Luke Blasy played spoiler to a near perfect run last week. His game-winning overtime goal thwarted Midland’s attempt at a comeback, leading Midland Dow to a 3-2 win in an eighth straight meeting in the rivalry series. One bounce of the puck in the Chemics’ favor and I could have been going 3-0 in back-to-back weeks! Ugh.

Hats off to the Chargers for continuing their dominance in the heated rivalry, and shoutouts to Lake Orion and Livonia Stevenson for answering the bell in their heavyweight matchups last week as well. 

PETEY’S PICKS: 5-3

This week, we’re going big. I mean huge. We’re biting off maybe more than we can chew. We are gonna tackle ALL eleven matchups from the KLAA-MIHL Showcase this Saturday and give you projections for each contest from Eddie Edgar Ice Arena. 

I’m calling it the Alphabet Showcase because there’s no acronym for acronyms. There’s no way to shorten what’s already been shortened. And there’s just no way to say, “K-L-A-A-M-I-H-L Showcase” one time fast, let alone three times fast. So I give you, the Alphabet Showcase. In just its third year, the Alphabet Showcase has quickly become one of the top events in the high school calendar, as it puts the top two conferences in the state in one building, with evenly matched teams top to bottom from sun up to well past sun down. Everything a high-level scout could hope for.

So we’ve got eleven games to get to! What are we waiting for? You know what it is by now, let’s get to the picks…

 

Livonia Franklin vs. Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard

Saturday, December 14th at 9:00 a.m.

BREAKDOWN: The Irish serve as an honorary member of the MIHL in this matchup, as the KLAA has an odd man out with one more program than the MIHL. Fortunately for them, a strong Gabriel Richard squad steps in to fill the void against a Franklin team still searching for its first win of the season. J.T. Hazard, Jack Waldo, Quinton Gove and Beau Brewer are averaging a point per game each at the early stages of this season and I just think that’s too much firepower for Franklin to try and slow down. It should be a fantastic measuring stick for the Patriots but at the end of the day, Irish run away with this one decisively. 

PREDICTION: 

Livonia Franklin	2
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard	6

 

Port Huron Northern vs. Canton

Saturday, December 14th at 10:00 a.m.

BREAKDOWN: Brendan Dickinson and Cameron Barlass have been two fantastic playmakers for PHN, combining for 23 points through the first six games of the season. But they go up against a scrappy Canton bunch that has given everyone on their schedule fits. The Chiefs have been in close games with Brighton, Hartland, Northville and Stevenson and I think first-year coach Justin Maedel gets his first signature win against a tough opponent Saturday morning. Canton will need strong efforts from Hugo Fonovic and James Monteith to make it happen, though.

PREDICTION:

Port Huron Northern	3
Canton	4

 

Livonia Churchill vs. Grosse Pointe North

Saturday, December 14th at 11:00 a.m.

BREAKDOWN: Tough, tough one here. I think both teams are very evenly matched and could easily go either way. Junior Bryant Riley has been stellar between the pipes for Churchill in its three victories and saw a ton of work in their two shut-out losses. He’s good enough to keep the game close, even if the Chargers offense struggles but Riley will definitely have his hands full with the Norsemen goal scorers. Problem with GPN is they look a little top heavy to me and the bulk of their scoring comes from a core group of five or six skaters. That adds up to a boom or bust result on Saturday… I have my doubts but I’ll go with “boom” and GPN getting the better of Riley. 

PREDICTION:

Livonia Churchill	2
Grosse Pointe North	5

 

Northville vs. Grosse Pointe South

Saturday, December 14th at 12:00 p.m.

BREAKDOWN: The Blue Devils have been the biggest surprise of the MIHL this season. One year removed from a 15-loss season, South is just an overtime loss away from starting ‘19-20 on an eight-game win streak and being undefeated. I really liked the way they competed with Trenton in that 3-2 loss and think GPS is capable of making a lot of noise over the next few months. The outcome, however, may come down to the performance of Northville’s Nick McInchak. The 5-foot-11 senior has six points in the Mustangs’ three wins and just one assist in their three losses. South has neutralized some pretty effective forwards already this season and I think they keep McInchak at bay as well, Blue Devils in a low-scoring affair.

PREDICTION:

Northville	1
Grosse Pointe South	3

 

De La Salle vs. Novi

Saturday, December 14th at 1:00 p.m.

BREAKDOWN: Novi is another team that’s been right on the edge of pulling an upset or two early in the season. Problem for the Wildcats is offensive production and the absence of goal scorers. De La Salle on the other hand, has surrendered 34 goals in six games so the matchup appears to be an opportunity for Novi’s offense to ignite. The Pilots are hurting a bit through the first month of the season and Novi is a hard-working bunch that I can see come in and exploit DLS in an ugly, scrappy, forecheck-heavy game. Cats get a lead early and spend the last period icing the puck, conserving and protecting that lead.

PREDICTION:

De La Salle	2
Novi	3

 

Plymouth vs. Cranbrook

Saturday, December 14th at 2:00 p.m.

BREAKDOWN: Plymouth like Grosse Pointe South, I think is sneaky good this season. Ian Smith is electric and makes teammates around him better, and coach Gerry Vento has a couple depth forwards I like a lot that add some grit to the lineup as well. Because of that, I think the Wildcats can definitely skate with and compete well against Cranbrook. The Cranes, however, have a few playmakers that I’d be concerned about defending against in Jack Wineman and a pair of defensemen in Leyton Stenman and Daniel Juzych. I’m going with Plymouth in possibly my biggest surprise pick of the showcase, but I think the only way they win is if they can find a way to five goals, which won’t be an easy task in this matchup.

PREDICTION:

Plymouth	5
Cranbrook	4

 

Howell vs. U-D Jesuit

Saturday, December 14th at 3:30 p.m.

BREAKDOWN: I love this matchup; I think it has the potential to be a fun one and maybe the most exciting game of the day. Stefan Frantti and Dominic Rossi for the Highlanders… Brendan Zemke and Jimmy Gormley for the Cubs… Lots of depth scorers on both sides with Brent Wolf, Steven Miller and Max Marquette who all have the potential to be major factors in this one. As exciting as they all are, it’ll be the goaltending that determines the outcome. Jury is still out on Howell’s pair of first-year goalies while I think both Blake Nowak and Joey Morency on the opposite side are fully capable of big performances for the Cubs. I don’t know which one gets the start, but I’ll bank on U-D to eek this one out in exciting fashion.

PREDICTION:

Howell	2
U-D Jesuit	4

 

Salem vs. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s

Saturday, December 14th at 4:30 p.m.

BREAKDOWN: The Rocks are absolutely rolling to open up the season! Impressive wins over Cranbrook, Brighton, Howell and Novi — with the first two Ws leading to a Thanksgiving Tournament championship — and they’ve got 12 different goal scorers through the first five games. Devan Grayshaw and Alex Schaumburger lead the charge but like I said, Salem has a lot of guys who can get it done. St. Mary’s on the other hand has been very top heavy, with Krzysztof Petryla, Matt Kuphal and Chris Dundas off to a torrent pace, accounting for 75 percent of the Eaglets’ offense. The OLSM top line is good enough to edge out Salem here but I like coach Ryan Ossenmacher’s chances to gameplan for that and keep their top trio at bay, give me the Rocks.

PREDICTION:

Salem	5
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s	2

 

Livonia Stevenson vs. Trenton

Saturday, December 14th at 5:30 p.m.

BREAKDOWN: Get your stopwatches out. Lace up your spikes. This is gonna be a track meet. Trenton loves to generate offense on the rush and has skilled forwards like Hunter Allen, Collin Preston and Brandon Clark that are dangerous and can create opportunities all by themselves. I think Stevenson would be okay with a fast-paced game getting up and down the ice because they’ve got the speed to not only keep up but dictate the flow of the game as well as the depth to carry that pace from start to finish. In the end, I think the Spartans’ forecheck wears down the Trojans and that constant pressure in the offensive zone leads to Stevenson pulling away late. 

PREDICTION:

Livonia Stevenson	4
Trenton	2

 

Brother Rice vs. Hartland

Saturday, December 14th at 6:30 p.m.

BREAKDOWN: I don’t wanna pick this one. Can I skip it? I’m gonna skip it. No? No, I’ve gotta pick all 11 games? Fine… 

I know whatever I go with, I’m gonna be wrong. I just don’t have a good read on these two teams despite seeing them both in action this season. I’m convinced both lineups are loaded with weapons, and while I love Dakota Kott, Adam Pietila and Andrew Larson on the Eagles’ side, I can’t help but appreciate the starts that Ryan Murphy, D.J. Dixon and Nick Marone are off to as well. Dig into their depth, and there’s significant assets on both benches. Size up the goalies? Great, Ryan Piros has been phenomenal for Hartland and Cooper Duncan put together not one, but two stellar performances against Detroit Catholic Central. So, I think it’s gonna be a low-scoring affair because of the goaltending on both sides — which means now it’ll probably be a 6-4 finish or something — I just think they’re going to frustrate two offenses that would otherwise overwhelm a lesser opponent. 

PREDICTION:

Brother Rice	1
Hartland	2

 

Detroit Catholic Central vs. Brighton

Saturday, December 14th at 7:30 p.m.

BREAKDOWN: Will Jentz is one of the most dominant players in the state and having him in the lineup is single-handedly enough to beat three-fourths of the teams in Michigan. But DCC is anything but average and the Bulldogs rely so heavily on Jentz, that without more playmakers, Brighton is going to have a tough time keeping up with the Shamrocks. I thought CC might take a bit of a step back in ‘19-20 and at least be vulnerable against other Top 5 teams… but then I saw them completely dismantle Rice last Saturday and I’m convinced they may never lose again. Like, ever. I’ve raved about Kyle Gaffney and Dylan Dooley is off to a spectacular start, not to mention Anthony Dimitrievski who leads the team with 14 points in eight games. I expect CC to be in command of this game start to finish and they may even call the dogs off early, keeping the final score from getting really out of hand. 

PREDICTION:

Detroit Catholic Central	6
Brighton	2

 

THERE! Is that not enough?? Are you not entertained?!?

That’s more picks in a single day than I’ve given you all season! You want more? I know, I know… The D-III Showcase is this weekend too. You want picks for that? What more can I do? Eleven predictions weren’t enough? Connect with me on Twitter, you tell me the matchup and I’ll give you my take in 280 characters or less.