Cranbrook-Kingswood wins Division 3 state title
By Matt Mackinder –
According to Cranbrook coach Andy Weidenbach, the Algers’ line has been sharp the last few months and helped the Cranes end the season on an 11-game winning streak.
Cranbrook goalie Spencer Applebaum is also a key part of the winning equation.
“We put the Alger brothers together around the first week of December and they play well together and complement each other very well,” said Weidenbach. “They also wanted to play together and have done a great job for us.
“Our goaltending, Spencer has played all the important games for us and was our No. 1 guy going into the tournament and he’s done a great job as well.”
The first half of the first period was pretty even, until Austin Alger went around Christian Wilkins and picked the corner on Soo goalie Nickolas McKenzie with a quick snap shot at 8:11 for the early 1-0 Cranbrook lead and the lone goal of the opening 17 minutes.
The Blue Devils didn’t get their first shot on Cranbrook goalie Spencer Applebaum until nearly 12 minutes were gone in the first period.
Cranbrook made it 2-0 at 7:23 of the middle frame on a goal by Kevin Shand in tight that beat McKenzie high to the glove side.
The Blue Devils cut the Cranes’ lead to 2-1 on a Kyle Teneyck laser at the 8:51 mark past Applebaum.
“We knew coming in that we’d probably allow 30-35 shots, but we felt if we could get 15-20 shots on their goalie, we’d have a chance,” said Sault coach John Ferroni. “When you get it close like we did, you think maybe you’ll get another shot if you just keep the pressure on. I thought if we could keep the penalties down that we would keep the shots on goal down, but Cranbrook has a fantastic hockey team and I think you had two of the best teams in the state here today.”
Cranbrook took the two-goal lead back at 10:10 when captain Alex Alger, while being taken down from behind, squeezed the puck past McKenzie.
Alex Alger pushed the lead to 4-1 with 5:34 to play in the second on a nice give-and-go with Michael Romund that went over McKenzie’s shoulder.
Alger’s second goal seemed to deflate the Blue Devils, who generated just nine shots on Applebaum through two periods.
In the opening minutes of the third period, Sault appeared to score and the red light went on, but after a short review, the on-ice officials ruled “no goal.”
At 5:34, the Blue Devils’ Chase Gamelin scored a definite goal on a re-direction in front of Applebaum.
McKenzie went to the bench with 1:50 left in the third, but Sault could not put any pucks on Applebaum.
“We’ve got a real interesting mix this year with nine seniors, two juniors and nine sophomores,” explained Weidenbach. “Normally, you don’t have that kind of a mix. To have this kind of a mix is really unique, but over the course of the season, everyone made a solid contribution.”
As for the Blue Devils, the hope is to recreate some of this 2013 magic next year.
“We had 21 guys on the team and 26 came to tryouts,” said Ferroni. “We sat down and figured it out today that we traveled 5,382 miles this season to get to this point and I think 1,200 or so was over Christmas. Boy, what a journey, but we made it here and hopefully, the kids here will see that and want to come back and give it one more shot.”
Editor’s note: MiHockey will be holding a social media contest to determine which high school team is on the next cover of MiHockeyMag. Please keep an eye on our social media channels throughout the next few days.