Cranes Land 16th MHSAA Finals Win

March 9, 2013

By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half

PLYMOUTH — Sometimes it seems like a given that a hockey player at Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood will win at least one MHSAA championship during his career.

When a program has won nine titles in the last 17 seasons and 16 in the last 35, championships are an expectation for the Cranes.

But it's not always as easy as it may look to outsiders.

Alex Alger took the ice for the final game of his brilliant three-year career with Cranbrook-Kingswood still searching for his first MHSAA championship. He made sure he wouldn't leave the program empty-handed, scoring back-to-back second-period goals in the Cranes' 4-2 victory over Sault Ste. Marie in the Division 3 Final on Saturday at Compuware Arena.

Alger wasn't on the team his freshman year when the Cranes won their last title in 2010. He experienced a 3-1 semifinal loss to Grand Rapids Catholic Central as a sophomore and a 2-1 overtime loss in the regional final to unheralded Marysville as a junior when he made second-team all-state.

"I felt like if we didn't go out on top — you can't say it was a failure, necessarily — but it's just we're always expected to do so well," Alger said. "For me to go three years without a title, I just wouldn't feel comfortable with myself, knowing that with such a strong team we couldn't pull together and make it happen."

Alger not only went out as a champion, but was a standout on a team that is arguably one of the greatest in Cranbrook-Kingswood's rich history.

The Cranes set a school record for victories, finishing 28-2-1. Ten of Cranbrook-Kingswood's previous 15 championship teams lost at least seven games. Only the 1982-83 team (24-2-1) had as few losses, while only the 2006-07 squad (25-4-1) may challenge this one as the greatest in coach Andy Weidenbach's 20-year tenure.

"If it isn't (the best), it's pretty close," Weidenbach said. "I've had two very special teams with really highly skilled players. This is definitely one of our most highly skilled teams."

Sault Ste. Marie gave the Cranes their closest game of the postseason, getting outshot 38-10 in the process. Cranbrook-Kingswood outscored six playoff opponents by a combined score of 47-4.

"At the end of the day, you've got the two best teams in the state here," Sault Ste. Marie coach John Ferroni said. "I've seen most of the D3 teams in the state this year. I feel we're the next-best team.
They're obviously the best team in the state. To be honest with you, I think they're better than Division 2. They obviously can play with the Division 1 teams. They're a wonderful-looking hockey team, just so
poised and mature out there with the puck."

A goal by Austin Alger at 8:11 of the first period and Kevin Shand at 7:23 of the second gave the Cranes a 2-0 lead. Sault Ste. Marie got back in the game at 8:51 of the second on a goal by Alex Teneyck, but
Alex Alger quickly turned the momentum back in Cranbrook-Kingswood's favor with goals at 10:10 and 11:26 to make it a 4-1 game.

Sault Ste. Marie (22-9) added the only goal of the third period when Chase Gamelin scored with 11:26 remaining, but it was the only shot on goal by the Blue Devils during the entire period.

"We had our spurts in the game, but just not enough of them to create offense," Ferroni said. "When you get it close like that, you think maybe we'll get lucky with another shot and score a goal and put some pressure on them, even though the shots on goal were a vast difference. I knew we were going to give up between 30-35 shots. I thought if we could keep the penalties down, that would keep the shots
on goal down. That didn't happen too well for us."

Cranbrook-Kingswood was 1-for-7 on the power play, while Sault Ste. Marie was 0-for-2.

The Cranes have a 16-2 record in MHSAA finals, emerging victorious in their last eight appearances.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS: (Top) Cranbrook-Kingswood senior Billy Young (19) charges up ice during Saturday's Division 3 Final at Compuware Arena. (Middle) The Cranes celebrate their first championship since 2010. (Photos by Andrew Knapik.)

After Waiting His Turn, Goalie Plays Lead Role In Latest DCC Finals Win

March 9, 2024

PLYMOUTH — At any point, Mathieu Chernauckas could have looked for a way out.

As a junior at Detroit Catholic Central, he was still a goaltender on the junior varsity hockey team, separated from the glory that comes with being on the perennial MHSAA championship varsity squad.

There were no guarantees he would ever play on the varsity, let alone see much ice time.

But he kept plugging away, first by making the varsity this winter, then by winning a three-man battle for the starting position.

His patience and determination paid off Saturday night when he stopped all 25 shots he faced in a 2-0 victory over Brighton in the MHSAA Division 1 Final at USA Hockey Arena.

“I just love a story like that, because he didn’t get anything given to him as a freshman,” Catholic Central coach Brandon Kaleniecki said. “He had to wait three years just to have a chance to be on the team. With the world we live in, with the transfer portal and everybody in a rush, he had to bide his time. You love the persistence and you love to see a guy like that get rewarded. The guys loved him. You could see how excited they were for him. That tells me a lot.”

Chernauckas was in a goaltending rotation early in the season with juniors Joe Bedells and Bobby Brandt before seizing the starting job by midseason.

He finished the season with a 21-1 record, a 1.19 goals against average and a .937 save percentage.

The Shamrocks' Cael Rogowski (8) maintains possession despite a challenge from Brighton's Freddie Londo (17).“It was the most fun hockey season of my life,” Chernauckas said. “I couldn’t ask for anything more.

“It was difficult (at first). I wasn’t going to start the first couple games. I got my chance. I took advantage of it, and I went from there.”

It was the fifth-straight MHSAA Finals championship for the Shamrocks and the third in a row defeating Brighton in the title game.

There have been Finals in which it didn’t seem to matter who was between the pipes for Catholic Central, which dominated puck possession more often than not. But this was an even battle against a perennial Division 1 contender, one in which the Shamrocks held a slim 28-25 advantage in shots.

They needed Chernauckas to be strong in net to secure this one.

“The big crowd, the atmosphere, those big guns they have are always dangerous and they created some chances,” Kaleniecki said. “He had to make some big saves. We had to block some shots. We had to gut it out. There’s some years we’ve been in control and have the puck in the offensive zone. That wasn’t the case this year. That’s a lot of credit to them. It was also credit to our guys to kind of have to find a way to win it. It wasn’t just steamroll over an opponent. We had to gut it out.”

Brooks Rogowski leads a DCC rush.The Shamrocks opened the scoring at 10:56 of the first period when Joseph Curtin buried a shot from the top of the right circle on the power play.

It remained 1-0 until Cael Rogowski pounced on a turnover in front of the Brighton net, took a shot, then knocked in his rebound with 13:45 left in the game.

The Shamrocks not only tied their own record of five straight MHSAA championships won from 1999-2003, they extended their streak of victories against in-state competition to 54 and their MHSAA Tournament winning streak to 30 games.

The last team to beat Catholic Central in the postseason was Brighton in the 2018 Semifinals.

Brighton has had the misfortune of running into the Shamrocks during one of their peak dynasty runs.

“Our seniors were unbelievable, not just this year, but their whole careers,” Brighton coach Kurt Kivisto said. “I’m real proud of the work they put in, their leadership, their dedication to the program. I’m just proud of what they accomplished. We didn’t get the state championship today, but it’s just a tremendous group of young men.”

Levi Pennala, who has started the last three Division 1 Finals, made 26 saves for Brighton.

Click for the full box score

PHOTOS (Top) DCC's Mathieu Chernauckas makes a stop during his shutout Saturday. (Middle) The Shamrocks' Cael Rogowski (8) maintains possession despite a challenge from Brighton's Freddie Londo (17). (Below) Brooks Rogowski leads a DCC rush. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)