Brighton's Landon Whitlock learned playoff hockey from state final run
NOVI — Sometimes Landon Whitlock came back to the Brighton hockey bench in the celebration line after contributing to a goal.
Sometimes he came limping back after eating a puck for the team.
Whatever it takes, especially at playoff time.
Whitlock learned what the postseason is all about while playing as a sophomore forward on a veteran team that went to its third consecutive state Division 1 championship game two years ago.
It’s those lessons he’s applied to his own game as a senior leader on one of the hottest teams in Michigan.
Whitlock had a goal and two assists and blocked four shots in the playoff opener for sixth-ranked Brighton, which beat Ann Arbor Pioneer 7-1 in a regional semifinal on Thursday, Feb. 19 at Novi Ice Arena.
“It’s just a Brighton thing to be a dog,” Whitlock said. “It’s what we’re known for is blocked shots. It’s just what we do. It’s just what you do for the team.
“I’m fine with taking one off the leg. It stings for a second, but it’s better than one going in the back of the net and costing us the game.”
Whitlock’s teammates were as excited to greet him back at the bench followed his blocked shots as they were for his first-period goal. In hockey culture, sacrificing the body for the team is revered.
“He just works,” Brighton coach Kurt Kivisto said. “He’s an absolute dog. He does a tremendous job on the penalty kill blocking shots and just grinds. He’s a guy who goes and retrieves pucks and makes things happen on the forecheck. He’s just really, really valuable for our team.”
As a sophomore, he had two goals and three assists in 30 games playing on a team spearheaded by all-state forwards Cam Duffany and Lane Petit.
“He was more of a third-line type of role, go eat minutes and do that dirty work,” Kivisto said. “He’s taken that and elevated his game this year. It’s been awesome to see.”
Whitlock’s points Thursday came when they mattered most, as he contributed to Brighton’s first three goals while Pioneer was flirting with an upset.
It was a 1-1 game until Eddie Wheeler scored with 4:57 left in the second period. That began an onslaught of four goals in a span of 8 minutes and 13 seconds spanning the second and third periods.
Whitlock opened the scoring with 3:10 left in the first period. After Pioneer’s Sean Stone tied it on the power play with 12:47 left in the second, the game settled into a bit of a stalemate until Wheeler broke the tie and Max McKenzie made it 3-1 with 16.4 seconds left in the second.
The Bulldogs broke it open with goals by Connor Duffany and Nic Smith early in the third. McKenzie scored his second goal with 7:39 remaining and Tim Peterson capped the scoring with 1:17 left.
Whitlock was Brighton’s eighth-leading scorer during the regular season with five goals and eight assists in 26 games. He’s picked up the pace late in the season, scoring three goals and six assists in the last seven games.
He credits the uptick in production to being paired with McKenzie and Wheeler later in the season.
“It’s the people I’ve been playing with,” Whitlock said. “I’ve been playing with the right players. Being with them puts me in the right place and in the right spots. I can get the puck and get some points.”
Brighton (17-11) is 12-2 in its last 14 games after losing six in a row. The Bulldogs will seek their sixth consecutive regional championship at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25 against fifth-ranked Northville or Novi at Novi Ice Arena. Brighton beat Northville 1-0 on Dec. 6 and rallied to beat Novi 4-3 in overtime on Jan. 10.
Contact Bill Khan at [email protected]. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Brighton hockey maintains hot streaks, beats Pioneer in playoff opener
UNC Women Edge Virginia Tech in OT Thriller
No. 22 North Carolina (22-6, 12-4) bounced back from a loss to Duke with a 66-63 overtime victory over Virginia Tech. Nyla Harris led the Tar Heels with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Elina Aarnisalo added 13 points and five assists. In overtime, Aarnisalo, Harris, and Lanie Grant combined for all nine points, with Grant making clutch free throws in the final seconds.
The game featured 11 lead changes and five ties, with neither team leading by more than nine points. Virginia Tech led 28-21 at halftime, but both teams struggled shooting as North Carolina managed 37% from the floor and Virginia Tech shot 34%. Carys Baker and Samyha Suffren each scored 15 points for Virginia Tech (20-8, 10-6).
NBA records that might never be broken
In a league built on evolution, some numbers sit so far out on the horizon they feel more like myths than marks in a record book. The NBA’s pace, style and sports science have all changed, but a handful of records still tower over the modern game, daring even its biggest stars to take a run at them. From Wilt Chamberlain’s video‑game stat lines to dynastic dominance that simply doesn’t fit today’s parity‑driven era, these feats are less like targets and more like monuments.
The fun debate is which of these will actually stand the test of time. Load management, shorter careers, and player movement make some of these milestones almost impossible to touch, no matter how talented the next generation becomes. Here’s a look at seven NBA records that feel untouchable, and why the modern game is stacked against anyone trying to chase them down.
7. 33 straight wins – 1971‑72 Lakers
The ’71‑’72 Lakers ripped off 33 consecutive victories, a streak no one has matched in over 50 years. Even the peak Warriors and Heat “only” got to 28 and 27 in a row, and that was with superstar cores and stacked depth. In today’s era of ruthless travel, rest nights, and loaded schedules, threading that kind of perfection for two months feels almost impossible.
6. 98.1% from the line in a season – José Calderón
Over 68 games in 2008‑09, José Calderón hit 151 of 154 free throws, a season record of 98.1% that still looks like a typo. High‑volume elite shooters like Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard flirt with the low 90s, but over a full season, one bad week can tank the percentage. With more threes, more drives, and more fatigue baked into modern usage, that kind of near‑perfect year at the stripe is a brutal standard to match.
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5. 48.5 minutes per game – Wilt Chamberlain, 1961‑62
There are 48 minutes in an NBA game, and Wilt somehow averaged more than that, 48.5, because he barely came off the floor and logged multiple overtimes. He missed just eight total minutes all season, in an era with lighter travel and a very different approach to workload. In a league where teams sit stars on back‑to‑backs and sports science rules rotations, nobody is ever coming close to playing literally every minute again.
4. 21 seasons with one franchise – Dirk Nowitzki
Dirk Nowitzki spent 21 seasons in Dallas, the longest run with a single team in NBA history. In the player‑empowerment era, where stars request trades, chase super‑teams, and front offices reset on a dime, that kind of one‑jersey loyalty is almost extinct. Even icons like LeBron James and Kevin Durant have already crossed multiple franchises, making Dirk’s combination of longevity, health, and mutual commitment feel like a once‑in‑a‑lifetime alignment.
3. 11 championship rings – Bill Russell
Bill Russell won 11 titles in 13 seasons with the Celtics, a run of dominance that belongs to a completely different competitive ecosystem. Free agency didn’t exist, rosters stayed together for years, and Boston simply hoarded Hall of Fame talent. In today’s cap‑driven, parity‑pushing NBA, even the greatest modern stars tap out at four or five; sustaining championship‑level health, talent, and luck for more than a decade straight is just too tall an order.
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2. 100 points in a game – Wilt Chamberlain
On March 2, 1962, Wilt dropped 100 on the Knicks, shooting 36‑for‑63 from the field and 28‑for‑32 at the line. Only a handful of players have cracked 70 since. Kobe Bryant’s 81, then one‑off eruptions from Luka Dončić, Damian Lillard, Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, and Joel Embiid. With defenses sharper, rotations deeper, and coaches wary of running up the score, the perfect storm it would take to chase triple digits just doesn’t seem likely to hit again.
1. 1,192 consecutive games played – A.C. Green
A.C. Green suited up 1,192 times in a row over 16 seasons, never missing a game from 1986 to 2001. That Iron Man streak towers over the modern era, where even durable players are managed carefully, and nagging injuries mean scheduled nights off. With teams now prioritizing long‑term health over nightly mileage, this might be the single record most protected by the NBA’s own changes.
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The records that time protects
These numbers survive not just because they are extreme, but because the league around them has evolved in ways that make them harder to chase. Between load management, free agency, and deeper scouting, the conditions that birthed these records simply don’t exist anymore. That’s what turns them from statistical quirks into pieces of NBA mythology; numbers future generations will marvel at, but almost certainly never touch.
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