D2 Preview: 2019 Final 4 Back for More

March 11, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Last year, we previewed the Division 2 Semifinal bracket by discussing the contenders’ familiarity with each other as three of four teams returned from the season before.

This year, the only change is that they probably know each other even better.

Reigning champion Hartland, runner-up Trenton and 2019 semifinalists Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice and Marquette all will be back at USA Hockey Arena again this weekend, with Hartland and Trenton actually having faced off for the past two Division 2 championships – both won by the Eagles. This time, they’ll see each other in a Semifinal on Thursday.

This weekend’s pairings are as follows:

Division 2 – Thursday
Hartland (19-6-2) vs Trenton (22-6-1), 5 p.m.
Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice (21-6-2) vs. Marquette (24-4), 7:30 p.m. 

FINALS – Saturday
Division 2 - 11 a.m. 

All Semifinals and Finals will be viewable live per subscription basis on MHSAA.tv, with live audio available on MHSAANetwork.com. Click for a full schedule of this weekend's games plus full results as they come in.

BIRMINGHAM BROTHER RICE
Record/rank: 21-6-2, No. 2
Championship history: Five MHSAA titles (most recent 2017), two runner-up finishes.
Coach: Kenny Chaput, fourth season (76-30-8) 
League finish: First in Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League North.
Best wins: 9-1 over No. 7 Lake Orion in Regional Final, 6-1 over No. 10 Plymouth, 3-0 over No. 3 Trenton, 4-2 over No. 4 Hartland, 4-2 over Division 1 No. 3 Brighton, 5-2 and 2-1 over Division 1 No. 1 Detroit Catholic Central, 3-1 and 7-3 over Division 1 No. 6 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s.
Players to watch: Nick Marone, sr. F (32 goals, 16 assists); DJ Dixon, sr. F (18 goals, 32 assists); Ryan Murphy, sr. F (22 goals, 36 assists); Nick Dippre, sr. D (6 goals, 16 assists).
Outlook: This will be Brother Rice’s fourth-straight Semifinals, and the Warriors are looking to break through for their first championship game appearance since winning the 2017 title. Talented veterans are showing the way, including Marone, a first-team all-stater last season, and Dixon after making the all-state second team in 2019. They are only two of a variety of scoring threats, including senior Dylan McNulty (10 goals, 10 assists) and junior Max Brown (10, 17) among 12 players total with 15 or more points. If Rice can get past Marquette in the Semifinal, it beat both of the teams it could see in the championship game during the regular season.

HARTLAND
Record/rank: 19-6-2, No. 4
Championship history: Division 2 champion 2018 and 2019, runner-up 2013 and 2014. 
Coach: Rick Gadwa, ninth season (188-59-12) 
League finish: Second in Kensington Lakes Activities Association West.
Best wins: 6-3 over No. 10 Plymouth, 4-3 over No. 9 Canton, 4-2 over Division 1 No. 7 Howell, 5-1 over Division 1 No. 6 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s.
Players to watch: Andrew Larson, jr. F (14 goals, 8 assists); Dakota Kott, sr. D (10 goals, 17 assists), Adam Pietila, jr. F (22 goals, 17 assists); Kieran Carlile, sr. F (9 goals, 22 assists).
Outlook: The path to a possible third-straight championship has seen Hartland outscore its four postseason opponents by a combined 24-5, with a 3-2 Regional Final win over Davison the only game decided by a goal. The Eagles graduated some serious star power after last season’s title, but opened this winter with six straight wins and also have defeated four of the top six ranked teams in Division 3. Kott earned an all-state honorable mention last season.  

MARQUETTE
Record/rank: 24-4, No. 5
Championship history: Five MHSAA titles (most recent 2008), two runner-up finishes. 
Coach: Doug Garrow, seventh season (125-56-12) 
League finish: Third in Great Lakes Hockey Conference.
Best wins: 5-2 over No. 6 Traverse City Central in Quarterfinal, 7-1 over No. 7 Lake Orion, 4-2 over No. 9 Canton, 4-0 over Division 3 No. 1 Calumet.
Players to watch: Gaetanno Cammarata, sr. F (17 goals, 19 assists); Cooper Anderson, sr. F (13 goals, 16 assists); Dylan Baldwin, jr. F (13 goals, 14 assists); Jakob Peterson, sr. D (12 goals, 25 assists).
Outlook: Marquette is enjoying its winningest season under Garrow, which has included its third Regional title under his leadership and now second-straight trip to the Semifinals. The Redmen have won 14 of their last 15 games, their lone defeat during that time to Hancock before coming back to then finish the regular season with a 3-1 win over Division 3 No. 6 Houghton. Cammarata earned all-state honorable mention last season and is the leading scorer of seven with double-digit goals. In addition to those mentioned above, junior Ansel Frost has 10 goals (and 19 assists), junior Evan Kroll has scored 13 and sophomore Cole Ranta has 11. Goaltenders Liam Beerman, a freshman, and junior Brennan Hakkola have split time nearly evenly in net and posted a combined 1.44 goals-against average.

TRENTON
Record/rank: 22-6-1, No. 3
Championship history: Fourteen MHSAA titles (most recent 2014), eight runner-up finishes. 
Coach: Chad Clements, sixth season (113-54-7) 
League finishes: Third in MIHL South, first in Downriver League.
Best wins: 5-1 over No. 1 Livonia Stevenson in Quarterfinal, 4-2 over Division 1 No. 6 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, 3-2 and 2-0 over Division 3 No. 2 Grosse Pointe South.
Players to watch: Joey Cormier, sr. G (1.66 goals-against average, .941 save %); Nick Millhorn, sr. F (18 goals, 13 assists); Hunter Allen, jr. F (16 goals, 25 assists); Ethan Holt, sr. F (20 goals, 19 assists).
Outlook: After back-to-back runner-up finishes, Trenton is aiming to send 11 seniors out with the program’s first championship since 2014. The Trojans defeated top-ranked Stevenson to get back to USA Hockey Arena, and they own a 3-3 tie against Hartland from early this season. Trenton also has one of the state’s finest in net, as Cormier was an all-state second-teamer as a sophomore and made the first team last season. Holt joined him last year, making the first team at forward.

PHOTO: Marquette's Joseph Luke (14) deflects a shot past the Escanaba goalie during a December win. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)

EGR's Newton Returns to Rink Amid Speedy Recovery from Double Lung Transplant

By Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com

January 22, 2025

EAST GRAND RAPIDS – The last thing Chris Newton wanted to do was miss any time away from the hockey rink this season.

West MichiganBut when the East Grand Rapids hockey coach received a 3 a.m. phone call last month, he knew it was inevitable.

Newton also knew he would be receiving the possibility for a longer life and an opportunity to continue his lifelong passion.

Newton, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at 4 months old, received news that a set of donor lungs was available, and he began the process of undergoing a second double lung transplant. 

“I get a call and it was a 616 number so I knew exactly what it was, but I was totally shocked,” Newton, 35, said. “I definitely didn’t go back to sleep after that, and my mom was there visiting and everyone was surprised that it happened so quickly. If they find a good set, you can’t pass on it.”

Newton, a former Farmington High School goalie and assistant coach, had his first double lung transplant eight years ago.

“It was always in the cards that I would need one,” said Newton, a senior on the 2007-08 team that reached the Division 2 Semifinals and later an assistant coach for his dad, the late Bill Newton, with the 2013-14 Falcons squad that won the Division 3 title.

“I have a weird CF gene, and I don't qualify for the really good medicine they make that has made a difference in a lot of people's lives. A transplant was my only option as my health was decreasing pretty rapidly. And then, after eight years, you get rejection and they call it CLAD (chronic lung allograft dysfunction). The body starts rejecting lungs even though they had been good for like six years.” 

Newton directs his players on the bench during a game.Newton was diagnosed with CLAD two years ago, and it started slowly progressing.

He re-listed for another transplant in November, and 14 days later received the good news. It was two days after he collected his 100th career coaching victory.

“In comparison, the first time it was a 3½ month wait,” Newton said. “I had surgery on Dec. 10 at Corewell Health, and I came back to practice on Jan. 6. I missed two weeks of hockey with the three-week break we had, so it worked out.

“I feel great, and it's crazy to be back so quickly, but I feel good. The other sickness I have is coaching. I’m almost addicted to it when it's hockey season, and it’s really the only thing I think about. It’s what I do during these months, and it’s how I’m wired. When it happened, it was like this is perfect timing. I’m barely going to miss anything.”

The EGR hockey community has supported Newton throughout his transplant and recovery, and his players were motivated to give their best effort with their coach on the mend.

“Obviously it's been a long road for him, and it’s not the first time he has had this double lung transplant,” EGR senior center James Albers said. “It’s been pretty incredible, and all the guy wants to do is just coach hockey. He puts in all the fight, so I think the guys rally around him and want to do it for him, get big wins.

“We didn’t talk about it, but we wanted to play our best hockey for him because all he wants to do is show up at the rink for us. I have people at school ask me all the time how he’s doing, and it’s awesome to tell them that he looks incredible and is back on the ice after only a month.”

Senior Owen Stropkai has been on the varsity since his freshman year and has become close with his beloved coach.

“It’s great to have him back, and the positivity that he brings is awesome,” Stropkai said. “Every day it's a new level, and our team pushes for him. What he's been going through is horrible, but we think of him every day and grind together for him. He’s a great guy.”

Grant Newton, EGR’s associate head coach and no relation, took over the program in Chris Newton’s absence.

“We have a really good relationship, and we are close off the ice,” Chris Newton said. “I coached him at Farmington when we won a state championship, and he has helped me get the program to where it is.

“I went to him this summer, and we had a plan in place. I made sure he was comfortable taking over for me, and he did a great job.”

Chris Newton, whose family includes wife Jessie and sons Liam (6) and Carter (3), has transformed EGR into a perennial powerhouse the past few years.

Newton takes a photo with members of this season’s EGR team.The Pioneers have made back-to-back appearances in the Division 3 Final. They lost to Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood 3-2 in triple overtime last year and suffered a 3-2 loss to Flint Powers Catholic in 2023. 

EGR reeled off seven straight wins to open this season and is currently 12-3-1 and tied for first in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Rue despite heavy graduation losses last spring.

“The one thing that is great about this team is we haven’t stopped what we've been doing the last two years when we’ve had success,” Chris Newton said. “We’re sticking to details and making it more about the program than individuals.

“Our motto this year is being uncommon. I wanted that way back in the summer before this even happened. The motto has stuck to me, that I'm uncommon, but I wanted our kids to compete and be uncommon daily, and they’ve done that. It’s been a great group to be around and a group I wanted to get back to as quickly as I could.”

Chris Newton was blessed to have a superb transplant team help him navigate the process.

“The people there were great, and my surgeon was absolutely incredible,” he said. “They are good and talented people, and the nursing staff made it way easier than I expected.

“Obviously, no guarantees or anything, and everything is going well right now,” he added. “I’m still being seen a lot and being tested, but no number can be put on it. Eight years was a good run with the first set, but you just don’t know. I don’t have a crystal ball as to what will happen.”

Dean HolzwarthDean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for five years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties. 

PHOTOS (Top) East Grand Rapids hockey coach Chris Newton instructs his team during a practice. (Middle) Newton directs his players on the bench during a game. (Below) Newton takes a photo with members of this season’s EGR team. (Photos by Grant Newton.)