Howell goalie Henry Lansky is Livingston County's 2024-25 hockey Player of the Year
HOWELL — It was early in the hockey season, the weekend before Thanksgiving, and Henry Lansky was getting heckled from above.
He was not only a long way from home, playing goalie for Howell up in Calumet, but a long way from anything he experienced playing travel hockey his entire life.
“The crowds were crazy, especially when we went up north to play against Calumet and Houghton,” Lansky said. “Calumet had a balcony over my net. They were just talking the whole game. That one was fun. There are a ton of great crowds. It’s way different than Triple-A where you basically play in silence the whole game.”
Playing hockey in a passionate atmosphere, even if he sometimes was the target of opposing student sections’ obnoxious chants, was one of the main reasons Lansky chose to play at the high school level as a senior.
He got nearly everything possible out of the experience except a state championship. Lansky took the Highlanders to within one victory over that elusive goal before they lost 4-1 to Detroit Catholic Central in the Division 1 championship game at USA Hockey Arena.
He was one of three goalies on the Division 1 all-state team before being selected as the only goalie on the all-state Dream Team. Lansky is also the Livingston County hockey Player of the Year, as selected by the Livingston Daily.
He’s the first Howell player to win Player of the Year since forward Stefan Frantti shared it with Pinckney forward Sebastian Smith in 2019-20.
"It's hard to find someone out there who was more valuable than Lansky," Howell coach Keith Robertson said. "He just meant the world to us."
Lansky was not only new to high school hockey after playing in the Oakland Junior Grizzlies Triple-A program but new to Howell, transferring from Milford.
“I knew a few people I’d played against in the past, but I didn’t really know anyone on the team going into this year,” Lansky said. “As the year went on, I got to know everyone. We’re good friends now.”
Lansky didn’t know much about Howell or most of its players, but he knew the Highlanders had a chance to accomplish great things.
“My expectations were high,” he said. “I knew for sure we would get to USA. That was my expectation to get to USA no matter what. From there, the goal was always to win states. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do that this year.”
Lansky backstopped Howell to its first state final since the Highlanders made back-to-back trips in 2009 and 2010. Nothing has changed on the high school hockey landscape in all those years. All three losses in the championship game have come against Catholic Central, just as Brighton’s three finals losses the past three seasons were against the Shamrocks.
By making the all-state Dream Team, Lansky is the first county goalie named to that elite list since Brighton’s Logan Neaton, a draft pick of the Winnipeg Jets, in 2017. He registered a 23-4-2 record, 1.52 GAA, .942 save percentage and four shutouts.
The Highlanders needed great performances in net, because their games against one of the toughest schedules in the state tended to be tight and low-scoring. Of Howell’s 30 games, 21 were decided by two goals or less. Lansky allowed more than three goals only twice, both times against a Salem team led by Mr. Hockey winner Nolan Kaminski.
“The close games were a lot of fun,” Lansky said. “I knew a lot of people on different teams. It was fun getting to beat a lot of teams I knew people on.”
One of Lansky’s greatest attributes was his ability to be unflappable after allowing a goal. He said he hasn’t always had the mental side of his game under control.
“My mindset has always just been to forget about the goal,” he said. “I know early in the year and last year, I got rattled a little bit. I started playing and it just got worse. My goal this year playing in high school where there are more crowds was to not really let myself notice the crowd or other players, just stick to my game plan and go back to how I play.”
Lansky hopes to play junior hockey next season and move on to play in college.
“I’m going to skate with a few junior teams coming up,” he said. “I’ll find out more after those and where I plan to go.”
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Howell's Henry Lansky is Livingston County's hockey Player of the Year
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