A select few of the high school hockey teams in the State of Michigan have that quality of gravitas that burdens opponents with the certainty that they will have to scrap every shift for open space, passing lanes, loose pucks and play virtually mistake-free to have a shot at winning.

It's an aura that can precede even the physical presence of such a team, which can permeate an opponent's weekly preparation, subconsciously measuring its effectiveness in practice against what it will take to win.

Traverse City Central has this quality, well-earned over the 19-year tenure of head coach Chris Givens, and very often the games it competes in are already won, or, in the case of the opposition, lost, before the opening faceoff.

This is an observation, and not the opinion of any person or coach associated with the Trojans' program, and it's hard to refute because Central is 37-10-1 over the past two years. They returned a core group of 14 players whose 2012 campaign ended "one minute too soon" in the words of opposing coach Todd Gallup, after the Trojans rallied from a 5-1 deficit only to fall 5-4 to Forest Hills Northern, an opponent they will face again February 15 on road ice. 

"Four of our last five [regular-season] games are against teams ranked number-five or higher in the three divisions, and only one of them is at home," said Givens. "We have two at the MIHL showcase against Port Huron Northern and Trenton and we’re in Muskegon to play Mona Shores. We’ll play Sault Ste. Marie at home in our final regular-season game. February is going to be a rough month for us."

Maybe so. But the Trojans, currently ranked third in Division 2, are not hiding the fact that they are playing their best hockey at this moment. Wrapping up the Big North title on January 25 was no small accomplishment, given the league competition. If they beat Alpena on February 5, Traverse City Central will have completed the conference schedule with an unblemished 10-0 record for the second consecutive year. 

A roll of this nature against a tough schedule requires a few things, like depth, leadership, goaltending and composure. The Trojans have all these attributes in abundance. 

"We’ve had several games where five or six different players have scored, and when you can spread the scoring out, that certainly helps," said Givens.

The Trojans often roll four lines to maintain the high pace and to keep the legs fresh for when the bench might need to get short. They like to attack and retain an overwhelming presence in the opponent's zone. Givens is utilizing his deep bench more than ever to this end.

"Getting everyone involved makes it more difficult for the opposition to focus on trying to shut down any one line," said Givens. "We have good team speed, and we really try get our forecheck established. We’re pretty physical, because we have a pretty good-sized team and we try to set a tone there as well. Our strength is in our forwards."

Cooper Macdonell, Niko Saco and Cam Givens are all averaging more than two points a game. Jon Russell is not far behind at 1.47. Givens has been on a mini-run, with successive hattricks against Petoskey and Cadillac, and he has four on the season. The defensive corps will not dazzle end to end, but it makes the clean initial pass and stays where it belongs on the ice. 

And when the goaltending has been tested, it has stood tall. Starter Bill Vermetten has a 2.29 GAA, while back up Michael Wittersheim has the more impressive 1.79 GAA, but he's played less than a third of the minutes that Vermetten has logged.

"Michael is going to get more work before the season ends," said Givens. "He’s had limited time, and he’s played well for us."

Some of those minutes will certainly be during the closing five-game stretch, where we will see if the grativas the Trojans exude matches or exceeds that of its formidable competition.