High School hockey state finals

[Goalieman 0]

Michigan high school hockey Division 1 state finals went into 8 overtimes. After the last overtime, the MHSAA, refs, and coaches decided to crown the teams CO-CHAMPS! what a joke.

[thejackal 46]

wow....

[crazylegs_9 0]

Yeah, read that earlier today. I dont think the game should have been called because of kids being tired. If the kids are tired...quit using the same 10 kids! I think if they are that tired, the team that uses the fresh guys regardless of level will win the game.

[ambro 0]

That is a joke. My sophomore year we had a state tournament quarterfinals game go six overtimes before we won. Had to play the semis the next day, and still almost won (probably should have). I could see that being fine in a regular season game, but seriously, the state championship?!? That would just piss me off as a player.

[DCott 0]

my high school school had to share the Mass soccer championship with a tie also, except they weren't even given a shootout or overtime at all.

[big_bt 0]

damn 8 overtimes ?

full ot or just 5 minute ot ?

[crazylegs_9 0]

8 min

[epstud74 24]

Michigan high school hockey Division 1 state finals went into 8 overtimes. After the last overtime, the MHSAA, refs, and coaches decided to crown the teams CO-CHAMPS! what a joke.

That kind of sucks. I'm a big fan of the shoot-out that the pros employ nowadays. I think the NCAA should follow the same format, ties are worthless. What teams tied?

[kosydar 0]

They stopped going to overtime in high school championships here altogether because the losing goalie in a soccer game killed himself.

[DCott 0]

They stopped going to overtime in high school championships here altogether because the losing goalie in a soccer game killed himself.

thats right someone told me that. I thought it was a fan who killed herself after her team lost though.

[ddbowdoin 0]

my high school school had to share the Mass soccer championship with a tie also, except they weren't even given a shootout or overtime at all.

CM lost is the Massachusetts Super 8 tourney, very upset about that...

its ok, we're still a high school hockey dynasty

[greech 4]

The stopping OT concept is a joke. My team lost out on the Mass D2 finals because the MIAA decided a single, 8-minute overtime is enough to settle a game. If not, it goes to a shootout. In the playoffs. It's tough to watch the seniors end their careers after a 5-man shootout.

[epstud74 24]

They stopped going to overtime in high school championships here altogether because the losing goalie in a soccer game killed himself.

thats right someone told me that. I thought it was a fan who killed herself after her team lost though.

That is still a stupid reason. People are too sensitive these days.

[hellkitty 0]

My hockey team i'm playing for this year lost in the semi's in 7 ot's in national last year and what is even more nuts was they only had 8 skaters. Nuts!! Oh yeah and my old HS hockey team lost in the finals 3-2. It would have been 3 championships in a row too. We lost to our rivals which sucks even more.

[NoAngleDangler 0]

Co-Champ's is weak. I've been a co-champ before and it is a real hallow victory.

[lampliter87 8]

we had a state quarterfinal go to 4 OT's, and then it was decided to go to a shootout (where we lost) because our ice slot ran over so long... we were playing at a D-1 college arena though, so we weren't really the priority when there was a conflict

[brettlynch11 0]

i just lost a tourny in a shootout....and i had the chance to win it for my team

lets just say i havent been sleeoing well since haha

[brettlynch11 0]

by the way who were the teams in the championship?

[Bryan Czajka 0]

I think Marquette and Orchard Lake St. Mary's

[prenny207 1]

I will start with the fact that I am not a fan of the Co-Champ idea either... that being said, i also do not believe in a shootout for a championship game like this either. MHSAA (michigan high school rules) do not allow for a shootout, therefor, they could not use that to determine a winner.

these are words from one of the coaches, that were passed on to me late sunday "the players stopped sweating" concern for the players well being was the reason the game was stopped. dehydration of the players was extreme. the decision was made by both athletic directors and both head coaches. from what i was told, the players were ok with it. the real truth of that will come out in the future.

a few years ago, i personally coached a game that went into 16 overtimes. we lost 1-0 on a deflection off of our own D's stick. overtimes were 5 minutes. so it worked out to be about the same length of this game. i can tell you, i have never seen a team so tired before. as a coach, you do have to worry about your players health. in our lawsuit happy society, imagine what would happen had this High School game go on for another couple overtimes and a player get seriously ill or die. it would not be pretty.

[Hobbes_86 0]

This is an excerpt from today's Detroit Free Press:

After No. 4, exhaustion kicked in. The players ate fruit and drank as much water as they could. The coaches didn't say much.

After No. 6, the locker rooms were quiet. Dehydration became an issue. Some players weren't even sweating anymore. The St. Mary's players who didn't dress went upstairs to the concessions to buy Snickers bars for their teammates. Likewise, the Marquette coach's wife bought Nutter Butters for his players.

"My legs were cramping up," St. Mary's captain Billy Balent recalled. "I could barely move. In the early intermissions, I'd take off the upper part (of his pads). The last two times they resurfaced the ice, I left it on because I was too tired to take it off."

* * *

Meanwhile, away from the locker rooms, MHSAA officials began discussions of pronouncing co-champs. Randy Allen, the MHSAA assistant director in charge of hockey, approached both athletic directors and both supported a tie.

The rulebook says to play until a winner. Having a shoot-out wasn't an option because it hadn't been approved by the rules committee.

"Not only was there a matter of physical exhaustion," Allen said, "but the kids hadn't had nutrition since early in the afternoon. We had to make a responsible decision."

[sitzlejd 0]

That is crazy. I still would rather have a shootout than end in a tie but it sounds like the refs didn't have much of a choice. What about ending and continuing at a later date? Didn't that just happen in an NBA game (Hawks v. Heat I think).

[Penguinsfanatic 0]

that would really piss me off because i know how that feels to be so close to being the state champ.

[Hobbes_86 0]

Good point. Finishing at a later date would in my book been a good idea, but that would involve ice time and travel hassles. Also I'm sure the losing team would find some detail to argue about. I.e. length of travel, loss of momentum ect.

I think faced with a tough decision in this 'sue them all' world we live in the refs did the best possible thing. The way I took the article was that the refs were afraid of the kids health so I can agree with the decision.

I can also understand the disappointment too.

[Dangles919 0]

Im still in aw of them doing this.. it was the 2nd longest game in high school history which is one of the reasons it irritates me because it wasnt even the longest game had it been above and beyond the longest game then so be it but atleast let it get that far before calling it someones bound to score in 2 OTs with both teams being exhausted