HARTLAND — When told his team will have met Livonia Stevenson in a championship game, a semifinal and a quarterfinal, Hartland hockey coach Rick Gadwa laughed.
“Maybe next year we’ll meet them in a regional and go for the quadruple,” he joked.
That’s up to the MHSAA.
In the meantime, the Eagles and Spartans meet again tonight in a Division 2 quarterfinal at Novi Ice Arena at 7:15 p.m.
The game will be broadcast on The Livingston Post.
Click here for the broadcast link!
Last year, the teams met twice. Hartland beat Stevenson 4-0 in the KLAA championship game, but two weeks later, Stevenson won 5-1 in a Division 2 semifinal.
“Some people said we were gassed because of the Brother Rice game (a quarterfinal win that went overtime), and others said Stevenson said it was a great game, and I think it was more than that,” Gadwa said. “We beat them 3-0 earlier in the season, and I told the guys that that means nothing to me.
“The playoffs are where champions are born,” he continued, “and it’s the second season that really matters. They’re going to have to learn to play on the big stage if they’re going to get it done.”
The key, Josh Albring said, is a fast start.
“If we play our game and start on time, we should get past them,” he said.
One would think the Eagles (23-2-1) have gotten off to a lot of good starts, but Albring politely demurred.
“It sounds like a lot, but we haven’t started on time as much as we’ve wanted to,” he said.
As for Stevenson, “they’re hard-wording,” Albring said. “They get pucks deep, go in straight lines and bang bodies with guys. They just never stop working hard.”
A large crowd is expected, which Gadwa confesses leaves him with mixed emotions.
“Where it does help if you’ve had an experienced team that’s played in front of big crowds,” he said. “Both times have this year, and both of us have returning players who have been part of some really big games.”
The Eagles, like their counterparts in Brighton, have been battling a bug which has gone through the team.
But it’s just another thing to overcome for a team that has made going to the quarterfinals a habit with six regional titles in a row.
Now, another chance to get past one of the few teams to stymie the Eagles in recent years.
“We just try to enforce positive energy and keep working,” said Jed Pietila, Hartland’s second-leading scorer this season. “That’s been huge for us.”
