Earlier this week on Monday, the Michigan High School Hockey Coaches Association announced that it would be adding a new name to its Hall of Fame.
Former longtime local coach Skip Howey is slated to become 32nd inductee.“As a young hockey player coming up through the Trenton Hockey Association, the primary goal was to not make the National Hockey League, but our dream was to play Trenton High School hockey,” Howey said in a statement. “I was fortunate enough to achieve that goal.”
Howey parlayed his youth playing days into a collegiate stint at Western Michigan University, where he served as a team captain. His coaching career began not too long after departing Kalamazoo.
Howey first found himself on the bench at Riverview Gabriel Richard for one season in 1982. He then was presented with a chance to coach Trenton for roughly a dozen years (1983-1994).
During that time with his alma mater, Howey guided the Trojans to Class A state championships in both 1986 and 1991. Those each came after finishing as the state runner-up the year prior.
After stepping away to focus on his family, Howey returned to the coaching stint and stayed in the Downriver area, leading the Grosse Ile program from 2006-11.
“Throughout my career, hockey has always been a powerful platform for preparing players for the next level of life,” Howey said. “Our goal was to develop winners both on and off the ice.
“We consistently reminded our players that hockey contains all of the ingredients for life,” Howey added. “Hard work, discipline, sacrifice, teamwork, respect, learning how to win, and learning how to lose.”
Howey becomes the the fifth from the Downriver and Dearborn areas to be inducted into the MHSHCA HOF, joining the likes of Mike Turner (Trenton, 2005 inductee), Bryan Sullivan (Brownstown Woodhaven, 2011), Brian Dallas (Dearborn Divine Child and Dearborn Unified, 2011), and Mike Quint (Wyandotte Rooosevelt, 2018).
“I was truly fortunate to coach three great teams and to be part of a game that teaches lessons for beyond the rink,” Howey said.”
