High School

Grosse Pointe North Girls Hockey Playmaker Josie Cueter Recruits To Save Her Team's Season

Three-sport athlete recruits friends and 'friends of friends' to overcome a lack of players

Jeff Hawkins

Gross Pointe North's girls ice hockey season was in jeopardy due to a lack of players, before three-sport athlete Josie Cueter recruited nearly 10 players to keep the team going and competitive.
Gross Pointe North's girls ice hockey season was in jeopardy due to a lack of players, before three-sport athlete Josie Cueter recruited nearly 10 players to keep the team going and competitive. / Leon Halip Photography

Entering preseason workouts, Grosse Pointe North (Michigan) senior Josie Cueter remained uncertain whether the athletic department would be able to field a team for the 2024-25 Michigan Girls High School Hockey League (MGHSHL) season.

With just three players returning, the numbers were not there.

With the fall season closing, the Norsemen’s three-sport standout went to work, helping new coach Taylor Shaheen recruit enough “friends and friends of friends” to create a competitive roster.

Previous playing experience was not a prerequisite.

(SUBHED) Grosse Pointe North Senior Josie Cueter Saves Senior Season

Reaching out to teammates on the field hockey and girls lacrosse squads, Cueter convinced enough first-time players to give the sport a try and offset the nearly 10 players the program lost from last season’s squad.

“I used social and it worked,” Cueter said following Thursday’s practice. “We’re not focused on the need to win ... win ... win. We’re focused on having fun.”

The division-leading Norsemen (8-4-1) are doing both.

“I definitely love to help out the new girls,” said Cueter, who scored 35 goals in her opening 13 outings this season. “All of them are intrigued. It’s a good environment (in the locker room) right now.”

Entering Friday’s start of a three-game series at Group A’s Traverse City (8-4-1), Grosse Pointe North paced Group B with 17 team points, three ahead of Bloomfield-Birmingham (7-5-0) and Washtenaw United (7-7-0).

Cueter said she was confident in her team as she headed “home” for a weekend visit. A resident of Traverse City before relocating to the eastern suburbs of metro Detroit, Cueter played travel hockey for the ultra-competitive Traverse City North Stars, before joining the Norsemen’s program as a sophomore.

In her first MGHSHL season, while playing with her older sister, Grace, Cueter recorded 66 goals among 102 regular-season points. She added eight playoff points. As a junior, with the team moving up to Group A, she collected 30 goals and 22 assists. As a senior, Cueter ranked second in the MGHSHL in scoring with 48 points. Livingston United’s Isabella Jackowicz led the league with 53 points, including 43 goals.

Coach Taylor Shaheen: ‘I’ve Never Met A Hockey Player Like Her Before’

Described by Shaheen as a “humble” team leader, Cueter attempted to downplay her role as team captain and offensive dynamo.

“I’ve never met a hockey player like her before,” Shaheen said. “If someone gets hurt on the other team, she will stop to see if she’s all right.

“She easily can go coast-to-coast and skate around everybody, but she’s so humble. She doesn’t puck hog.”

And if the Norsemen find themselves in a one-sided contest, Cueter volunteers to play defense and “pull the reins on herself,” Shaheen said. “She’s so humble. She pulls herself back.”

When asked about her post-high school plans, Cueter remains uncertain which level of college she will attend or if she’ll play hockey at the next level.

Shaheen said: “She’s a Division I player.”

Cueter said she may look at some Division III programs in “states around Michigan,” including Ohio and Minnesota, but concentrate on getting a degree and “living a normal life.” She has yet to reach out to any D-III coaches and has been off the radars of many college recruiters since leaving the travel hockey circuit.

She doesn’t seem to mind. Regardless of her future playing decision, others first.

“I don’t like to make anything about me,” Cueter said. “I’m focused on having fun.”

Published
Jeff Hawkins
JEFF HAWKINS

Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in print and digital media. A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2023-24 and 2011-12), NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003). His minor-league coverage included the UHL’s Adirondack IceHawks (1999-2003), Northeast League’s Adirondack Lumberjacks (1997-99) and South Atlantic League’s Hickory Crawdads (1993-95). Hawkins penned four youth sports books and away from the laptop, his main hobbies include mountain bike riding and live music. He has been writing for High School On SI since 2024.

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