Rick Gadwa admitted Sunday to being surprised at the annual hockey coaches’ meeting on Saturday.
He was there at the meeting, held on the day of the state championships at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, to push for his players to make the Division 2 all-state team.
Hartland ended up well-represented, with an astonishing five players making the first team, which is almost unheard-of, and with Gadwa being named the Division 2 coach of the year.
“I was a little surprised,” he said Sunday. “I wasn’t even thinking about it. I went there looking for our players and making sure they were well-represented. My assistant showed me that I had won.”
Gadwa did his best to downplay his role in Hartland’s success this season. The Eagles went 24-3-1 before bowing out with a 5-1 loss to Livonia Stevenson in the semifinals.
“I’m not good at taking credit,” he said. “I had good assistant coaches and good players.”
Forwards Luke Cowan and Josh Appling, goalie Christian Spengler and seniors Joe Ullstrom and Kyle Mazur all were named to the first team.
“We were fortunate enough to have a lot of coaches vote for our players,” Gadwa said. “I’m thankful for the coaches’ votes and am really proud of the boys.”
All but Albring are seniors, and Albring, a sophomore, has gotten onto the radar of scouts after an 81-point season, including a hat trick in the quarterfinals against Birmingham Brother Rice.
“If he moves on, that will be great,” Gadwa said. “I expect him to at some point, but I don’t know if it’s next year. I want to make sure he’s ready and I’ll work with him over the summer. He had a great year, but at the next level, everything is tougher.”
Gadwa admitted to being “flabbergasted, but in a good way,” with the five first-team selections.
“Especially with how loaded Division 2 was this year,” he said. “There were names that weren’t on the team I thought would be. Obviously, I believed they all deserved to be here, but it’s shocking to have them all there at the same time.
“It was a nice pleasant surprise when things aren’t going well after losing a shot at the (state) title,” he added. “It’s special for each individual.”
Winning coach of the year was special for Gadwa, too, but to a point.
“I guess it’s good,” he said, “but I’d trade it for a state championship trophy any day.”
In Division 1, Brighton’s Lee Pietila, Nick Foran and Logan Neaton were named to the first team as were Howell’s Max DiCicco, Justin Zeiter and Nate George. Second-team selections included forwards Joey Clifford of Brighton and Niko Montrose of Grand Ledge-Fowlerville, and defensemen Jay Keranen (Brighton) and Nick Toth (Howell). Howell forward Russ Daavettila was named honorable mention.
In Division III, Connor Smith, who scored a team-record 54 goals for Pinckney this season, was named to the second team.
