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MI-HS alums take home Fraser Cup

By Craig Peterson, 04/01/18, 4:00PM EDT

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12 former HS players earn NA3HL national championship

The Metro Jets won the 2018 Fraser Cup championship, defeating the St. Louis Jr. Blues 3-2 in overtime on Saturday. It was the Jets’ first NA3HL championship in 16 years and it came thanks in part from the contributions of 12 players with MI-HS backgrounds.

Captain Griffin Sawyer (Trenton, 2016) and alternate captains Robby Flannery (Berkley Unified, 2015) and Trevor Momot (Anchor Bay, 2016) provided veteran leadership all season long for the Jets, while goaltenders Andrew Kormos (Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, 2015) and Jacob McClelland (Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 2017) spent significant time between the pipes this season.

Kyle Gierman (Cranbrook, 2017), Joey Bruce (Walled Lake Western, 2016), Jeremy Schwartz (Warren Mott, 2016), Mathieu LaForest (St. Clair Shores Unified, 2015), Matt Schaumburger (Salem, 2017) and Rhett Limback (Alpena, 2016) all finished the 47-game regular season with 30-or-more points with Jordan Guske (Anchor Bay, 2017) also spending time with the organization.

“It was unreal to witness these kids win the big game, especially since we were defeated in the same championship game the previous two years,” said assistant coach Randy Wilson.

Wilson has been a staple not just in high school hockey, but amateur hockey in the metro-Detroit area serving as a goalie coach and instructor for many years. He has also spent significant time with Team Michigan and had a hand in moving several MI-HS players on to play junior hockey.

“It was really awesome to see kids like Flannery, Kormos, Sawyer, Momot and others that have been here two or three years finally get rewarded for their dedication and commitment,” Wilson said. “Not only these guys but our team had very good representation of Michigan high school players.”

Metro made it to the championship game for a third consecutive season, coming up short in their two previous appearances in 2017 and 2016 before reigning victorious over the weekend. The Jets needed overtime in Friday’s semifinal game -- avenging their championship loss to Granite City from a season ago -- just to get to the championship game. Then on Saturday, the Jets’ early 2-0 lead evaporated into a tie game and headed to overtime for a second consecutive night.

Jhuwon Davis came through for the Jets in sudden death, with assists from Limback and Sawyer, ending the game and the season with a Fraser Cup championship.

The Jets went 40-6-1 during the regular season and took first place in the East Division, winning nine consecutive playoff games en route to their first NA3HL championship since 2002.