44 | FEBRUARY 2 • 2023 

T

he Novi High School hockey team 
returned from its annual trip to the 
Upper Peninsula with more than 
just memories of long bus rides, snow 
piled high, practicing in a college ice arena 
and eating pasties.
For the first time since 2014, the 
Wildcats won a game in the U.P. They 
beat Hancock Central 5-3 on Jan. 6 at 
Houghton County Arena in Hancock.
“I knew it had been a while since we 
won up there. I didn’t know how long until 
our coach (Dominic Lis) told us after we 
won the game,” said senior defenseman 
Lucas Hutten, one of Novi’s two captains.
“The best part of the trip was winning 
that game,” Hutten said. “I’m so glad it 
happened during my senior season when 
I was a captain. The teams up there are 
good every year. It’s hard to beat them.”
Houghton is a really good team this 
year, one of the best in the state. Novi 

lost 9-1 to the Gremlins on Jan. 7 at Dee 
Stadium in Houghton, but the Wildcats 
were within shouting distance (4-1) after 
two periods.
“You can count on U.P. teams always, 
always, always giving it everything they 
have,” Lis said. “They never quit.”
In addition to playing the two games, 

Novi had a practice session at the John 
MacInnis Student Ice Arena in Houghton, 
home of the Michigan Technological 
University hockey team since 1971, 
and watched the Northern Michigan-
Minnesota State college hockey game at 
the Berry Events Center in Marquette.
Minnesota State beat Northern 
Michigan 5-3 in the Central Collegiate 
Hockey Association game in front of 2,766 
fans.
The tastiest part of the trip for many 
of the Wildcats was sampling pasties, an 
Upper Peninsula delicacy.
Pasties are baked pastry shells filled with 
beef and root vegetables that are eaten by 
hand. They came to the U.P. in the early 
1800s when there was a rush to mine 
copper in the region. There was a flood 
of miners from Cornwall, England, where 
pasties were popular.
“The great-aunt of one of our players 
owns a pasty shop in Houghton. That’s 
where we got them,” Lis said.
Hutten said he didn’t come away a pasty 
fan the first time he tried one.
“I just don’t like them. I don’t know 
why,” he said.
Hutten takes his team captain duties 
seriously.
“I’ve been in our school district’s hockey 
program since I was in seventh grade. 
Since then, I’ve always looked up to the 
high school team’s senior captains,” he 
said.
Lis said Hutten’s dedication to the team 
and persistent positivity made him an 
obvious choice to be chosen as a captain.
“Every athlete is going to make a mistake. 
It’s inevitable,
” Lis said. “When that happens 
to one of our guys during a practice or a 
game, Lucas is encouraging, pointing out 
the good things his teammate is doing.
”

SPORTS

Novi High School hockey team 
co-captain Lucas Hutten leaves 
a legacy in the Upper Peninsula.

A Win 
U.P. North

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

XIAOYANG GUO

Lucas Hutten is one 
of two captains for 
the Novi High School 
hockey team.

The Novi High School hockey team practiced at the John MacInnis Student Ice Arena at 
Michigan Technological University during the team’s recent trip to the Upper Peninsula.

MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

