MAY 27 • 2021 | 29

W

hen it comes to 
winning state 
championships in 
hockey, the Bloomfield Hills 
Cranbrook-Kingswood High 
School team has no peers.
The Cranes have played in 20 
state title games and won 18 of 
them, losing only to Calumet in 
1996 and 1998.
Their latest triumph was a 4-1 
win over previously undefeated 
Calumet at USA Hockey 
Arena in Plymouth for the 
Division 3 title, their first state 
championship since 2015.
Five Jewish players were on 
the Cranbrook-Kingswood 

(15-4) roster. While they 
acknowledged the pressure that 
comes with playing in such a 
successful program, they said it’s 
a good thing.
Jack Wineman, a senior 
center from Birmingham, 
played on the Cranes’ top line 
this season. He was one of 
the team’s four captains, and a 
first team Division 3 all-state 
selection by the Michigan 
High School Hockey Coaches’ 
Association.
His first-period goal 
against Calumet (18-1-1) gave 
Cranbrook-Kingswood a 2-0 
lead. He had eight goals and 17 

assists this season.
“Obviously, the pressure [to 
succeed] motivated me to leave 
my mark on the program and 
hang another banner in the 
rafters, but it didn’t put extra 
pressure on me,
” he said. “Our 
goal this season was to have fun 
every day and work hard until 
the end.
”
Junior right wing Ty Esterline 
from Commerce Township was 
injured and missed most of the 
season, but he was cleared to 
play in the postseason.
He made the most of 
the opportunity, scoring 
Cranbrook-Kingswood’s fourth 
goal against Calumet. It was the 
only goal he scored in the five 
games he played this season.
“Our team winning so many 
state championships doesn’t 
put pressure on me,
” he said. “It 
actually benefits me because it 
pushes me to become better as a 
person and hockey player so we 
have the opportunity to win a 
state championship.
“There’s more pressure to not 
let down your teammates who 
have become your family over 
the past few months.
”
Junior defenseman Jacob 
Budabin from Troy assisted on 
Cranbrook-Kingwood’s first 
goal against Calumet. One of 
the Cranes’ top defenseman, he 
had three goals and 12 assists 
this season.
“The pressure is always there 
to perform given the team’s 
history of state championships,
” 
he said. “
At the end of the day, 
however, we have to pave our 
own path and it really helps 
when you have the kind of guys 
around you that we did this 
year.
“
Also, the coaching staff 
pushes us to be the best we can, 
and not use our team’s history 
as pressure, but as motivation to 
be the best we can be.
”
Charlie Finsilver is a junior 
right wing from Bloomfield 
Hills. He had a pair of assists 
this season.

“The winning culture that has 
been established over the years 
by our team helps keep players 
on the right track,
” he said.
“We understand the legacy 
and stature of past players and 
teams, so we know we have 
large shoes to fill. The pressure 
motivates us to live up to that 
legacy.
“Every time I put on the 
Cranbrook-Kingswood jersey I 
know I’m playing for something 
greater than myself. It truly is 
humbling.
”
Andrew Swartz is a junior 
defenseman/forward from 
Toronto. He had 10 assists in 19 
games this season.
“The pressure caused by 
the tradition of winning is 
beneficial to me and my 
teammates,
” he said. “It’s the 
type of pressure that makes us 
want to win more. The pressure 
pushes our team to keep going, 
to keep winning, to not stop 
winning, and be the best team 
in the state every year.
”
The COVID-19 pandemic 
caused stoppages and shortened 
the high school hockey season. 
There also were unprecedented 
mitigations for players.
But the Cranes rolled with 
the punches, according to 
Finsilver, whose grandfather, 
Stan Finsilver, is a past president 
at Temple Israel.
“The COVID-19 protocols 
were just obstacles that had 
to be tackled mentally and 
physically,
” he said. “
Abiding by 
the protocols was the only way 
we were able to play. We really 
didn’t have a choice. It was 
either follow the protocols, or 
don’t have a season.
“
As the season went on, the 
protocols became more of a 
familiar foe, and became less 
frustrating.
”
In addition to Wineman’s 
All-State honor, second-year 
Cranbrook-Kingswood coach 
John LaFontaine was named the 
Division 3 Coach of the Year by 
the MHSHCA. 

Led by captain and All-State center 
Jack Wineman, the Cranes won their 
18th state championship.

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Jack Wineman

WINEMAN FAMILY

Meet the Cranbrook-
Kingswood Hockey 
Team’s ‘Fab Five’

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