Grech playing 'out of his mind' for Jets

Though the Metro Jets have stumbled to an 0-4-0 mark in the Central States Hockey League this season, there are positives to be taken.

One of those is 17-year-old Hartland native and third-year skater Brett Grech, the anchor on Metro’s defense corps. Grech, who came to the Jets from the Lakeland Hawks Midget A team in 2006, is currently tied for the team lead in scoring with five points (four on the power play)through four games and has been logging important minutes on the back end.

Thing is, he’s a natural forward playing defense this year.

“I’m really happy with what ‘Grechy’ has done for us so far,” Metro head coach Jamie Hayden said of his alternate captain. “We moved him back to ‘D’ and skill-wise, he’s as good as anyone in the league. I just think to get better it’s just a matter of getting his bearings back there. At the end of the year, he could be one of the best defensemen in the league.”

“Grech has been playing out of his mind,” Jets assistant coach Ryan Skop added.

Grech has points in every game this season and scored his first goal in Wednesday night’s 5-4 loss in Flint. During the 2007-2008 season, Grech led the Jets in scoring with 16 goals among 33 points and seems poised to top that mark this season.

“He’s been a bright spot for us,” said Hayden. “He moves the puck well on the power play and blocks shots down low. As far as returning guys, he’s been the one that’s stepped up to the plate for us.

“We just have to get some of the other guys to follow his lead, but until that happens, we’ll probably be on the tail end of more games like we’ve been playing.”