Stakes Are Upped for this Brother Rice – Cranbrook game

Hockey games between Brother Rice and Cranbrook are highly contested, but the competition for the game scheduled for this Friday, December 21, 2013, may be a little keener – there is a little more at stake than normally.  Brother Rice (8-0-1-0, 3-0-1-0) is ranked #1 in MHSAA Division I by the Michigan High School Hockey Coaches Association (MHSHCA) Poll and Cranbrook is ranked #1 in MHSAA Division III by same poll.  Both teams, along with Detroit Catholic Central, are perched atop the standings in the MIHL North Division.  Add all that to the fact that the game is a neighborhood battle for bragging rights and the players will be competing against some of their old hockey friends.

 

“We look at it as another big game between two programs with a long history between them.  It is a special rivalry in that it brings out the best in each team.  The players have seen the rankings and they know what is at stake, so there will be a little something extra to play for”, observed Warrior Head Coach Lou Schmidt.  His counterpart at Cranbrook, Andy Weidenbach, expressed similar words, “Our games against Brother Rice have always been highly competitive.  I think the players on both teams like the challenge of competing against good teams, especially when there is a little more on the line.  A lot of the players grew up playing hockey with or against members of the other team, so there is a little pride involved as well.”

 

It is a special game for the players as they know that one team will walk away with the bragging rights.  Jeremy Loewenstein, a Cranbrook senior, grew up playing with many of the current Warrior players, “I played with a lot of the Brother Rice Warriors on the Birmingham Rangers team, guys like Andrew Roye, Marcus Mazur, Connor Duncan, Ross Haffey, Chandler Gillespie and Tristan Crimmins to name a few.  It’s fun to play against them and to see how they have developed as hockey players.  I don’t see them as much anymore off the ice but I always look forward to playing against them.  They are good guys and we always know we’re going to get a good game from them.”

 

Brother Rice Senior, Andrew Roye, knows the Cranbrook team, “I played with Jeff Martin and Jeremy Loewenstein in youth hockey and I played with several others, the Alger brothers, Billy Young and Michael Romund in the MDHL (Michigan Development Hockey League) in the fall.  They are really good guys and good hockey players.  Since I’ve been involved in the rivalry, the games with Cranbrook have always been close and none of them have been boring.”

Lou Schmidt summed it up nicely, “It should be a great, fast-paced game with lots of energy and a treat for the fans.”

 

Game time is 7:00 PM at the Oak Park Arena

For additional information go to: www.MIHL.com