The 2014 MHSAA state hockey playoffs kick off Monday. Here are my predictions for all regionals involving Oakland County teams. As always, I encourage you to leave a comment if you agree or disagree with what I have predicted. 

To read my regional hockey preview, CLICK HERE

Division 1

Region 4

Pre-regional semifinals — at Bay County Ice Arena

Flushing over Otisville Lakeville Memorial

Bay City Central over Gladwin

Pre-regional final 

Bay City Central over Flushing

Pre-regional semifinals — at Perani Ice Arena

Swartz Creek over Lapeer West

Pre-regional final 

Swartz Creek over KBH

Regional final — at Perani Ice Arena

Bay City Central over Swartz Creek

Region 5 

Pre-regional semifinals — at Detroit Skating Club

Clarkston over Grand Blanc

Lake Orion over Fenton

Pre-regional final

Lake Orion over Clarkston

Pre-regional semifinals — at Suburban Ice

Rochester United over Utica Eisenhower

Pre-regional final

Rochester United over Macomb Dakota

Regional Final — at Onyx

Rochester United over Lake Orion

 

Region 6

Pre-regional semifinals — at Troy Sports Center

Troy Athens over Sterling Heights Stevenson

Troy over Birmingham Unified

Pre-regional final

Troy Athens over Troy

Pre-regional semifinals — at City Sports Center

Detroit U-D Jesuit over Warren-Mott

Pre-regional final

Detroit U-D Jesuit over St. Clair Shores Unified
 

Regional Final — at City Sports Center

Detroit U-D Jesuit over Troy Athens

Region 7

Pre-regional semifinals — at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s over Waterford Mott

Pre-regional final

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s over Birmingham Brother Rice

Pre-regional — at Novi Ice Arena

Novi Detroit Catholic Central over South Lyon

Northville over Farmington Hills Unified

Pre-regional final

Novi Detroit Catholic Central over Northville

Regional Final — at Compuware Arena

Novi Detroit Catholic Central over Orchard Lake St. Mary's

Division 2

Region 11

Pre-regional — at Novi Ice Arena

Walled Lake Western over Walled Lake Central

Pre-regional final

Novi over Walled Lake Western

Pre-regional — at Hartland Sports Center

Hartland over Walled Lake Northern

Pre-regional final

Hartland over Lakeland

Regional Final — at Hartland Sports Center

Novi over Hartland

Region 12

Pre-regional — at Onyx Ice Arena

Stoney Creek over Bloomfield Hills

Pre-regional final

Stoney Creek over West Bloomfield

Pre-regional — at Berkley Ice Arena

Berkley over Fraser

Pre-regional final

Berkley over Royal Oak

Regional Final — at Onyx Ice Arena

Berkley over Stoney Creek

Division 3

Region 21

Pre-regional semifinal — at Wallace Ice Arena

Auburn Hills Avondale over Pontiac Notre Dame Prep

Pre-regional final

Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood over Auburn Hills Avondale

Pre-Regional — at McCann Ice Arena

Grosse Pointe North over Madison Heights Bishop Foley

Pre-regional final

Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett over Grosse Pointe North

Regional Final — at Wallace Ice Arena

Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood over Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett

Region 22 

Pre-regional semifinals — at Redford Ice Arena

Dearborn Divine Child over Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard

Pre-regional final

Allen Park over Dearborn Divine Child

Pre-regional semifinals — at Farmington Ice Arena

Farmington over Royal Oak Shrine

Pre-regional final

Farmington over Birmingham Detroit Country Day

Regional Final — at Farmington Ice Arena
Farmington over Allen Park

Many of you have probably already read reports of Detroit Cass Tech junior quarterback Jayru Campbell being arrested for slamming a security guard in the school's halls yesterday. The story has taken on a life of its own. That's going to happen when it centers around a top-notch commit to a top-five university such as Michigan State.
Call this piling on if you want. But for the record, we here at MIPrepZone chose not to report anything after Campbell imploded during and after his team's 28-0 loss to Detroit Catholic Central in a Division 1 state semifinal back in November.
We all saw the meltdown that day at Troy Athens High School. I was standing 20 yards away while Campbell and the Shamrocks' Jack Van Acker got into a wrestling match on the field following Van Acker's sack and strip of the ball on Campbell. The two wrestled (not sure if any punches were thrown) until teammates and officials broke it up. Moments later, an angry Campbell walked off the field, reluctantly. He was obviously angry. He glanced over at me. I was videotaping the entire incident (as seen here). He told me to "Get that camera out my face."
I obliged - despite the fact that he was outside of the area designated for the football players. He came at me, in an area where photographers and videographers are supposed to be. After I turned the camera off, he still came at me, shouting out two more times to "Get that #%$*$#* camera out my face."
His frustration was evident throughout the afternoon, as Catholic Central gave him nothing. It was his first big loss in three years. After the game, he allegedly made contact with Van Acker in the handshake line (some reports say he punched Van Acker). What happened after that was caught on tape (as seen here). Our very own Scott Burnstein wrote something about the incident in a notebook for us, as well as in a story for State Champs.
After the game, as I was recording Catholic Central's victory "speech" by their coaches, a Cass Tech coach came over to apologize for Campbell's actions after the game. I still say it was a very classy gesture in regards to some nasty behavior.
Wednesday's incident came as no real surprise to myself. I saw that anger and frustration in Campbell back on that day in November. It's been building since then. It's obvious Michigan State will pull their scholarship offer. They reached out to Burnstein following his meltdown back in November, gathering information on the situation. I'm sure they've been monitoring his behavior. This will do nothing to help his chances of remaining a Spartan.
Hopefully he'll learn from this. But I can honestly say, I'm not betting on it.

Matt Sorisho - during his team's state semifinal
game against East Kentwood last season.

"We are CC."
Evidently that extends well beyond the walls of Catholic Central High School. At the end of my last blog post I mentioned that if there was one school/community that could pull together in times of adversity, it was CC.
In the past 24 hours since I wrote my story on Matt Sorisho's devastating on-ice injury during an off-season hockey game, I've received a handful of people reaching out, looking to help out Matt and his family. One of those people was John Reilly of the Jack Jablonski Believe Foundation. Jablonski is a senior at Benilde-St. Margaret's - a Catholic prep school in Minnesota. He suffered a spinal cord injury from a hit during a high school game in December of 2011 that left him a quadriplegic.
I've been told by Hope Turner, whose son Luke - also a member of the Catholic Central hockey team - is good friends with Sorisho, that Jablonski himself will be reaching out to Sorisho. How encouraging would it be for Sorisho to be talking to another athlete who's gone through what he's just beginning? That would be an incredible amount of support, which is what I'm seeing on display from all over.
Another email came in from the team that was playing Sorisho's MDHL all-star squad when the injury occurred. They wanted to do something for the Sorisho family. Another email - from a fellow Catholic League school faculty member - came in, citing a desire to help the family out.
Turner said that a number of business people from surrounding communities have come forward, looking to help out in any way they can - from donating money to helping out with equipment or construction services (the family will need to renovate their home to accommodate Matt's needs).
As I told Hope on the phone today, it doesn't surprise me that everyone has reached out to help out, but it has amazed me at how quickly people have stepped up and come forward.
If you would like to help out or assist in any way, please contact Hope Turner via phone or email (below).

Hope Turner
(248) 719-5696
hope1@us.ibm.com