TRAVERSE CITY — The three Traverse City teams might not have fared too well in the win column at the Rick Deneweth Memorial North/South Showcase, but the three-day event was about more than just victories and defeats.
Despite the wild winter weather that buried northern Michigan in a heavy blanket of snow, two dozen teams from the Upper and Lower Peninsulas — along with their fans — descended upon Centre Ice Arena for the eighth annual North/South Showcase. The spotlight on boys varsity high school hockey put on by the Traverse City Bay Reps and a bevy of volunteers is in memory of the late Rick Deneweth, an ardent Bay Reps fan and former president of the Bay Reps board of directors who died in 2016.
The Bay Reps, Traverse City Central and Traverse City West combined to go 1-5 at the showcase with the Reps picking up the lone win with a 5-2 victory over East Grand Rapids.
“There’s a lot of really good teams in Michigan, and we had a good chunk of them here at our showcase,” Bay Reps head coach Mike Matteucci said.
Bay Reps (1-1)
After the Reps’ 4-2 loss to fifth-ranked Marquette on Friday, they bounced back with a 5-2 victory over EGR on Saturday.
Grant Lucas lit the lamp twice for his state-leading 28th and 29th goals of the season, four ahead of Grosse Ile’s Fisher Gurney. Thomas Boynton-Fisher scored once and helped on three other goals to jump ahead of Gurney as the state’s assists leader with 26. Gurney leads in points with 49 followed by Lucas in second (45) and Boynton-Fisher in fourth (41).
Lars Millar had a goal and an assist. Ethan Coleman tallied two helpers. Rowan Blain scored once, and Lewis Walter notched an assist for the Reps in the three-goal win. Tyler Boynton-Fisher turned away 25 of the 27 shots he saw to get the W between the pipes.
The Reps (12-4-2) get a well-deserved and much-needed break before resuming live-game action against Traverse City Central on Sat. Jan. 27.
“We’re building for the end of the year,” Matteucci said. “It’s fun to win and everybody wants to win, but at this time of the year, you’re sharpening your skills and trying to get better every day. To be able to compete against those tougher teams now, it’s going to be better for us at the end of the year.”
Trojans (0-2)
The Trojans (7-9, 5-1 Big North) lost to Livonia Stevenson on Friday, 6-1, with Drew Davison getting the goal and Drew Zrimec and Arthur McManus getting the assists. Jackson Dobreff and Kiel Knapp split time in net with Knapp making 13 saves on 17 shots and Dobreff stopping 11 of the 13 shots he faced.
“I was really happy with the effort,” Central head coach Chris Givens said. “Friday’s score, that looks bad, but it certainly wasn’t a blowout. We had some really good chances, and the effort was certainly there.”
Central was slated to play Howell at noon Saturday, but the fallout from the inclement weather forced changes to the schedule and put Division 2 top-ranked Byron Center up against the Trojans instead.
The Trojans took a 1-0 lead on a Blake Weaver goal in the first period, but BC scored three unanswered goals for the 3-1 win. Zrimec and Laiken Batcha assisted on Weaver’s goal. Knapp made 24 saves in the loss.
“That’s just a really good team. Some people say they’re the top team in the state in any division. It was a 1-1 game with five minutes left, and we played hard,” Givens said, adding the Trojans were without Luke Weaver and Graham Peters for Saturday’s contest. “Two losses to two really good teams ranked in the top 10. Those are very high-quality opponents, and my guys competed hard against both of them.”
The Trojans look to get back on track when they welcome Saline to Howe Arena on Friday.
Titans (0-2)
The Titans (6-9, 3-2 Big North) dropped a 5-0 final to Forest Hills Central on Friday as Alonso Ovaitt was peppered with 39 shots on goal.
“I actually really liked the way we played,” West head coach Anthony Palumbo said. “That Forest Hills Central team had a couple two or three horses who got us in the end, but we were pretty competitive for a while. A couple late goals made that a 5-0 game, but I don’t think that was a 5-0 game.”
Saturday’s game against Grandville was much closer as the Titans and Bulldogs fought to a 0-0 tie through two periods. Lincoln Seyferth got the goal for West on an assist from Kallen Ray, but Grandville lit the lamp twice in the final period for the 2-1 win. Ovaitt made 27 saves.
“We started a little slow against Grandville. We wanted to show well against Forest Hills and spent a lot of emotional energy on that, so it took us a little bit to get into the groove against Grandville,” Palumbo said. “We played really well and had plenty of chances to tie the game and force overtime. That game could have gone either way.”
Palumbo said he was encouraged by the underclassmen who stepped up in the showcase and played well for West.
“We have several seniors we rely on, but the biggest positive is that we had some freshmen and sophomores really show up and play well,” Palumbo said. “That bodes well for us going forward.”
The Titans hope to quickly rebound with a win when Saline comes to town Thursday for a 7 p.m. game at Howe Arena.
Winter Storm ’24
Outside of the action on the ice, one of the biggest stories of the weekend was the weather outside Centre Ice Arena. The massive snowstorm that buried northern Michigan and much of the state wreaked havoc on travel plans and even put the showcase at risk for some teams.
“You never know about this time of year. You can get a foot of snow at any time,” Matteucci said. “I give a lot of the schools credit for making it here. There we some lulls in the storm Thursday and Friday. I know Saturday got pretty bad, and I think some teams ended up staying over Saturday night, too.”
After Traverse City Area Public Schools officials called off all activities for Friday and Sunday, the Trojans’ and Titans’ ability to participate in the showcase was in jeopardy.
One of the conditions agreed to that allowed Central and West to play was pushing back what time the teams could play Saturday. Originally, the games needed to be after 4:30 p.m., but Central was able to play at 2:15 as long as it was clear that no players would suffer any repercussions if they or their parents felt it was unsafe to or could not travel to Centre Ice.
“We operate that way anyway. If they’re not comfortable, I just need a phone call,” Givens said. “We were just happy to be able to play.”
Fans braved the wind and snow as they filed in and out of Centre Ice to watch their team play. That didn’t come as a shock to Palumbo.
“When you grow up in the hockey world, (weather) like that becomes part of the program,” Palumbo said. “Parents are so used to driving to or from a hockey game and getting stuck in a snowstorm. I remember my parents doing it. I know a lot of our parents have done it. The hockey world seems to be a pretty hearty group of people.”
Palumbo said a lot of the West parents decided to drive the players Saturday to make sure they arrived safely.
“It was really great to see everyone make it and show up and play in the tournament,” Palumbo said. “In the end, it got done and everybody got their games in. It ended up being a really nice weekend at Centre Ice.”
Matteucci said safety was of the utmost importance for teams throughout the tournament, and he said everyone was ready and willing to make any accommodations necessary to keep the showcase going.
He was also highly complimentary of the volunteers who helped the event run as smoothly as possible, calling them “unbelievable.” Matteucci gave special mention to Tom Hardy and Terri Waugh
“Tom has been with our program from the beginning. He doesn’t have a kid on the team any longer, but he still comes back. He did a lot of the last-minute rescheduling for us, which was a huge load off our shoulders,” Matteucci said. “Terri has volunteered to help us every year and does a lot of the organization. She takes time off work to come and do this, so I give them and our parents a lot of credit to put this great event on.”
Showcase Growing
With the eighth iteration of the Deneweth Memorial Showcase now in the books, it seems the event only continues to grow as it attracts more and more talented teams from across Michigan to Traverse City.
“The were 24 teams in this year’s event. If the Reps wanted to, it could probably be 44 teams. There’s that much interest in it,” Givens said. “The quality of the hockey is really good. Traverse City rolls out the red carpet for everyone. It’s a really good team-bonding experience for the teams that come here.”
Givens said there are so many benefits to the showcase, especially because it is a highly publicized event that attracts scouts and provides players with opportunities to extend their hockey careers beyond high school.
“It’s one of the best showcases that’s put on in the state,” Givens said. “The North/South has become one that a lot of people want to attend, and it’s just a great weekend. If you’re a hockey fan, it’s a great place to be.”
Palumbo said the growth of the showcase has been nice to see, and he complimented everyone who helps put on the event that shines a spotlight on northern Michigan hockey.
“The Traverse City teams are always competitive. Obviously, you have one that is having a pretty special year (in the Bay Reps),” Palumbo said. “You have teams like Marquette and Escanaba that come down here and other teams that come up here to play, and everyone is treated well. Traverse City is not a bad place to spend a weekend either.”
Not a bad place at all — even with a few feet of snow.