Houghton is one of three high-school hockey programs nestled in the middle of the Keweenaw Peninsula, and for years it has stood in the long shadow cast by its rival program Calumet, located 13 miles north up Hwy. 41.

But with its first appearance last year in a state championship finals’ game since 1995, and with a current team that Markham calls “very coachable and hard working,” the Gremlins have stepped into the spotlight, especially after beating Calumet twice in a week’s time by a combined score of 13-1. Other wins have been closer—3-2 over Rochester United back in November, and 5-3 over Farmington Hills Unified in the middle of December.

“We are getting the best efforts from our opponents,” said Markham, now in his 14^th season as the Gremlins' head coach. “Teams are very excited to play us and give us everything they’ve got. It’s good that we have to prepare for everyone’s best efforts, and it's something we've earned from the success from last year.”

That makes the sparkling 9-1-season record more encouraging, especially considering that Houghton returned only three seniors from last year’s Division 3 runner-up team of last March. The success influenced a larger tryout pool in the fall of 2012.

“We had 43 kids tryout for the Varsity,” said Markham. “The kids we cut were put on the JV team, and we even had to cut some kids from the JV team because of the high level of interest. Just about every hockey player in the high school is on the Varsity. Our success last season definitively increased the interest among the freshmen and sophomores.”

One could surmise that 2012-13 is a continuation of last year rather than a fresh beginning. After the obligatory and well-earned post-season recognition, the returning players immediately got to work with off-season conditioning.

“They got a taste of the ride and of how exciting it was,” said Markham. “They worked hard in the off season with the objective of getting back to Compuware.”

Which brings us to the items that need improvement. Markham, himself a Houghton alumnus and former player and captain for the high school’s Varsity, never experienced the success his present team is enjoying. Graduation in 2012 left a gap in physical maturity and presence on the ice that he’s noticing when the team transitions from offense to defense.

“We’re focusing on some of those technical things that really make a difference come playoff time,” said Markham. “If we keep working at the same high level, we can get there.”

Still, the Gremlins have only trailed the opposition in four periods the entire season, three of them in their only loss, a December 27, 6-3 setback against Sault Ste Marie, which is 8-2 on the year.

“The game was a lot closer on the ice than the score indicated,” said Markham.

Sophomore goalie Marcus Gloss has surrendered only 13 goals in six games this season after he absorbed the SSM loss, and he sports an impressive 2.17 GAA and .908 save percentage. Fellow underclassmen Jayson Wiitala’s numbers are as notable: 1.75 and .907 respectively.

“We’re rotating the two goalies, and they are competing to see who will be the main guy going forward,” said Markham.

As for the guys responsible for putting the puck in the net, they’re set. Connor Hannon and Ray Brice are the clear one-two combination that opponents need to stop. They lead the team with 22 points each. Hannon has seven game-winning goals.

“They are high-end players with high-end skills,” said Markham. “They have been very strong. They move the puck well, especially on the power play.”

Markham considers defenseman Hunter Rajala and Tristan Foltz the core of a defense that has been on the ice for only 20 opposition goals on the year.

“They log a lot of minutes for us,” said Markham. “And Hunter is the pulse of the team. Everything flows through him.”

Looking ahead, the Gremlins will narrow their singular focus to complete the task that they accepted with a measure of surprise a year ago.

“No one expected us make it in the playoffs as far as we did last season,” said Markham. “We had a lot of good feelings about what happened. We work hard every day, and the chances for success are much higher when you have a group like this.”