Detroit Catholic Central wins seventh consecutive hockey state title

NOVI — On March 7, the 2026 Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 1 hockey state title result was the same as the previous six title matches at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth.

The result was, yet again, a Detroit Catholic Central championship. This season’s trophy was earned after a 6-0 victory over Northville.

“Goaltending and defense is the backbone of your team and you’re going to have a lot of success through them,” Detroit Catholic Central head coach Brandon Kaleniecki said. “There’s a lot of team buy-in that comes through that. … These guys really did that as the season and the playoffs went on. You could really see that in the finals.”

The Shamrocks outshot the Northville Mustangs by a whopping total of 47-15, and goalie Nicholas Kogut put up a shutout in the biggest game of the season.

“We played a great game and took care of business,” Detroit Catholic Central captain Jack Dorgan said. “And it all stems from our goalie, Nick Kogut, playing his absolute best game of the season. He posted a shutout and was great.”

One of the many reasons why Catholic Central has been able to sustain its success is depth. Every year, a new wave of talent comes in and moves up the ranks. The evidence of this is the six goals in the title game that were scored from six different individuals.

“We aren’t a one-man team or a two-man team; we had a lot of different guys that we had to lean on throughout the year, and we could (do that),” Kaleniecki said. “It feels great, but it really was important that we had so many different guys stepping up throughout the year.”

In a historic level of dominance, Detroit Catholic Central has only allowed one goal in the last four state title matches combined, and during the streak the team has allowed just four total goals in its seven title games. The team hasn’t allowed more than one goal in any championship match over that stretch.

“Our guys really worry about the process, not so much the end goal,” Dorgan said. “We worry about working each and every day.”

One of the biggest points that Kaleniecki emphasizes every season is that each year is its own team. The coaches and players don’t view it as a long-running stretch that has to be maintained, and the players have bought into that as well.

“It’s our group this year, and our group this season had a good amount of returners, a good group of guys meshing well with the younger kids and leading the way,” Dorgan said.

“Lifting up banners is great with these guys,” he said.

Since the MHSAA established Division 1 for hockey in 2000, Detroit Catholic Central has won 17 of the 26 championships and appeared in 20 of the 26. Kaleniecki has been the head coach for eight titles, winning his first in 2016.

“I try not to think about it too much. Obviously, we have a lot of pride in the program … and that carries over,” Kaleniecki said. “But our focus is on that year and that year only, because it’s that team’s turn … And (the players) are ready to take that opportunity and run with it.”

The first contest of the 2026-2027 MHSAA boys hockey season is this fall on Nov. 2.