Farmington United hockey restores program success one step at a time

FARMINGTON/FARMINGTON HILLS — Whether it’s in the rink, in the school or in the locker room, there’s a different feeling around Farmington United hockey this season.

The team is a co-op between Farmington and North Farmington high schools, and the past few seasons have offered one obstacle after another, including roster size and performance.

The team went winless in 2020 in a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and held a 2-23 record in 2021. Every area had room for improvement.

In came head coach Anthony Lietz, a 2010 Farmington High School graduate who played for the high school hockey team between 2007 and 2009.

Lietz took the head coach position for the 2021 season and immediately got started with rejuvenating the hockey program. 

“When I got here, we restocked the inventory, so to speak, and restocked the shelves, and last year was implementing culture, and we did that,” Lietz said. “Now that we’ve restocked and have a culture, we’re able to go out there and focus on winning games. It’s hard to win games when you don’t have players and the culture’s not there, so I definitely think there’s an order in which things come.”

The 2021 season was less record-based and more about shaping the future, and it’s paying off this season.

Currently 7-4 and first in the Oakland Activities Association White league with a 3-1 division record — Farmington previously held a 3-13 record in the past three years — Farmington is rolling on the offensive end behind senior captain Ryan Elenich.

Elenich, a forward, leads the team with 18 goals and 33 points, which already matches his point total from last season, after joining the team his junior year.

Elenich’s twin brother, Paul, played on Farmington in 2021 without his brother, and Ryan Elenich said he’s enjoyed seeing the team grow over the years.

“It’s really exciting,” Ryan Elenich said. “I got a brother (Paul) who played on the team for some of those years, and I would come to the games. I watched them not do so great. Just like the whole attitude of how everyone and the school sees the team now is really cool. It’s changed a lot.”

Paul Elenich, who currently has 11 points on the season as a defenseman, is one of seven Farmington players to have double-digit points this season, including second-year varsity player and senior forward Chris Wilson.

A vocal leader this season, Wilson is tied for the team high in assists (16) and currently has 22 points on the season.

Wilson went through the trials and tribulations of last season, but he said it’s been a different atmosphere this year for Farmington.

“Personally, I take pride in every game we play in, because even from last year at our home games, we had decent attendance, but it was casual,” Wilson said. “This year, I can honestly say about every home game that we’re rocking the bar every night. That’s why anytime we lose at home, I’m upset, because I feel like we earned this as a program. We’ve earned to come out and have a packed crowd.”

Junior forwards Curtis Kent (22) and Anderson Palmer (15), who broke his wrist at the beginning of last season, have both tallied double-digit points this season while Palmer also carries a heavy lead in the penalty minutes department — a comfortable 22-minute lead to be exact.

“We joke that he doesn’t know the rules sometimes,” Lietz said.

Senior defenseman Will Reich and junior defenseman Jack Nielsen forefront the Farmington backline alongside junior goalie Michael Beals, while sophomore forward Ethan Croll has shown his true potential this season as a potential elite-level player. Junior Enzo Franchi currently has nine points on the year.

When you think of elite-level players in the sophomore class, aside from Croll, sophomore defenseman Brady Brink and sophomore forward Owen Sims should easily come to mind.

Brink and Sims put the OAA league on notice last season when they tallied 25 and 24 points, respectively, and both have returned with a great start to their sophomore campaign.

Brink holds the slight edge in points with 27 compared to Sims’ 22 right now, but there’s nothing they want more than to see each other succeed.

“He’s (Owen) probably one of my smartest players, if not the smartest,” Lietz said. “He just knows where to be. It’s funny," he said, noting that they call Sims Razor, for Detroit Red Wings player Lucas Raymond, and they call Brink Moritz Seider, "because they came in at the same time. Both are similar to those guys in a sense, and they’re definitely not Raymond and Seider, but it’s funny to see them. When Sims scores, Brady gets so excited. When Brady scores, Sims gets so excited.” because they came in at the same time. Both are similar to those guys in a sense, and they’re definitely not Raymond and Seider, but it’s funny to see them. When Sims scores, Brady gets so excited. When Brady scores, Sims gets so excited.”

While Brink and Sims are able to go through the varsity journey together, Sims credits the senior class for pushing the team to succeed this season.

“They play a big part in the team,” Sims said. “Everyone looks up to them, and they make sure everyone is on the right path. That’s really important.”

Players like Brink, Sims and Croll are what Famington and Lietz hope to see more of in the future. Not just because of talent, but because they’re young players who came through the pipeline and grew within the high school program.

Since taking the job in 2021, Lietz has hit the ground running with a primary focus on the middle school players, creating developmental camps for middle schoolers and creating a middle school lunchtime tour where Lietz and the varsity program visit middle schools in the Farmington-Farmington Hills area.

The hope for Farmington is that the mixture of varsity success and middle school interaction will create a sustainable foundation for the high school hockey team.

“Ten years ago is when we won states, and for a lot it seems like it was just yesterday,” Lietz said. “To me, that’s a long time ago. I want to get back to our winning ways and I don’t want to be a last-ditch destination anymore, and I think we’ve proven that.”

With plenty of hockey remaining and a 2-point grip on first place in the league, Farmington is eyeing a proper sendoff for a senior class that brought an immeasurable impact for the program.

Maybe, just maybe, a run in the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 2 state tournament to go along with it for Farmington.

“I think that’s what we’re all thinking about,” Elenich said. “We’re thinking about just our goals and things for the year. We’re looking for playoffs and for OAA champions in our division. It’s big steps for us. It would be really great to see it.”