard, and hopefully our underclassmen will take that and run with it."

The Titans (17-10-1) lose 14 seniors from this year's 23-player squad that claimed its fourth straight Big North Conference crown, won its first-ever regional title and became just the second Traverse City team to play in the Final Four.

"Just a couple bounces here and there and we could be in the finals," senior forward Cody Stricker said. "We definitely tried our hardest, and I'm happy with how far we came."

"We gave it our all," said senior forward Shane Totten, who set the program's career scoring record in the 3-2 quarterfinal victory over Hudsonville. "We all played great through the playoffs. Honestly, at the beginning of the season none of us probably expected to be in the Final Four, but ... everyone worked so hard to get here and everybody played so well."

With Howell clinging to a 1-0 lead and the two teams trading scoring opportunities -- only to have them snuffed out by both goaltenders -- the Highlanders received the game's biggest break with 5:10 left when West played the puck back along the boards and it deflected off a referee's skate and onto the waiting stick of forward Jake Henrikson. TC West goalie Nate Wilson was moving to the right in case Howell got to the puck before the Titans, but instead it was to his left.

"In this rink, you have to worry about it bouncing off the boards, nonetheless the ref's skate," Wilson said. "(The boards) were very bouncy. I anticipated the puck going around (behind the net) when we shot it around the boards. It happened to hit the ref's skate and went right to their guy. I got a piece of it, but not all of it."

Eric Cosellian put Howell on the board 1:04 into the second, carrying into the zone and faking to the trailing skater before getting around a Wilson poke check and depositing a backhand shot to the glove side for an unassisted score.

Cosellian had almost the exact same opportunity 3:30 later and Wilson was all over it, foregoing the poke check and snuffing out the shot.

The second period featured a much faster pace than the first, with West holding a 12-10 advantage in shots on net. Howell was able to use West's aggression in the corner against them, but the Titans also adjusted and started picking up the trailer on the rush.

"I honestly think they outplayed us in the first period," Howell coach Randy Montrose said. "We cleaned up and played a nice second period."

West had an early 3-0 advantage in shots on goal, as the Titans came out firing, using a fierce forecheck and physical play combined with a dump-and-chase scheme to get the Highlanders out of their possession game.

"Traverse City brought a much better game (this time)," Montrose said. "They brought it to us in the first, and that didn't happen the first time."

Howell pushed back later in the period, ending with a slim 4-3 lead in shots after 15 minutes of play, despite being held to just one puck on net on the period's only power play. Frank Gilbert and Willie Hanrahan each broke up Howell scoring opportunities before they could get to the net.

"Nate Wilson was great for us again," said Rintala, who was an assistant coach on TC Central's 2006 Division 2 state championship team. "He's been hot all during the playoffs. They had some great point-blank chances. We didn't have a ton of defensive breakdowns, but when we did, Nate was there to bail us out."

Senior forward Gabe Hisem returned to play in the third period with a broken leg that has kept him out of the lineup for part of the regular season and all of the Titans' playoff run.

"He wanted to be a part of it," Rintala said. "So he got a couple of shifts there in the third."

West's other injured senior, Mitchell Snider, couldn't play because of a blood clot developed while recovering from a broken leg. Snider was in uniform and announced in West's starting lineup in the pre-game ceremonies.

"It's tough for those seniors," Rintala said. "They want to be part of it so bad. They're good kids and they've earned the right to be here with all the rest of the guys."

The two teams played earlier this season in the opening round of the Marquette Invitational Jan. 8. The Highlanders won that game 3-0 as the Titans spent a good chunk of the game in the penalty box and Howell scored a late empty-netter.

"Up in Marquette, we went up there the same day and we didn't have our legs under us or our best game up there," Stricker said.

Olvin was in net that day as well, making 23 saves. On Friday, he made 21 as the final shot tally was a dead even 21-21.

"We just couldn't get it in the net," Totten said of Howell's 5-foot-10, 195-pound goalie, Zakk Olvin. "We had our chances, but he's a big goalie."

"They popped two on us early," Wilson said of the Jan. 8 matchup. "Then they settled down and let us take penalties and they were in control the whole time. This game, they didn't have control. We gave them one helluva fight."

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