TRENTON — A Thanksgiving Eve affair has become something of a norm between the Gibraltar Carlson and Grosse Ile ice hockey teams in recent years.
That tradition was renewed once more Wednesday night when the two teams shared the ice at Kennedy Arena. A jam-packed Teifer Rink became standing room only by the time puck drop arrived.
Grosse Ile first-year head coach Scott Sebastian is a veteran of the sport but a newcomer to the school’s heated hockey rivalry with Carlson.
Sebastian, though, has fully embraced the annual matchups with the Marauders, to say the least. And in a game where each side came in looking to rebound from losses their last time out, there was an added sense urgency in addition to the bragging rights.
Perhaps fittingly, three periods was not enough to determine a winner. And perhaps even more fittingly, what appears to be two evenly-matched clubs ended up resulting in a 3-3 draw by night’s end.
“It’s why you play high school hockey,” Sebastian said. “(Carlson head coach Andy Watson) has done a great job with that program. Our locker rooms are 20 feet from each other. We see them, they see us. Tonight was just a great high school hockey game.
“It was fun to watch a rivalry game like this,” Sebastian added. “It was fun to coach and fun to see our kids come back and compete.”
Come back and compete, Sebastian’s team had to do as Grosse Ile found themselves in an early deficit. The first goals of the season from Ben Peterson and Liam Morrin gave Carlson a 2-0 cushion midway through the first period.
Sebastian said the biggest emphasis to his team during the first intermission was simply embracing the physical game that Carlson can and will bring to the table.
“I give a lot of credit to them,” Sebastian said of the Marauders. “(Watson) did a good job getting his guys ready for those first five minutes and we didn’t have a counter-punch for when they’re starting to bang bodies.
“We had to start getting more physical and win more of those battles to match their physicality.”
That message was certainly delivered as the Devils responded with a two-goal effort of their own in the middle stanza. A power play goal from Nathan Taulbee followed by an equalizer from former all-News-Herald honoree Adalar Hovis late in the period evened things up at two apiece going into the third.
Hovis netted his fourth of the winter a little more than four minutes into the final period to give Grosse Ile their first lead of the night. That, however, was relatively short-lived when Owen Wright cashed in a must-have goal for Carlson with 6:28 to go in the game.
The 3-3 score held true all the way to the end of regulation. Both teams combined for nine shots on goal in the overtime session — some of those being more high quality than others — but the score remained unchanged after the extra eight minutes of free hockey.
Junior Owen Wright (black) had a goal and an assist for Carlson in their eventual 3-3 tie vs Grosse Ile on Nov 26, 2025. (ALEXANDER MULLER — MediaNews Group)
“I’m pretty proud of them tonight,” Sebastian said. “Obviously it wasn’t the start that we wanted but we fought off that adversity in order to stay in the game. (Carlson) has done a good job getting prepared this year and we knew we’d be in for a battle.
“We had our chances, we just couldn’t get it a couple more inches over the goal line.”
Carlson ended up formally outshooting Grosse Ile, 28-21 in the contest. Wright tallied an assist to go along with his goal, as did Brayden Beaudette and Bryce Wilkins.
Taulbee for Grosse Ile picked up a pair of assists to give himself a game-high three points, while Alex Brooks, Erik Hovis, and Noah Cole each had one assist.
Sebastian after the game continued talking about what has been a steady “learning curve” for Grosse Ile players, specifically an overhaul in how they approach and handle games philosophically.
Junior Adalar Hovis (15) scored a pair of goals to help Grosse Ile salvage a 3-3 tie vs Carlson on Nov 26, 2025. (ALEXANDER MULLER — MediaNews Group)
We’ve added a whole new system for these guys,” Sebastian said. “It has taken us some time to learn how to play 200 feet. When we do, we know we can be really competitive. We can skate with anybody, but we have to learn that it’s a 200-foot game.”
“As we look down the road towards February, this is what you’re going to see,” Sebastian continued. “You’re going to have to win tight-checking, low-scoring games. All it takes is one bounce and this game tonight was over either way.”
UP NEXT
Wednesday was the first of three games in four days for both teams to close out the week.
Carlson (1-2-1) after the holiday festivities will partake in the annual two-day Jaguar Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Allen Park on Nov 28-29. Grosse Ile (2-2-1) those same days will head north for two more measuring stick games against the Bay City Wolves and Saginaw Heritage.
An up-and-down start to the season, Sebastian is understandably looking for more “consistency” moving forward, and he says it begins with the fundamentals.
“We’ve gotten back to the basics in trying to keep the game more simple,” Sebastian said. “You have to be in shape, not just physically but mentally. They’re so used to winning high-scoring games. That is not how you win in February.
“We haven’t focused on anything on the other side of the red line yet,” Sebastian added. “We want to make sure we know what we’re doing in our own zone first.”
Photo gallery from Gibraltar Carlson vs Grosse Ile in a Thanksgiving Eve hockey showdown