TRENTON – The cold did nothing to stop high school hockey fans from flocking to Kennedy Recreation Center this weekend for the annual MIHL Prep Hockey Showcase.
Now in its 24th year of existence, this year’s showcase featured a total of 54 teams from the midwest, including the de facto hosts from Trenton, who played two games in as many days.The Division 2 No. 6-ranked Trojans ended up splitting the weekend. After knocking off Lakewood St Edward (OH) by a final score of 7-1 on Friday evening, they suffered a 6-3 loss to D2 No. 5-ranked Byron Center in a Saturday matinee matchup.
Penalty kill struggles doomed the locals, who gave up three power play goals to the Bulldogs.
“What was hard for us tonight is we were in the box quite a bit,” Trenton coach Keith Kneiding said. “(Byron Center) took advantage of those opportunities, which hurt us quite a bit tonight. With our top guys having to kill penalties and also be our top guys in situations like power plays and being out on the regular rotation, we were a little tired come the third period.”
The visitors from the west side of the state took a 2-0 lead first, getting through traffic twice for scores before Trenton went on the power play with 3:41 to go. Thirty seconds later, senior captain Donovan Durbin stretched and reached for the pass, sending it into the lower corner for a 2-1 game after 17 minutes of play.
Late in the middle stanza, trailing by two again after a Bulldogs power play goal, the Trojans were able to tie things up in a flash.
First, it was Brett Allen getting the puck from behind and netting the goal. Five seconds later off the face-off, they went right back to the net and Durbin deposited his second of the evening to tie the game.
Penalties crept up again on Trenton, who went back to the box with 2:22 to go in second. Byron Center wasted no time with a goal just eight seconds into the man-advantage for the de facto game-winning score.
The Bulldogs then added another two unanswered goals (one powerplay) in the third for insurance, one of which again coming on the power play.
While wanting a 2-0 weekend, Trenton was happy with the split in another talent-filled edition of the showcase.
“We’re trying to continue to build towards the playoff time and we’ve got four regular-season games left so a split was huge for us,” Kneiding said. “We were hoping we could be greedy, but there’s a lot of good competition here.
“It’s a lot of great teams and great programs,” Kneiding added. “So we’re happy with the split and we’re hoping we can get a little better tomorrow.”
Hosting the showcase is something that doesn’t come lightly to Trenton and they know just how much work it takes.
“We like to think of this as the premiere showcase in the Midwest when it comes to high school hockey,” Kneiding said. “We’ve got a great, supportive community, a lot of volunteers – there’s committees and a lot of effort goes into pulling this off from rink attendants to the hospitality suite to the zamboni guys.”
Kneiding also gave credit to the goal judges for being there so volunteer to judge goals and keep the lights lit during a score.
“It’s great to have us celebrated and highlighted, and we couldn’t do it without a tremendous amount of volunteers,” he said. “We’re very excited to do all we can to take part, and we’re so glad to host (the tournament); so fortunate.”
UP NEXT
With time winding down before the one-and-done state playoffs begin, Trenton (12-10-1) is looking to stay on top of their game as they inch closer to regionals.
The Trojans will be back in action on February 3 when they take on D1 power Salem back at Kennedy before traveling to take on former longtime playoff rival and another D1 power in Hartland on February 7.
Photo gallery of Trenton vs Byron Center at the annual MIHL Prep Hockey Showcase
