St. Clair Shores

G.P. North and St. Clair Shores Unified all set to renew hockey history

By Mike Moore
C & G Sports Writer

» Click on image to view full size « Photo by Patricia O’Blenes Freshman defenseman Jacob Fry and the rest of the Shores hockey team will be tested right off the bat in the D-1 playoffs. The Lakers host Grosse Pointe North at 8 p.m. Feb. 27. Photo by Patricia O’Blenes Freshman defenseman Jacob Fry and the rest of the Shores hockey team will be tested right off the bat in the D-1 playoffs. The Lakers host Grosse Pointe North at 8 p.m. Feb. 27.

There’s no specific formula for a good rivalry.

Some, based on proximity of teams, are natural.

Others gain strength over the course of annual meetings in the regular season, eventually blossoming to that date “circled on the calendar,” as coaches and players so often say.

But then there are the ones born of sheer desperation, matchups that may not happen every year, but do seem to fall when the most is on the line.

On Feb. 27, the Grosse Pointe North and St. Clair Shores Unified hockey teams will renew one such rivalry.

“This is where rivalries are really made, isn’t it?” North coach Scott Lock said of the Division 1 pre-regional opener, an 8 p.m. game at the St. Clair Shores Civic Arena. “You look over the years and how many times we played each other in the playoffs — the overtimes, the battles, everything. That made for something special. We expect the same this year.”

Told of Lock’s assessment, and the difference in a playoff rivalry and one built in the regular season, Lakers coach Russ DiCristofaro was in lockstep.

“Absolutely, this is something special,” he said. “In the nine years I’ve been here, we may have played them once, maybe, in the regular season. But when you face a team like North that’s as good as they are in the playoffs, it makes for a great game.”

Because North moved to Division 2 two years ago, the teams were unable to hook up come late February. But now the Norsemen are back in D-1, so the postseason rivalry can continue.

The last time the two squads met was in a regional semifinal in 2009, an eventual 6-1 win for North. The Norsemen also won the 2008 meeting 3-0 in a pre-regional, and the year before, won what was one of the craziest playoff games of 2007, a 3-2, triple-overtime thriller.

Shores hasn’t beaten North in the postseason since 2006.

But, as both squads prep for the 2012 chapter of this playoff novel, it’s clear nothing is going to come easy.

At press time, Shores was 12-5-4 overall, one point behind the top spot in the Macomb Area Conference Red Division with a 5-0-3 mark, and was one of the top defensive teams in the entire league, having allowed just 39 goals against all year.

Though North’s 9-12-0 record was hardly as flashy, both coaches were quick to point to the tough competition of the Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League, and Lock was quick to note how competitive his team has been of late.

“I think we’ve proven all year that we can play with just about anybody,” he said before a 2-0 victory against Wyandotte Roosevelt Feb. 15. “The key for us is getting everyone healthy. Right now, we’ve got about six guys missing from the lineup for some reason or another. If we can get those guys back, and we can play our game and get a few good bounces, I think we’ll have a good chance.

“(Shores) still does a lot of the same things we’ve seen in the past, even if Russ is in his first year as the head coach,” Lock continued. “They are going to be disciplined. They’re going to play with a ton of passion, and don’t forget, we have to go to their barn and play on their home ice.”

Shores has lost just twice at home in 10 games.

“We’re comfortable in front of our fans, and there will be a lot of them out there,” DiCristofaro said. “But I think goaltending will be the biggest factor. If Joe (Sedrowski) has a big game, were going to be in good shape. We kind of go as he goes. Either way, it’s going to be fun. We’ll prepare as best we can, give it our best effort and see what happens.”

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