Cranbrook Girls Hockey Off To A Strong Start

So far, things have been good for the Cranbrook-Kingswood girls varsity hockey team.

The defending state champions have started the season 6-0 and are looking poised to defend the state crown. The Cranes will have their toughest test of the season tonight at Wallace Ice Arena, as they will face Gross Pointe South, the team they barely squeaked by in the state finals last season.

"So far every game has been tough," Cranbrook-Kingswood Head Coach Terry Brooks said. "We are the state champs so every team gets psyched up to play us and to try and beat us."

But Brooks believes the target on his team's back might actually be beneficial down the stretch of the season and the playoffs, when the games carry more weight.

"We've had a lot of close games that have come down to the third period," Brooks said. "But those games build character. We learned that we need to play hard every night and every shift. We aren't a team that relies on just two or three good players. We like to roll all of our lines."

The Cranes only graduated two seniors from last year's championship team, which leaves this year's squad chalked full of players that know what it takes to win a championship.

Last season's top offensive line for the Cranes has stayed intact. It features Caley Chelios, who led the league in goals last season. Caley has some hockey lineage, as well. Her father is former NHL star and Detroit Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios. Caley's younger sister, Tara Chelios, is also on the team.

Sydney Sakwa and Amanda Schimpke join Caley Chelios on the top line. Sakwa finished second in the league in goals last season, while Schimpke finished fifth.

While the offense is poised for another breakout season, Brooks said he has been pleasantly surprised with how strong his defense has played through the first six games of the season, considering their limited hockey experience.

Four of the six blueliners for Cranbrook-Kingswood are converted figure skaters, who only started playing hockey during their freshman years of high school.

"Our defense gave up a lot of shots last year," Turner said. "They've improved a lot this year and they aren't giving up nearly as many shots. They've been really working hard in practice."

Holding the team together at the back is goaltender Colleen Jacoby.  The junior netminder has only allowed three goals in the team's first six games of the season, posting three shutouts in the process.

"Colleen is one of the few players on the team that came in with a lot of credentials already," Brooks said. "She is able to single-handedly win games for us. It's to the point now that every team we play against, they know who she is. And she really has a way of frustrating the other team."

In the state championship game last season, Jacoby made a whooping 50 saves en route to the 2-1 overtime victory over Grosse Pointe South.

Brooks said he has no-doubt that Jacoby will receive a college scholarship to play hockey at a Division 1 or Divisonv2 school after graduating. And with her leading the way from the back, he feels his him may be on track to repeat as state champs.

"This team seems to know how to win," Brooks said. "I'm not sure how to put my finger on it. There's a level of confidence there that always just says, 'hey, we are going to get this done.' We've gone into two third periods down a goal. But you could feel they were going to get it done. It was just a matter of when."