Photo gallery: Michigan Public High School Hockey Showcase kicks off in Chelsea

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By Michael Caples –

CHELSEA – It’s not often that you find more than 60 teams in one ice arena.

The third annual Michigan Public High School Hockey Showcase, the largest public HS showcase in the state of Michigan, kicked off in Chelsea yesterday, with six teams competing on the opening night.

The showcase, organized by Novi coach Todd Krygier and Chelsea coach Don Wright, continues to grow each year, and it serves an impressive collection of talent at the high school level.

I think everybody’s always excited for it, in the third year it’s amazing how many teams are coming in,” Wright said. “We’re at over 60 teams, it’s a seven-day event, so I think everybody’s pretty excited. We have some pretty good games, pretty good match-ups, and I think it will be good for the fans and all of the teams.”

The games officially began at 3:45 p.m., with Chippewa Valley taking on Milford. The other games featured Berkley vs. Howell, Ann Arbor Huron vs. Swartz Creek-Clio, Pinckney vs. West Bloomfield, Chelsea vs. Salem and Novi vs. Rochester Stoney Creek.

Salem coach Ryan Ossenmacher said that the showcase allows his players to feel like much more than just representatives of their school.

“It’s a huge high school event, not just for hockey but for the sheer standpoint in that I think it’s the biggest organized high school sporting event – I think that’s big,” Ossenmacher said. “It’s also good to get these guys involved, all these players here, all these games. It makes them feel like they’re a part of something bigger, not just a part of Salem, for example, but part of high school hockey in general, which is growing in the state. I think everybody would agree that it’s been getting better and better as the years have gone on.”

Ossenmacher said that both Wright and Krygier have done a good job in aiding the growth of high school hockey.

“Both of them are tremendous advocates for high school hockey,” he said. “Todd’s done but nothing but win with whatever he’s done; he’s won a state title at Novi, he’s taken Team Michigan and won out in Minnesota, which has never happened before. He’s a phenomenal coach, but I think even beyond that he’s a real advocate for high school hockey.

“[They] understand the value for it; it’s not just about high school hockey, but about the community, it’s about the city in which the kids are from and having pride in that. I think we try to instill that, and bringing them all together in this one spot really brings not just teams, but communities and parents and different regions of the state together, so I think that’s important.”