Cranbrook hockey earns regional title; other local teams end season

By Mike Moore
C & G Sports Writer

BLOOMFIELD HILLS — He wasn’t being arrogant.

As a matter of fact, when asked how many regional titles this was now for his program, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood hockey coach Andy Weidenbach almost sounded a bit embarrassed by the question.

“I really don’t know,” he said. “We’ve had some good fortune over the years.”
Good fortune that continued March 6, when the Cranes advanced in the Division 3 playoffs with a 6-2 victory against previously unbeaten Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett in the regional final.

Cranbrook, which defeated Berkley High 6-2 in the regional semifinal and Beverly Hills Detroit Country Day 3-0 in the pre-regional opener, faces Flint Kearsley at 7 p.m. March 10 at the Troy Sports Center in the quarterfinal round.

“We’ve won these before, but it’s absolutely a big deal for us and for our guys,” added Weidenbach, whose squad improved to 25-7-1 with the win and handed Liggett (25-1-1) its first loss of the season. “In order to keep moving along, these are the types of things you have to do. We beat a good hockey team here, and that’s certainly something to be proud of.”

Of course, as the two-time defending Division 3 state champ, Cranbrook enters nearly every game as the overwhelming favorite — something Weidenbach isn’t always fond of.

“It’s certainly easier being the underdog,” he laughed. “We know teams are gunning for us, and we know we have to bring our ‘A’ game every night. It’s not easy, but we’re proud of it.”

But when two of the top three teams in the rankings in Division 2 met March 4 in the regional final, the third game would be for all the proverbial marbles, a game De La Salle eventually took by a 4-1 score, earning a trip to the quarterfinals.

“We were up 1-0 heading into the third, but after killing four straight penalties, we just didn’t have our legs,” Rice coach Lou Schmidt said after the loss. “I’ll say this, though, there’s no shame in losing to De La Salle. That’s a big, strong team loaded with seniors. They won the big battles when it counted.”

Rice, ranked No. 3 in D-2, ended the season 16-11. De La Salle, ranked No. 2, improved to 18-5-1.

“This was still a great year,” Schmidt added. “You feel bad for the seniors that we didn’t make it farther, but I have nothing but pride for these guys and what they accomplished.”

In season two, Unified won six games.

The guys just about doubled things up again this year, finishing with an 11-11-4 record after 6-2 loss to Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in the D-1 regional semifinal.

“It’ll be tough to win 22 next year,” laughed Weidenbach, the son of Cranbrook coach Andy Weidenbach. “This was an excellent season. The guys started well, had a little rough patch and then rebounded down the stretch and gave Orchard Lake a great game (St. Mary’s was winning 2-1 midway through the game). It was another step in the right direction.”

On a more personal level, Weidenbach and his family did, in fact, double things up this year. He missed the final game of the playoffs due to the birth of his second daughter that same night.

“This was a good blend of guys with some good hockey backgrounds,” first-year coach Rick Reed said. “The thing I love is the fact we played our best game of the season in the last game of the season. The guys played hard, and they played together. This program is headed in the right direction.”

You can reach Sports Writer Mike Moore at mmoore@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1038.