Houghton’s Bryant Lee (33) looks to make a save during a scrimmage against Marquette Thursday, Nov. 10, at Dee Stadium in Houghton. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — If the effort they put forth in the scramble last Thursday is any indication, the Houghton Gremlins hockey team is the team to beat this season in the Copper Country this season. Coach Corey Markham has a deep group of forwards led by a quartet of seniors, and it will be hard for teams north of the Mackinaw Bridge to match the skill set the Gremlins will have on display, provided the team can remain healthy throughout the season.

With the experience gained from the scramble, Markham and his staff finalized the roster this week.

“It was really nice to see, obviously, our young guys,” Corey said, “see how they perform in high school action. We made a couple of our last decisions. We cut two kids that will basically play JV, get a couple games throughout the year. S,o now we pretty much have our 10 forwards set.”

The scramble gave Corey and his staff a chance to change some lines around, in the hopes of creating multiple scoring lines.

“We rotated guys in each period or so,” he said. “We played with different people, just to kind of see what chemistry is going to be like. So, I was happy with each period,. with how that played out.”

The Gremlins, who enter the season ranked fourth in the Super 10 Rankings on mihshockeyhub.com, feature four seniors up front, three of whom have played three seasons in Orange and Black. The other one is in his third season.

Two seniors, co-captains Camden Markham and Gaborik Carlson, have been playing together since they were in 10U. Camden scored a team-high 31 goals and 60 points last season. Carlson had 11 goals and 36 points.

“That started when they were little kids,” Corey said. “They’ve been playing on the same team since squirts. They played together a lot of that time. So, you build that bond and that chemistry early on. It’s just carried over. They just enjoy playing with each other. They know what each other is trying to do. They have a great relationship.”

Last season, Corey used Landon Stevens alongside Camden and Carlson. The senior winger thrived alongside the other two, scoring 20 goals and 37 points.

A tall, lanky skater, Stevens struggled in the past to use his strength to his advantage. Corey feels that this year, that will change.

“Landon really got a lot stronger this past summer,” Corey said. “He got stronger in his base. Over the years, the last couple years, he could get knocked off the puck kind of easily.

“He’s really gotten stronger, so that doesn’t happen as much. He does have really good straight line speed, and his shot is tremendous. He can put the puck in from anywhere. He’s a good all-around player.”

The fourth senior in the Gremlins quartet is Sully Rajala. Rajala missed half of last season, and struggled to score upon his return, notching just three goals and six points in 13 games. As a sophomore, he had six goals and 17 points in just 12 games.

Corey likes the way Rajala approaches every game.

“He came back, and I don’t think (he) ever (got to) fully 100% in game-type shape,” said Corey. “But, he’s our biggest competitor, bar none, on the whole team. He competes harder than anyone. He will give everything he has, and is just a really solid two-way player. (He is) our best defensive player, and he’s a super big, big part of this team.”

Another forward who will factor into the Top 6 is junior Michael Maillette. Maillette scored 166 goals and 23 points last season, but struggled in the last 10 games of the regular season, scoring just two points in a game against Salem at the Trenton Showcase.

“Mike, he started off super strong last year, and early in the season, he was scoring a lot,” Corey said. “Then he kind of tapered off the second half of the year. We need him to be a big scorer for us all year, obviously. He can do everything. His skating is tremendous. He has unbelievable hands.

“For him, right now we’re working on seeing the ice, and moving pucks. (He is a) tremendous all- around player, that’s a big piece of our puzzle.”

On the back end, the Gremlins lost a lot to graduation with Kade Farrell, Matthew Rowe and Ryan Vlahos all graduating. This year, the team is going to lean on sophomore Oscar Petersen and converted forward Connor Raffaelli to pick up some of those lost minutes.

Petersen scored two goals and five points last season, but more importantly, he gained a lot of experience from being a part of practice every day.

“Last year was a great learning year for him,” Corey said. “As a freshman, and being that tall, your strength is lacking. He’d get knocked around a bit. But, he learned a lot. He got to play in many big situations last year because of need. So he was playing against Jackson Rilei, and the Sturoses, up in Calumet, in critical situations. So he has that experience. We anticipate that he’s going to keep growing, and be one of our top guys this year.”

Raffaelli had seven goals and 15 points as a winger last year, so to lose that offensive output is hard, but Corey feels that he can contribute a lot on the back end.

“He has a lot to learn, just position-wise and defensively, but I really like Connor Raffaelli a lot,” said Corey. “We transitioned him. He was in our Top 6 last year, a super smart player. He can pass the puck. His head is always up. He moves pucks, a tremendous passer, good sense.

“When he gets the nuances of playing defense, and positional-wise, and competing there, I really like what he has.”

Corey also likes junior Noah Kreipke, who found his way into the top pairing by the end of the season last year. Not known for his offense, Kreipke is sound defensively, which will be relied upon again this season.

If there is a question mark with the Gremlins this season, it will be in goal, where junior Bryant Lee and senior Troy Povich are competing for playing time. Lee saw action in 13 games last season, going 7-5 with a 2.48 goals against average and a .887 save percentage. Povich appeared in 15 games, going 9-3 with a 1.88 goals against average.

“Right now, they’re battling to see who is going to be our No. 1 guy,” said Corey. “They’re both going to get opportunities early in the season.

“Right now, consistency is the key for both of them. They, unfortunately, have given up some weaker goals, on occasion, which has hurt the team. We have to try to eliminate that as much as possible, and they have to work on consistently getting better and push each other.”

This season, the Gremlins will again test themselves against a very good set of opponents, including Saginaw Heritage, De La Salle, Hartland, Brighton, Brother Rice, Grandville, and Salem at Dee Stadium during different points of the season.

“We have an unbelievably tremendous schedule,” Corey said. “I would stack our schedule against anyone in the state.”