The Reeths-Puffer hockey team wrapped up its O-K Conference season on Friday night with an exciting 5-2 road victory over Kenowa Hills.
Senior Croix Klint was the hero, scoring a three-goal hat trick in a game that was tied after two periods before the Rockets took control in the third.
The win was Reeths-Puffer’s ninth in a row, and under normal circumstances would have been cause for the Rockets to celebrate a co-championship.
Reeths-Puffer and Sparta both finished with 9-1 records in the O-K Fischer Division and split a pair of games against each other, so logic would suggest that they would both get a trophy.
But due to an odd O-K Conference by-law regarding hockey, there can be no co-champions. If there is a tie at the top of the standings, the title is determined by each team’s overall goal differential during the season, and Sparta has the edge in that category.
R-P's Croix Klint, who had three goals and an assist.
So the Rockets finished second in the division, which is a tough pill to swallow for first-year R-P Coach Dustin Langlois and his players, after a long season of battling and improving and staying in the championship race.
“Hockey is the only sport where they do this,” Langlois said. “I don’t know where it came from or how it happened, but that’s the way it goes.
“We have the same record (as Sparta), it was definitely a battle through the whole season, and it seems kind of strange and silly that we don’t get to share it.”
Langlois noted that there is a potential silver lining just around the corner.
The Division 1 state tournament begins next week, with Reeths-Puffer hosting a regional tournament at Muskegon’s Trinity Health Arena.
R-P's Jaxon Stone, who had a goal and two assists.
Sparta is the top seed, R-P is the second seed, and it will be an all-out war to win the regional title and advance in the tournament.
R-P will open regionals against Rockford next Friday, and Langlois said his players will be pumped.
“That’s the trophy we’re going for, and I think we have a really good shot at it,” the coach said.
Friday’s game was more challenging than some might have expected, after R-P beat Kenowa Hills 8-0 earlier this season.
The Rockets led 1-0 after one period, following a goal by Jaxon Stone.
R-P's Connor Anderson, who had a goal and an assist.
Kenowa Hills rose up with two quick goals in the first few minutes of the second period to take a 2-1 lead. Klint scored his first goal with about 5:30 left in the period and the game was tied 2-2 headed into the third.
The Rockets pulled away in the final period, getting back-to-back goals from Klint and an empty-netter from Connor Anderson.
Stone and Eli Cuti both had two assists for Reeths-Puffer. Klint, Andeson and Connor Stawski each had one.
Stone reached the 100-point mark for his two-year R-P career. He spent his first year of varsity hockey playing for Kenowa Hills and reached the three-year 100-point mark earlier this season.
R-P outshot the Knights 38-16. Goalie Huck VanDyke got the win.
R-P's Eli Cuti, who had two assists.
Coach Langlois credited Kenowa Hills for playing tough, and his own team for responding to the challenge.
“Klint was an absolute machine tonight,” he said. “It was awesome. Stone has 100 points for Reeths-Puffer alone now, and he got it against his old team. He was definitely out there grinding it.
“Kenowa is a good team. The fact that we beat them 8-0 before didn’t show what they were about. They were missing one of their two best players that night. They had won their last three games coming into this one, and we knew they were on a hot streak.
“The grit our team has shown has been incredible. These guys just don’t stop. They are always hyping each other up and everybody has everybody’s back.”
