It’s been a season of challenges for Trenton boys ice hockey.
The traditional Division 2 power arrives in the postseason this week ranked in the top 10, but sporting a 14-12-1 record, a result of a gauntlet regular-season schedule. A six-game losing streak followed an 8-0 start, and it’s been a mental test for the players to not get hung up on results, head coach Chad Clements said, as Trenton went without a consecutive win or loss across the final 13 games of the regular season.
“It’s a very difficult process,” Clements said. “Everyone wants to win. And when you lose a couple in a row or a few in a row, or you win and lose and win and lose, mentally it’s very challenging.”
But a fresh season begins this Friday for Trenton in the state playoffs in a regional semifinal, as it will face the winner of Temperance Bedford and Brownstown Woodhaven. And Clements is hopeful the difficulties of the regular season can be the foundation of a strong postseason run.
Clements lauded his team for the mental navigation to get to this point.
“Hopefully our character has been developed throughout the entire season,” Clements said.
To make a run in the playoffs, it’s no secret the players that Trenton will lean on.
Forwards Brett Allen, Grandon Echols and Donovan Durbin lead the scoring for Trenton with 52, 49 and 46 points, respectively. Durbin leads the team in goals with 29 in 25 games. Zach Lamay and Jaden Jones have been valuable contributors, too, with 39 and 30 points, respectively.
On defense Trenton has a group headed up by five upperclassmen, including some players moving to the back line for the first time in their careers: Patrick Rogowski, Jesse Bradford, Jack Brownlie, Ethan Gilbert and Colin Stark. Gilbert anchors the group on and off the ice, Clements said, and sophomore Aidan Daugherty rounds out the defense.
And in net, Trenton has used a trio of goaltenders, headed up by Theo Dull, who has made the majority of starts but has been spelled regularly by Thomas Hartnett and Aidan Petrimoulx.
“We’re going to work our hardest to put the best team on the ice come playoffs,” Clements said.
It’s an experienced and productive group that finished the regular season a hair above .500, in large part due to a brutal schedule, which is by design.
Trenton played ranked teams across all three divisions in the state, from local foes like Cranbrook and Riverview Gabriel Richard, west-side giants like Byron Center and Grandville, or even U.P. powers Houghton and Calumet.
The resulting record might not be pretty for the regular season, but it has tested a talented and deep Trenton team at every turn. And if it works out as designed, Clements and this Trenton team will be ready for whatever comes its way when the puck drops on the 2026 state tournament.
South Lyon surges
South Lyon Unified has had some solid teams in recent years, most notably in head coach Dennis Gagnon’s first season in 2023-24.
But entering the state tournament at 21-4-2 and a ranking in the top 10 of Division 3 has Gagnon optimistic about his team entering the postseason.
“We know we can play with the big boys and we’re very excited for the upcoming regional,” Gagnon said.
The team, which pulls players from South Lyon High School and South Lyon East High School, features a number of high-octane goal scorers.
Nathan Ligi leads the way with 38 goals and 44 assists for 82 regular-season points. That’s good for fourth best in the entire state. And Ligi is aided by Braden Hillebrand (69 points) and Jackson Curtiss (43), Aiden Petrovich (35) and Conor Day (33).
And with Keegan Korpi and a 90.1% save percentage in net, the South Lyon Unified team is bullish on making a run this postseason.
It will take some strong performances to get out of a region that also features defending champion Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, but after a successful regular season, this South Lyon Unified team knows it has the goods to make something special happen in the state tournament.
“It would be great to play them later, maybe even at USA Arena in the semis, but we’re looking forward to the challenge,” Gagnon said, making sure not to overlook what will be a difficult regional semifinal matchup prior to a potential OLSM matchup. “We’re going to have to play them at some point if we’re going to be crowned the kings.”
Staskowski paces Chippewa Valley
Jim Andonoff has a lot of sophomores and juniors on his Chippewa Valley United team, and that has him cautiously optimistic about what the postseason can hold.
With a team so young and needing some seasoning, he’s seen the group evolve over the course of the regular season and get demonstrably better. There’s a comfort and confidence that his then-green roster didn’t have earlier this season. So when the team hits the ice to face Romeo in a regional semifinal on Friday, Andonoff hopes to get off on the right foot.
“We’re going to go right at ‘em. That’s the game plan. Go right at ‘em and don’t let up,” Andonoff said.
Pulling athletes from both Macomb Dakota High School and Chippewa Valley High School, the current roster is almost entirely players from Dakota.
Cameron Staskowski leads the offensive efforts, averaging more than a goal per game as he’s racked up 58 points. He’s getting a boost from teammates Caileb Peterson, Cooper Jones, Zhane Austin, Nolan Young and his younger brother, Colby Staskowski, all of whom have scored 20-plus points this season.
Goaltending has been a bit of a bugaboo for Chippewa Valley United this season, but Andonoff likes the way the trio of Croft Rosales, Colin Vanvallis and Joe Trachsel have been playing of late.
And while it will be a challenge to unseat league rival Utica Eisenhower to get out of the regional, Chippewa Valley United enters ready to give its best shot.
“I’m excited to see how these young guys are going to respond,” Andonoff said. “Typically throughout the year when we’ve played teams that are really good, the kids really step it up.”
Andrew Graham is a freelance writer.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Metro Detroit hockey notes: Trenton savors fresh opportunity in postseason
Reporting by Andrew Graham, Special to The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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