Moggach Honored Nationally for 25 Years of 'Sticking In, Doing Good'
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
March 17, 2023
When Paul Moggach began his tenure as Brighton’s hockey coach, the program was at its nadir.
“When we got into high school hockey, it wasn't very good,” he said recently. “Our league wasn't very good. Our team wasn't very good. We started with character to try to build something different, you know, a different mousetrap.”
Over the next quarter of a century, Moggach and his assistants, primarily Rick Bourbonais (whom Moggach succeeded as coach) and current coach Kurt Kivisto helped lift the program into one of the most respected, and successful, in the state.
Moggach (pronounced MUG-uhth), along with former Detroit Catholic Central coach Gordon St. John, in February was named a co-recipient of the John Mariucci Award by the American Hockey Coaches Association.
They, along with Andy Weidenbach of Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, are the only Michigan coaches to have received the award, named after the longtime hockey coach at Michigan Tech.
“He brought in people that he knew could do things he may have had limitations at,” said Kivisto, who played for Moggach at Brighton two decades ago and was an assistant for 10 years before taking over as head coach in 2020. “He did a good job surrounding himself with people he trusted and knew would be good for the program while he steered the ship in the direction he wanted. And he was very good at that.”
Moggach calls the honor “very humbling.
“I got into hockey because there was a need,” he added, “then I ended up with Rick at the high school for those years. When you look back at it, I grew a lot. I grew a lot personally and from a coaching perspective I grew. I had to change things, and so I think it's not so much the reward as at least a recognition that I stuck it out. My grandmother used to always tell me, ‘Stick in and do good.’ She would say that when I was on the way out the door. That was her message to me, and I think (the award) just emphasizes that I did, I did stick in.”
“You can’t be happier for a guy than for a guy like Paul,” said Bourbonais, who coached with Moggach at Brighton for a total of 30 years, the last 20 as an assistant. “He took a hockey team and made it into a hockey program that is a top-five contender every year. Guys come out of the program with championships, but they also come out with life lessons and some idea of what it takes to be a great citizen and a great student as well as what it takes to be a great athlete.”
At first, though, there were trials. The Bulldogs struggled in his first two seasons, and the program itself was in jeopardy for a short while after a bench-clearing brawl.
Once that crisis passed, Moggach and his staff, which for many years consisted of Bourbonais, Mike Brown and Jason Valente, worked to rebuild the Bulldogs from a team known for its physicality to one with a more wide-open passing style of play.
When hockey trends went to a more defensive style, where the defense sparked the offense, Moggach adapted.
During the first decade of his tenure, as the Bulldogs had more success and built their reputation, teams that had shunned scheduling them in the past began adding Brighton to their schedules.
He kept looking for ways to improve his team, both on and off the ice.
Brighton was the first team to schedule a game with those in the Keweenaw Peninsula, both for the keen competition, but also as a team-bonding exercise.
The bus rides, about 11 hours each way, helped players who in many cases didn’t know each other outside the rink to bond. So did activities outside of hockey including team dinners and curling, and the experience of being together as a team for four days.
Other teams took notice, and team bonding trips, including those far shorter than the 550 miles from Brighton to Houghton, are commonplace.
Soon after, he introduced a skating coach and stricter team nutrition to the program.
“It’s not something that we had done when I was in high school," said Kivisto, who graduated in 2003. “It was something that some of the families and players weren’t overly excited about, but he knew it was good for the team and he was always looking ahead and finding ways to give his team an advantage.”
Brighton grew to dominate its league, and winning gave Moggach the authority to introduce concepts new to players and families who grew up in travel hockey.
“I'm sure we weren't pleasing everybody,” he said, “But we thought we would do with character and live the kind of model that we would hope that the players would follow, that their families would follow. And as we did that it changed and we got in front of some things with our league, and had a good run in our league.”
Brighton won its first Division 1 championship in 2006. That was followed by back-to-back Division 1 titles in 2012 and 2013, and then 2017 and 2018, a stretch that saw the Bulldogs reach the Finals in six out of seven seasons.
“Some of that is when you learn how to win, you win, even sometimes when you shouldn't,” he said. “I'm not saying that you know when we got to the Finals that we didn't deserve to win. We had a good recipe there that got us those five wins, but once we got it rolling, that momentum kept us going sometimes then maybe it shouldn't have.”
As the program’s success and reputation grew, players who had been in travel hockey started opting to play for the Bulldogs.
“There are some kids on (this year’s Brighton) team who came from Triple A who are tired of that commitment, because of the travel, the time, the money,” he said. “And they found that high school hockey is different. I mean just look at the crowds. They don't get that kind of a reward for the work that they put in.
“I think it's developed to that point now for us and we get players like that and it's made a difference, I think, and not just for our team but for all of high school hockey, " Moggach continued. “The coaches association has done a great job in promoting now and so it is a great destination for so many good reasons for kids to spend that time and grow up with their friends who are in their neighborhoods and in their community.”
Moggach is still a fixture at Brighton games, still in close touch with Kivisto when not driving to see his grandsons play or his stepson, Damon Whitten, who coaches at Lake Superior State.
His impact will be felt in Brighton hockey for years to come.
“He left no stone unturned to try and be the best he thought we could be,” Brighton athletic director John Thompson said. “He’s one of those people who was genuinely invested in young people, and he always, always put the program first. He was a good manager of young men and developed some pretty good coaches, too.”
Moggach finished with a record of 467-172-43. St. John, who won six state titles at Catholic Central and another at Cranbrook, had a record of 229-29-18 in 10 seasons at Catholic Central.
“I was excited for (Moggach) when I heard the news,” Kivisto said, “seeing him put at a level of the guys who have won the award and the contributions they made to high school hockey. It’s neat to see him recognized at that level.”
Both men will receive their awards sometime this spring.
“I can be recognized,” Moggach said, “and I think kids are and their families are always looking for that. But I think before you do that you have to build the program, the program has to be something that's respectful and respected and competitive, and I think we accomplished that.”
***
Gordon St. John led Detroit Catholic Central and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood to a combined eight Finals championships over 16 seasons, the last seven with the Shamrocks including five straight in Class A or Division 1 from 1999-2003.
DCC’s Class A championship in 1994 was the first of now 17 Finals titles, which rank second-most in MHSAA history. He built a 222-29-18 record (.859 winning percentage) over 10 seasons leading the Shamrocks through 2003-04, the last two seasons as co-head coach before then staying with the program as an assistant and helping the team to another Division 1 championship in 2005.
St. John’s championship at Cranbrook came in 1988 in Class B-C-D.
PHOTOS (Top) Retired Brighton hockey coach Paul Moggach, far right, stands alongside his players as they await to receive their medals after winning the 2018 Division 1 championship (Middle) Moggach stands with his former assistant and current Brighton head coach Kurt Kivisto. (Middle photo by Tim Robinson; St. John photo courtesy of the American Hockey Coaches Association.)
Powered by Stars, Byron Center Writes Championship Chapter This Time
March 9, 2024
PLYMOUTH — This time, nobody was going to jam home a rebound with 6.7 seconds left to crush their dreams.
This time, there wasn’t a Peter Rosa around to don a Superman cape and score a third-period hat trick to rip a championship from their hands.
Byron Center had its own Superman this time, ensuring the Bulldogs wouldn’t be victims of another team’s storybook ending again.
Senior forward Jackson Froysland completed his hat trick 1 minute, 10 seconds into the third period to give Byron Center a four-goal cushion in a 6-1 victory over Trenton in the MHSAA Division 2 championship game Saturday at USA Hockey Arena.
Few teams have suffered the degree of multiple heartbreaking losses on the Finals stage as Byron Center.
In 2021, the Bulldogs lost 2-1 to Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice when Alec Hamady scored with 6.7 seconds left.
In 2023, Byron Center took a 2-0 lead into the third period. That’s when Rosa solidified his legacy at Brother Rice by scoring three goals in the Warriors’ 4-2 victory, a game in which Roman Villaire scored the game-winner with 4:42 left.
Knowing there would be no soul-crushing drama this time around, players on Byron Center’s bench began celebrating with 1:43 left in the game.
“We’ve been thinking about that for a whole year,” Froysland said. “Coming into that locker room after the second period, we knew what they were going to come out and do. We countered that pretty well, I’d say.”
Froysland has been as instrumental as any player in the rise of Byron Center’s co-op hockey program from its beginnings in 2016-17. Grand Rapids South Christian and Wayland also have students on the team.
With three goals and one assist against Trenton, Froysland finished his three-year career with 72 goals and 98 assists in 88 games.
Senior lineman Cade Pratt has been just as integral to the Bulldogs’ success. With two goals and two assists Saturday, he extended his points streak to 35 games going back to the final five games of last season. He finished this season with 34 goals and 54 assists in 30 games.
A year ago, Pratt’s goal in the first period gave Byron Center the 2-0 lead it carried into the third period against Brother Rice.
“Throughout the whole season, we’d touch on it here and there,” Pratt said. “When you go in 2-0 and lose, it burns you. Going into the third period of this game, it was a little reminiscent of that game. We knew what we had to do.”
After two near misses, the Bulldogs became only the third Grand Rapids-area team to win an MHSAA hockey championship. East Kentwood won Class A in 1990, and Grand Rapids Catholic Central captured Division 3 in 2011.
“I’m normally not lost for words after games, and I didn’t have a lot to say to these guys other than how much I love them as people, as hockey players, as teammates, as brothers,” Byron Center coach Jordan Steger said. “Then after I told them that, I got soaked in some water. Pretty much the postgame speech was cut off after that.”
After a scoreless first period, Froysland scored the first two goals of the game by the 6:29 mark of the second.
Trenton’s John Medvich cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 2-1 at 9:42 before Pratt scored twice in a 3:05 span to give Byron Center a 4-1 lead going into the third.
There would be no third-period heartache this time around.
Froysland picked up his hat trick during a two-man advantage 1:10 into the third, prompting a round of “Mr. Hockey” cheers from the Bulldogs’ student section. Braxton McKee extended the lead to 6-1 just 1:39 later.
“Coming in, everyone knew they had two candidates that are legitimate Mr. Hockey winners,” Trenton coach Chad Clements said. “Either one of them deserves it, as well as there’s some others out there, but those two especially on that top line; just tremendous hockey players.
“We tried to get the right matchups on the ice. They were matching up against us. It was cat and mouse, which was fun. They got some favorable matchup combinations against us. They scored a power-play goal that started everything. They’re dangerous. I thought we did a very good job of taking away time and space in the first period. Unfortunately, we were unable to (continue) that. That’s when the four goals happened.”
Trenton (23-5-2), which ranks third in MHSAA history with 14 Finals championships, was denied what would have been its first title since 2014. The Trojans have finished runner-up for times since winning 10 years ago.
“Wearing this jersey is something special,” Trenton senior captain Boston Bennett said. “It’s one of the best, if not the best, hockey communities in Michigan.”
Brady Swanson made 34 saves for Byron Center (27-2-1).
PHOTOS (Top) Byron Center raises its first Finals championship trophy Saturday after its Division 2 win over Trenton. (Middle) The Bulldogs’ Cade Pratt (19) maintains possession as Trenton’s Lucas Sawmiller (21) tries to reach the puck. (Below) Jackson Froysland carries the puck for the Bulldogs. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)