Sports
Novi hockey Bloomfield Hills 8-0
After Wednesday's 8-0 win over Bloomfield Hills, Novi hockey coach Anthony Lietz walked into the Wildcats' locker room at Novi Ice Arena, hung his jacket in his locker and grabbed some white hockey tape.
And then he went to work, taping the edges of the puck he was holding in his hands.
And that puck? It was the one used in his first win with the Wildcats, when Lietz left Farmington United, the cooperative between his alma mater, Farmington High School, and North Farmington, after three seasons to rebuild Novi.
But make no mistake: this is not your typical rebuilding project. The Wildcats (1-0-0) will win a lot of games this winter. They have a lot of great players, several of whom will be All-Kensington Lakes Activities Association selections when the postseason arrives.
No, this is a rebuilding project because Lietz is Novi's fourth head coach in as many years. The talent doesn't need to be fixed here. It's the culture in the locker room.
And judging by the scene after he completed his tape job on that milestone puck, the rebuild is ahead of schedule.
“When you first come into a program like this with the coaching changes, it's the elephant in the room,” Lietz said. “This program has won a state championship. It's a team that competes against the top teams in the state. So for me, from the time I got the job, when I got here, my mentality was always to make it look like I I've always been here for those older guys too, especially because you hear the term “revolving door” and things like that. So over the summer I felt like our group of guys were working on becoming a family, and That's true. I'm already starting to flirt with becoming one.”
More:KLAA Hockey Media Day: 4 questions about the coming season
It certainly seems that way.
The players stood around Lietz in the locker room to watch him present the milestone puck.
Soon after, the captains picked the stars of the game, and there were many to choose from in a victory that ended after the second period via mercy rule. They also handed out a necklace featuring the Wildcats mascot, a necklace they give to the “Swaggiest Player of the Game.” It was a no-brainer to award that chain to Lietz as he earned his first win with his new team.
“We gave it to Coach because he's just always a super positive guy and always brings the swag,” said captain Trevor Reed, who banked in a goal early in the second period. “We just wanted to honor him by giving him the necklace because he has done so much in building the camaraderie and the family that we are building here.
“The first thing he told us when he came in was that he wanted to build a great culture. I definitely saw that happen as we worked through the summer and fall. Since he got here, he's done a great job of getting us ready .”
More:How Farmington United hockey will continue to grow without coach Anthony Lietz
If anyone can see Lietz's vision, it's Reed.
He was a sophomore on Novi's baseball team when it won a state championship in 2023.
And he has seen one coaching change after another with the hockey program, from former coach Mark Vellucci, who was fired before the 2022-23 season, to Dominic Lis, who resigned after that season to leave the state, and Dane Baruzzini, who finished 9-16-0 in his first and only season as head coach in 2023-2024.
So the captain has experienced what it takes to get your program to the promised land, and he's seen what it's like when a team hits the reset button three seasons in a row.
Having a player who knows what it takes to hoist championship trophies should be a boon as Lietz and the Wildcats move on from a team with a “revolving door” at head coaching and inch closer to a six-time program competition has stood. final four and won a state title in 2011.
“With guys like Reed, it's like having an expansion of the coaching staff,” Lietz said. “Regardless of the sport, he is a champion and he knows what it takes to win. He knows we didn't win tonight just because of the way we played tonight. He knows we won in practice on Monday. We won it on Monday.” On Tuesday he understands that we win based on how we do things (in the lead up to games), and you can also see that these guys are just so hungry. You don't have to beg them to work, they just want to do it for you.”
Goaltender Gabriel Lelli was in net for the shutout, while Teddy Donahue scored two goals.
Marco Medico, Luke Londo, Colin Tunney, Brady Chippa and Collin Hoppe also scored for the Wildcats.
Chippa's goal, one of four shorthanded goals scored by Novi, came with 20.8 seconds left in the second period to ensure the eight-goal mercy rule. They sent six players into the penalty area.
“It was a great team effort,” Reed said. “It was great to see the guys pick each other up when we were dealing with the penalty. It's a team game and we picked each other up when it looked like we were in trouble.”
But the Wildcats were all smiles afterward.
They got the post-match party started by playing “Grove Street Party” by Waka Flocka Flame, while Lietz and Lettman went out into the hallway to take a “Player of the Game” selfie for social media.
It was a statement win in their season opener, and they should have many more with the swaggiest coach around on the bench.
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on Twitterat@folsombrandonj.
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