Hockey Playoffs: Bring 'em on

By KEITH DUNLAP
Of The Oakland Press

There isn't a high school sport with a longer regular season than boys hockey.

Since games start in mid-November and last until late February or early March, it's over three full months of regular-season action.

However, the long regular season is finally about to end and what teams around the area and state have been building towards is about to commence.

Monday is the start of the high school hockey tournament, as pre-regional semifinals will start to be played around the state.

Winners of pre-regionals will advance to regional finals, most of which will played on March 7.

With that in mind, here's what to look out for in the first week of the state boys hockey tournament next week.

Best pre-regional — Without question, it's the Division 1 pre-regional that's being hosted by the Novi Ice Arena. In this pre-regional are the state's top two ranked teams, Novi Detroit Catholic Central and Northville, and another ranked team in Livonia Stevenson. Catholic Central appears to have gotten the best of the draw since Northville and Stevenson will meet in a pre-regional semifinal on Tuesday, although that might be disrespecting Farmington Unified, which will hope to upset Catholic Central in the other semifinal on Tuesday. Regardless of what happens, two-ranked teams will be done for the season by March 5.

March 5 will be a big night

— The first big indicator of how the state tournament will shake out in Division 1 will come on March 5. Not only is there potential for a Catholic Central-Northville battle on March 5 (Northville eliminated the Shamrocks in last year's pre-regionals with a double-overtime win), but barring a major upset, Clarkston and Orchard Lake St. Mary's should also meet in a pre-regional final at 7:30 p.m. on March 5.

The Wolves and Eaglets have become very familiar with each other over the years in the state tournament.

St. Mary's has eliminated Clarkston in the state tournament the last three years, including in last year's state semifinals, 2-0. If those teams meet on Thursday, the winner will play the winner of the Troy pre-regional in the regional final on March 7.

Most likely to be at Compuware Arena — Forgive us for not going out on a limb here, but the obvious choice is, in a stunning news flash, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood. Not only is Cranbrook probably still upset that it lost in the state quarterfinals last year, but the Cranes have a pretty easy path to at least the quarterfinals. If Cranbrook gets that far, it could be in position to administer some payback with the team that eliminated it in last year's quarterfinals, Monroe St. Mary's Catholic Central.

Watch out for — Lakeland. One of the best teams in the KLAA all season, the Eagles are a dangerous offensive team led by senior forwards Trevor Lloyd and Jayson Cronk and have a pretty good draw. Tuesday's pre-regional opener against Hartland will be difficult, but don't be surprised if Lakeland gets to the quarterfinals in Division 2, where a matchup with No. 1 Birmingham Brother Rice could take place.

Prep Hockey

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