Grosse Pointes

Full potential ahead

By Mike Moore
C & G Sports Writer

GP hockey teams end 2010 tournament with some bright futures in store

GROSSE POINTE — He’s never been a fan of the word “rebuilding,” nor has he ever thought very highly of the meaning it implies.

So understandably, James Bufalino didn’t use it when speaking of the recently completed hockey season.

But the first-year Grosse Pointe South coach understood 2009-10 was going to be a year of, as he put it, “transition,” and that was before the first puck dropped.

Looking back, he knows that transition has set his program up for some success in the very near future.

“I look at this team and these guys, and I can say without a doubt that every one of them improved as hockey players and as young men this year,” Bufalino said.

South lost to Warren De La Salle 5-0 in a Division 2 pre-regional opener March 1, ending the season with a 9-14-1 record.

Bufalino admitted he would have loved to have won more, adding, “these guys know losing breaks my heart.” At the same time, he understood that this being his first year with the program and incorporating 14 new players to the team would lead to some rebuilding, or transitioning, if you will.

The 5-0 loss to De La Salle — the No. 3-ranked team in D-2 — looks lopsided, but South was playing without its top two scorers, six players in all, because of injury.

With a healthy squad back in January, South lost to the Pilots 4-3.

“We would have loved to play them with everybody,” Bufalino said with a laugh.

He’ll have everybody, or least most guys, back next season. The Blue Devils will graduate eight seniors, but as many as 17 players could return next winter.

“This is a program that expects to win state titles,” Bufalino said. “Those are the types of goals we’re going to set around here.”

Big expectations, as well

De La Salle also eliminated North 6-4 in a pre-regional game March 3. The Norsemen, playing in D-2 for the first time in years, led 2-0 in the first period, 3-2 in the second and were tied 4-4 before the Pilots notched the game winner late in the third. The Pilots then added an empty-net goal.

“Maybe we got caught up in the moment or something, I’m not too sure,” coach Scott Lock said of his team surrendering the lead. “This was a tough loss, but you have to give De La Salle credit. They took advantage of our mistakes.”

Much like South, there are brighter days, and longer playoff runs, ahead for the Norsemen. Lock isn’t a coach to use the “rebuilding” word either, but he too was working with a roster dominated by youth.

The flip side of that is the possibility of returning 16 players next year to a team that finished 11-13-2 this winter.

“I think most programs would have been ecstatic with the year we had, given how young we were. Truthfully, we have some higher standards than the pre-regionals,” Lock admitted.

“With that said, though, to look at where we started this year and compare it to where we ended, it’s night and day. These kids came a long way and improved a ton. Looking ahead to next year, you can’t help but be excited at our potential.”

Luck of the draw

Success didn’t have to wait until next season for University Liggett, a team that ended the year with a 25-1-1 overall record.

Of course, facing the two-time defending Division 3 champ didn’t exactly make things easy in the regional final, as the Knights were eliminated by Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood by a 6-2 score March 5.

“It was a tough game against a very good team,” coach Robb McIntyre said of the loss.

“They took advantage of the mistakes we made and capitalized on them, but there’s no shame in losing to a team like that. They are big and strong, and could roll to a state title.”

As for his squad’s 25-win season?

“A lot to be proud of,” McIntyre said. “We did a lot of good things. We’ll probably turn up the difficulty (schedule) next year to be better prepared for games like (the Cranbrook loss). But overall, I’m real proud of the year we had.”

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Mike Moore at mmoore@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1038.