Division 1 winner? Everybody

Steve Knoche / Special to The Detroit News

PLYMOUTH -- After three periods, eight overtimes and 109 minutes -- the longest game in the history of Michigan high school hockey -- the Division 1 state championship Saturday at Compuware Arena between Marquette and Orchard Lake St. Mary's ended as a 1-1 draw and with the teams being crowned co-champions, for the first time in history.

"I think both teams would have certainly played all night," St. Mary's coach Brian Klanow said. "You look at this and this is something that is going to be in history, that's never going to happen again. (Marquette and St. Mary's) are a part of it -- what a great tribute to high school hockey in the state of Michigan."

It's the fifth state title for Marquette and the second straight for Orchard Lake St. Mary's.

The previous record for longest game in Michigan came in a six-overtime game in this year's regionals. It was the second longest game, in terms of number of overtimes, nationally in high school history (Minneapolis South, Minn., vs. Thief River Falls, Minn., 11 overtimes in 1955).

"If you think about it in perspective," Marquette coach Joe Papin said, "if a kid's out on the ice, and he falls down because he's completely exhausted, and the other team wins, we got two extremes -- from jubilation to completely miserable."

Marquette was less than two minutes from being crowned the lone champion, but St. Mary's Tim Hooker slipped one past goalie Jon Nezich with 1:32 remaining in regulation.

Marquette's score came with 5:59 to play in the second. With a crowd in front of the net, and St. Mary's goalie Ryan Morley-Stockton trying to recover from a previous save, Mike Peterson guided a loose puck in the crease across the goal line.

"We wanted it bad, you can tell by the way we played," Papin said.

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