No, not the state playoffs. Those begin in two weeks. But the OAA Red Tournament kicks off Friday at the Onyx Ice Arena in Rochester.
Top-seeded Clarkston will take on Stoney Creek in the night's first quarterfinal, beginning at 6 p.m. No. 3 Farmington Unified battles Rochester United at 6:15, with the late games between No. 4 Farmington and Oxford and No. 2 Lake Orion and Birmingham to follow.
Michael Wallwork, our MIPrepZone hockey guru, and I both agree the top seeds should be the favorites throughout the tournament, which picks up with the semifinals Saturday and the final taking place on Feb. 25. Each of the higher seeds handled its lower-seeded foe fairly easy during the regular season. That is all but Farmington Unified, which lost to Rochester United, 3-2, back on Jan. 11. But the two have gone in opposite directions since, with Unified going 6-1-1 while United has won just twice in six games.
Wallwork, who has seen every OAA Red team play at least twice this year (save for Birmingham), seems to think Clarkston and Lake Orion are a notch above the rest of the field. I can't say I argue with him. Would be a great rematch if it happens.
For a look at the complete bracket, CLICK HERE

Simply the best
- I said it in my latest blog update on Friday, Birmingham Brother Rice is the hottest team in the state. And I'm not backing down from that statement. The Warriors are 15-4-1 overall this season, and are 10-0-1 in their last 11 games. During that stretch, they've beaten ranked foes Livonia Churchill (No. 4 in Division 1), St. Mary's (No. 2 in Division 1), Wyandotte (No. 10 in Division 2), Port Huron Northern (No. 6 in Division 2), Traverse City Central (No. 3 in Division 2) and Cranbrook (No. 1 in Division 3).
Rice's losses this season have come against Catholic Central (No. 1 in Division 1) twice, St. Mary's and Trenton (No. 1 in Division 2). They also tied the Trojans.
And I swore I wouldn't overdo it with Warriors Mackenzie MacEachern this year, but you've got to tip your cap to the senior winger. He has 34 points during the recent 11-game unbeaten streak. That's more points than any other MIHL player - save for his linemate Thomas Ebbing - has put up the entire season. He has 27 goals and 31 assists (58 points) in 20 games played. Can anyone say, "Mr. Hockey?"

Bears closing in on OAA White title
-  The Berkley-Ferndale Unified team picked up a 5-1 win over No. 10-ranked South Lyon Sunday at the MPHSH Showcase in Chelsea. Coach Jeff Fleming's team has lost to just one opponent this year, Marysville twice, and tied Royal Oak in league play. The Bears lost to Avondale to open the season, but ultimately won by forfeit due to an academic eligibility issue by the Yellow Jackets. The team's leading scorers are junior Joey Leider and seniors Brad Zucker and Luc Hammerle. The team needs to win two of its final four games to clinch the OAA White title.

Top performances from this past week
- Eric Stanis, Farmington Unified: Finished with six points (five assists) to help the Flyers past Sault Ste. Marie, 9-0. Derek Ried and Jared VanValkenburg scored two goals each for Farmington Unified.
- Nick Daigneau, Catholic Central: Finished with a goal and an assist in the Shamrocks' 3-1 win over Calumet.
- Mackenzie MacEachern, Brother Rice: Continued his hot season with a hat trick and two more assists in the Warriors' 8-0 win over U-D Jesuit.
- Zac Bensinger, Country Day: Had a pair of goals and assisted on another as the Yellowjackets beat Saginaw, 5-4.
- James Piec, Madison Heights Bishop Foley: The senior tallied two goals as the Warriors edged Belleville-Willow Run Unified, 4-3.
- Blake Manginell, Cranbrook: Had two goals while teammate Michael Romund had a goal and three assists in the Cranes' 6-2 win over Marquette.
- Nolan Gluchowski, Catholic Central: Netted the game-winner mid-way through the third period in CC's big win over Hill Academy (Ont.) at the MIHL Showcase.
- Nicholas Carbone, St. Mary's: Scored two times as the Eaglets knocked of D-2 No. 1 ranked Trenton, 5-1.
- Scott Cuthrell, Waterford Mott: Senior had two goals and two assists while teammates Austin Sereno and Tyler Vaughn had a goal and two assists each in a 7-4 win over Rochester United.
- Christopher Brown, Cranbrook: Scored twice in the third period as the Cranes topped Wyandotte, 4-1.
- Conner Jean and Thomas Ebbing, Brother Rice: Each player had two goals in the Warriors big win over St. Mary's.
- Hayden Alpert and Noah Reiter, Berkley-Ferndale Unified: Alpert had two goals and Reiter tallied three points as the Bears picked up their first win of the season over a ranked team (South Lyon Unified).
- Stephen Wroe, Berkley-Ferndale Unified: The Bears netminder made 32 saves in goal to help his team past South Lyon, 5-1.
- Louis Carnevale, South Lyon Unified: Made 16 stops in goal to help South Lyon knock off St. Clair Shores Unified at the MPHSH Showcase in Chelsea.
- Luke Ortel and Garrett Schilling, Bishop Foley: Each scored twice in the Ventures' 7-3 win over Carleton-Airport.
- Shane Kahn, Walled Lake Western: Stopped 38 of the 39 shots he faced to lead the Warriors past Lakeland, 2-1.
- Nathan Gurzell and John Merola, Troy Athens: Gurzell scored a pair of power-play goals and Merola had three power-play assists to help the Red Hawks past Troy for their first OAA White win of the season.
- Spencer Ray, Royal Oak Shrine: Scored the game-winning goal to help the Knights past Riverview Gabriel Richard.

Here are the updated MIHL, OAA, CHSL and KLAA league standings as of Tuesday (Feb. 14)

MIHL Standings
Team                    GP    W   L  T  OL  Pts.
Catholic Central     17    14   2   0   1     29
Cranbrook             16    13   2   0   1     27
Brother Rice          16     11    4   1   0    23   
Trenton                  16     10   4   1   1     22
St. Mary's              14     10   4   0   0     20
PH Northern          14     5    8    0   1     11
GP North               15     5   10    0   0    10 
De La Salle            15     3   12    0   0     6
U-D Jesuit             16     2   12    0   2     6
Wyandotte             13     2   10    0    1     5

OAA Red
Team                      W  L  T  Pts.
Lake Orion              5  0   2   11
Clarkston                 5  0   2   11
Farmington U.          4  2   1    9
Farmington               4  3   0    8
Oxford                     2  4  1    5
Rochester U.            2  5  0    4
Birmingham U.         1  4   2    4
Stoney Creek           1  6  0    2

OAA White
Team                      W  L  T  Pts.
Berkley-Ferndale     7   0   1   15
Avondale                 6   3   1   13
West Bloomfield      5   3   0    10
Bloom. Hills United  5   4   0   10
Troy                        4   7   0    8
Royal Oak               3   5   1   7
Troy Athens             1   8   1   3

KLAA Central
Team                      W  L  T  Pts.
Brighton                   8   2   1   17
Novi                        7   3   1   15
Livonia Stevenson*  6   3   0   13
South Lyon*            5   5   0   11
Northville*               4   5   1   10

KLAA North
Team                       W  L  T  Pts.
WL Northern            9   1   1    19
Waterford Mott        7   4   0    14
Lakeland                  3   8   0     6
WL Central              3   8   0     4
Waterford Kettering  1  10   0    2

KLAA West
Team                      W  L  T  Pts.
Howell                     9   1   1   19
Hartland                   6   2   2   14
Grand Blanc*           5   2   2   13
Milford*                   6   4   0   13 
Pinckney                  5   4   2   12
WL Western             1   9   0   2
* one OT loss

CHSL Division 1 - Group A
Team                      W  L  T
Catholic Central        3   0  0
Brother Rice             2   1  0
Cranbrook                1   2  0
U-D Jesuit                0   3  0

CHSL Division 1 - Group B
Team                      W  L  T
St. Mary's                2   0  0
Divine Child             2   1  0
De La Salle              1   2  0
Notre Dame Prep    0   2  0

CHSL Intersectional
Team                           W  L  T
AA Gabriel Richard       4   1   0
Bishop Foley                4   2   0
Riv. Gabriel Richard      3   2   0
Cabrini                         2   3  0
RO Shrine                    0   4  0
Lutheran North             0   3   1

LINKS TO GAME COVERAGE ON MIPREPZONE.COM
Marysville 4, Stoney Creek 2
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard 4, Bishop Foley 2
Troy Athens 5, Troy 1
Walled Lake Western 2, Lakeland 1
Bishop Foley 7, Carleton-Airport 3
South Lyon Unified 5, St. Clair Shores Unified 1
Berkley-Ferndale 5, South Lyon Unified 1