St. Mary's to face two new MIHL members

By JASON SCHMITT
Of The Oakland Press

If anyone had any doubts that the Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League was the toughest conference in the state of Michigan, those doubts were certainly erased Thursday as the league announced the addition of two premiere programs to the already-stacked league.

Both Trenton and Wyandotte Roosevelt high schools accepted invitations to join the MIHL, bringing the number of teams in the league to 10. They will join Birmingham Brother Rice, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, Detroit U-D Jesuit, Grosse Pointe North, Novi Detroit Catholic Central, Orchard Lake St. Mary's, Port Huron Northern and Warren De La Salle in 2011-12.

MIHL President and Cranbrook head coach Andy Weidenbach said the league felt the time was right for expansion.

"Both schools will help to maintain the MIHL as one of the strongest leagues in the state," Weidenbach said. "Adding Trenton, a storied program, and Wyandotte Roosevelt, a newer but rising program, strengthens the competition within the league and enhances the reputation of the MIHL."

Trenton, one of the most storied programs in Michigan high school hockey, has won 13 state championships and finished runner-up on six more occasions. Cranbrook (with 15) is the only school in the state with more championships.

Wyandotte Roosevelt, though not quite as storied as Trenton and Cranbrook, won the first state championship in school history last month with a 4-1 win over Brother Rice.

In all, the current 10 members of the league have won 46 state championships and finished runner-up 15 times.

Trenton coach Mike Turner, who has coached 10 of the Trojans' championship teams, said due to issues in their former league, the Downriver league, they weren't able to join the MIHL sooner.

"We know what to expect in terms of competition as we already play half the teams in the MIHL," Turner said. "We look forward to playing the rest of the MIHL teams and developing rivalries with them."

Wyandotte Roosevelt coach Mike Quint is also excited about the quality of competition his new league will provide his Bears.

"Our schedule just got a little harder, which is good," the coach said. "We expect the competition in the MIHL, where every contest has playoff intensity, to be excellent preparation for the state tournament. Every game will be challenging.”

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