2023 White Team MDHL Champion

The 2023 MDHL season came to an end today, with a great championship game between Orange and White.  Putting a cherry on top of their Cinderella run, White came out on top 3-1, riding their hot goaltending and timely scoring to win it all.

White’s Path to the Finals:

White earned their spot in the finals by topping Black 4-2 in their quarterfinal game and by beating Green 5-3 in the semis.

In the quarterfinals, White jumped out to a very quick 2-0 lead, with Catholic Central’s Nolan Galda scoring only 55 seconds into the game, followed by Catholic Central teammate Jackson Hare finding the back of the net a little over a minute and a half later.  Black quickly answered back, with Dewitt’s Chase Potter making the score 2-1 just over three minutes into the game.

From there, both teams’ goalies picked up their games, and the score remained 2-1 until Salem’s Dominic Chaput scored a powerplay goal to give White a two-goal cushion.  Stevenson’s Brendan Sise helped Black close the gap before the end of the second period, scoring with 1:41 remaining in the frame.  The third period was fast paced and back-and-forth, but Black couldn’t solve White’s goaltender despite having a number of grade-A scoring chances.  Trenton’s Jonathan Finn Aitkens helped ice the game for White, scoring at the 11:28 mark to make the score 4-1.  White’s goalies – Cranbrook’s Blake Tice and Trenton’s Noah Miklos – each recorded 17 saves on 18 shots (94% save percentage), and Catholic Central’s Peter Sanin recorded three assists.

In their semifinal matchup with first place Green, White played a tremendous game and their goaltenders both played extremely well again, helping earn a 5-3 victory over the heavily favored number one seed.

Once again, the game was fast-paced from the drop of the puck, with both teams playing with intensity and determination.  Neither team was able to score in the first period, despite a number of chances for each team.  In the second period, the game opened up a bit.  White struck first, with Brighton’s Zack Helminen scoring a gritty goal in front of the net just one minute into the period.  Green made a push and scored the next two goals, with Mattawan’s Brayden Lewis scoring at the 14:49 mark, followed by Grand Rapid Christian’s Joshua Hooper putting one past Miklos at 12:23.  White clawed back to tie the game at 2-2 with a goal by Trenton’s Landon Leone at 9:31.  With just over 6:10 remaining in the period, one of the more bizarre plays in MDHL history took place.  With a delayed penalty called on White, Green’s goalie headed to the bench for the extra attacker when an errant Green pass from White’s zone made its way all the way down the ice and into Green’s net.  White’s goaltender Tice was credited with the goal, making the score 3-2.  Just three minutes later, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Jack Moran made the score 4-2 for White.  Playing an inspired third period, Green gave White everything they could handle, but Tice came up big again and again, only allowing one goal (Meyers’s second) to shut the door on the comeback.  Chaput added an empty-netter with just two seconds remaining to ice the game at 5-3.

Orange’s Path to the Finals:

While Orange had a quarterfinal bye, they had a tough semifinal against the sixth seeded Blue squad, who was coming off a 4-1 quarterfinal win over Red.

It was a tight game all the way, with both teams trading chances along the way.  Orange struck first, when Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Dugan Cretu made a beautiful deflection on a shot from the point, beating Allen Park’s Jack Miller with an impossible to stop shot.  The game remained tied until the 12:46 mark of the second period, when Blue capitalized on a great zone entry where Lakeland’s Timothy Hinkle found Howell’s Joel Eskola in the high slot, where he put the puck past Orange’s Nathan Kelly to knot the game at one apiece. 

In the third period, Orange exploited a lapse in Blue’s defensive zone coverage, with Brighton’s Cameron Duffany finding Stevenson’s Christian Lang open on the left side, where he put the puck past Brighton’s Levi Pennala to make the score 2-1.  Blue wouldn’t go away quietly and fought back to tie the game at the 8:40 mark, when Eskola picked off a breakout pass and beat Catholic Central’s Joe Bedells to make the score 2-2.  Then, with just over a minute remaining in the game, Orange blocked a shot from the point and rushed down the ice, where Stevenson’s Owen Hall eventually beat Pennala on a low shot to put Orange up 3-2.  Duffany appeared to interfere with Pennala on the play, but no penalty was called.  Blue refused to quit and appeared to tie the game with just seconds remaining, but the referees ruled the whistle blew before the puck hit the back of the net.  The game ended 3-2 in Orange’s favor.  It was a disappointing result for Blue, but an exciting and well-earned win for Orange.  Shots ended up in Orange’s favor 34 to 31. 

Championship Game Recap:

In the finals, the first period was scoreless, with each team feeling each other out and trying to avoid making mistakes.  Orange’s Ryan Nickerson (Brighton) and White’s Miklos (Trenton) were both solid in net.

The second period was much more eventful.  Less than a minute into the period, Orange’s Duffany was all alone in front of the net, deked Gull Lake’s Owen Anderson, but couldn’t get the puck over his glove.  Less than a minute later, White’s Reese Hemme (Catholic Central) got behind Orange’s defense in the neutral zone, came in all alone on Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard’s Nathan Kelly, and buried it high glove, putting White up 1-0.  Orange carried the play the next few minutes, generating numerous two on ones and solid scoring chances, but Gull Lake’s Owen Anderson continued making timely saves.  Seven minutes in, White’s Aitkens and Landon Leone (both from Trenton) each had point blank chances that were gloved by Kelly.  Eight minutes into the period Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Jack Moran missed on a breakaway but redeemed himself 30 seconds later when he made a nice pass to a trailing Jacob Hughes (Orchard Lake St. Mary’s), who buried a wrister top shelf to make the score 2-0.  Orange earned a power play shortly thereafter and their top line continued to move the puck well and generate prime scoring chances, but still couldn’t beat Anderson.  Both teams traded chances the remainder of the period, but neither could score, and White went into the third period up 2-0.

Orange came out playing with desperation and peppered White’s Tice, who was up to the challenge for the first four and a half minutes, until Orange’s Robert Leis (Allen Park) put a rebound past him to make the score 2-1.  With just over 10 minutes remaining, Duffany came in and fired a laser that hit the crossbar, and Orange continued to carry the play from there.  While White had a point-blank chance with 3:45 remaining, Bedells came up big again, like he did all season.  Orange pulled their goalie with just over 2 minutes remaining, generating a flurry of scoring chances in front of Tice (a U15 goaltender who was rock solid all season), who turned everything away.  With just over 30 seconds remaining, White cleared the puck to the neutral zone, where Galda took it the rest of the way, scoring an empty netter and sealing the championship victory for White, 3-1.

Congratulations to both teams for providing another great MDHL Championship game and way to go White for coming in as the 5^th seed and winning the whole thing.  With only four wins in the regular season, they strung together three great wins in the playoffs to capture the Championship. 

This is a true testament to the developmental nature of the MDHL, and the reason we exist!

The pace and intensity of the playoff games were awesome to see and made for a really enjoyable weekend of hockey.

Good luck to everyone in the upcoming high school season, and thank you to EVERYONE involved with making this another successful MDHL season!