Hartland hockey team begins season with U.P. trip

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The high school hockey season begins this week, and the Hartland squad is beginning the season on a road trip  to Houghton.

It’s the second year in a row the Eagles, who got to the Division 2 semifinals last season, have been to the Copper Country of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Teams that have made the trip, which has been done most often by Brighton, have done it for both the hockey and for team bonding.

“You look at it two ways,” Gadwa said. “Either you’re on a bus for 10 hours, and some people think that’s awful, or when you’re with a new team with new players and a lot to cover. We’re going to use our bus ride as a film study, like an off-the-ice practice where we go over schemes and systems.”

On the ice, the Eagles will play Houghton on Friday night and defending Division 3 champion Hancock on Saturday afternoon.

“There’s no better way to show the new guys coming in what high school hockey is all about,” Gadwa said, “whether it’s Houghton, Hancock, Calumet, whatever team is up there. If they’re the top team or the third team (of the three), they’re always going to give you a good game.”

For some players, there’s a family aspect, too.

“We have guys on our team who have cousins who play up there,” Gadwa said. “There’s a lot of interfamily (woofing) they like to settle in a hockey game.”

The team’s stay in Houghton will be brief, less than 48 hours.

“We’re going to get home around 2 (a.m. Sunday),” Gadwa said. “Then we give them a Sunday to recoup and sleep in their own bed and watch football if they want, because we get right back to it on Monday. If we’re coming back Sunday afternoon or evening, there’s no time for them to recover.”

Unlike midwinter trips, there is no snow on the ground in Houghton, although snow is in the forecast for Saturday.

Opening the season on the road in the U.P. is something new, but not unusual for Hartland.

“Every year I change something,” Gadwa said of his schedule. “I want to make it different, because every season is different in high school hockey. We haven’t taken a beginning-of-the-season trip with our players, and we have high-skilled, quality guys coming in as well as our returners. I wanted to bond this season a little quicker this year, as opposed to waiting until January.”

It’s not all work and no play for the Eagles, who will have some TVs on the bus for an XBox hockey tournament to help pass the time.

Brighton has made the trip to Houghton for 15 seasons, and Pinckney has made a couple of trips there as well. Howell will be there between the holidays for a tournament at Michigan Tech University.

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