TRENTON - The Michigan high school ice hockey season is a long one and the 2024-25 season officially got underway for local teams this week.
And on Saturday night, it was a battle between two of the state's top teams at Kennedy Ice Arena as Trenton welcomed in defending Division 3 state champion Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood.
The latest pre-Thanksgiving showdown between the longtime MIHL rival programs was another emotional, physical affair that ultimately ended in a 3-3 tie after an overtime period of play.
Heading in, Cranbrook knew the game was not going to be an easy task. And even though they were in line for a win late, head coach John LaFontaine was happy to leave town with a draw.
"I was really happy with our play because I know how good they are," LaFontaine said. "I watched Trenton play all fall league (and) they might have been the best team in the fall league.
"For us to be able to stay with them and have a chance to win it at the end of the game, I was really happy with our play."
Saturday's tilt was one where Trenton had to come back twice to keep themselves in the game and force the overtime period. It was also the Trojans who took the first lead of the game.
After a scoreless first period, Zach LaMay broke the scoring seal when he scooped up the puck and clinked it off the post with 15:54 to go in the middle period, giving the hosts their only lead of the evening at 1-0.
Trojans goaltender Evan Sivi kept his team in it five minutes later, turning away four straight shots from Cranbrook to keep it a one-goal game.
The Cranes did finally get their break with 7:14 to play in the second when Kyle Braunscheidel fired a one-time shot to the bottom left corner to tie it up. Less than two minutes later, Braunscheidel poked one through on the power play for his second of the evening, giving the visitors their first lead.
Trenton missed a possible power play goal of their own early in the third period, but a minute after the man-advantage opportunity expired, Landon Stark found the back of the net to tie up the game once again.
The lead for the Trojans was short-lived as the Cranes' Will Nottle fired back less than three minutes later. From there, the game continued to get increasingly physical.
As time wound down, it looked like a Cranbrook win was forthcoming, but the Trojans were not done.
With 4:17 to go, Brett Allen fired a shot mid spin and found the net for the third tie of the night to cap off the scoring. The teams played an emotional overtime outing, but the 3-3 score remained.
It was Trenton's second overtime game in as many nights after losing 1-0 at home to Hartland to open their new campaign on Friday.
"We played much better last night," Trenton coach Chad Clements said. "We were a little undisciplined tonight and we weren't as sharp. Not to take anything away from Cranbrook, they're one of the best teams in D3.
"It was a tough weekend," Clements said. "But it's nice to see where we are right from the beginning."
LaFontaine too, was happy to see where his team was this early in the season.
"As far as for us and where we've been in the past this time of year, it's exciting for us," he said. "We have more guys coming back that played a lot of minutes and that has really helped us off to a better start.
"We've got really strong leadership," LaFontaine added. "The guys are playing as a team and playing together."
With the new season now off and running, both programs are now focusing on the long road ahead and just continuing to improve.
Cranbrook (1-0, 1-0 MIHL-Blue) will travel to Sault Ste Marie next Friday, November 22 before hosting their own Thanksgiving Invitational the following weekend.
"It's just about getting better every week," LaFontaine said. "Working on guys maturing and working on individually getting better. With the leadership that we have and the kids that we have- they're hungry and it's fun as coaches to watch."
The early-season schedule for Trenton (0-1-1, 0-0-1 MIHL-Blue) doesn't get any easier when they travel to Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice on Thursday, Nov 21 before hosting Warren De La Salle the night before Thanksgiving.
"It's a gauntlett and we just have to learn to play more consistently and it's just going to take time," Clements said. "We've got 11 new guys so it's going to take a little bit of time to adjust to high school hockey and emotional games.
"We're trying to play the best competition that we can game in and game out," Clements continued. "So it's just going to take a little time this year.