Clarkston Eying Postseason Possibilities with Challenging Regular-Season Schedule
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
December 20, 2023
It might not be January just yet, but the Clarkston hockey team has probably already felt like it has competed in the MHSAA Tournament for the 2023-24 season.
The Wolves have gone through a gauntlet of a nonleague schedule, with two games against last season’s Division 1 runner-up Brighton, a game against reigning Division 3 ion Flint Powers Catholic and a contest against Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, a Division 1 semifinalist last winter.
However, there has been a method to the madness for a Clarkston team that’s normally not so ambitious with nonleague scheduling.
The Wolves saw a 20-win season end with a 6-1 Regional Final loss to Hartland in March, and the idea is that playing some of the state’s best so early will toughen Clarkston up further for when this season’s playoffs arrive.
“I think we’ve already kind of went through hard times and had moments of adversity,” Clarkston head coach Nathan Bryer said. “We’re already a team that has faced a lot more hardship than our team last year at this point. I think last year at this point, we were still undefeated and had an easier time with it.”
So far, Clarkston has done a good job navigating the tough early slate, with wins over Powers and Forest Hills Central and close defeats to Brighton (4-3 and 3-1).
It’s all in an effort to eventually do something no team in school history or any squad in the Oakland Activities Association has done – win a Division 1 Finals championship.
No OAA squad has reached the championship game in Division 1 since Clarkston did so in 2005, and only two have reached the Division 1 Semifinal round since 2011 (Lake Orion in 2011 and Rochester United in 2019).
Farmington is the only OAA school to ever win a Finals hockey title, doing so in Division 3 in 2014.
Based on who returns from last year’s team, Clarkston likely will be in the conversation and could represent the OAA’s best chance in recent years to have a team make it back to Plymouth and the season’s final weekend, and perhaps do some winning there also.
The Wolves return 15 players off a team that dominated the OAA last season, finishing 8-1-1 in league play.
Junior forward Ron Wade was a first-team all-state performer in Division 1, while defenseman Evan Adams was named second-team all-state.
Those two along with forward Owen Croston are the team’s captains this winter.
The Wolves are 7-2 going into a Thursday night contest against league rival Rochester Hills Stoney Creek.
With so much familiarity among players and coaches, not as much time needed to be spent during the offseason getting to know one another.
“The team is already pretty bonded this year,” Adams said. “We didn’t really have to worry that much about being a big group, or chemistry, this year.”
In January, the toughening-up process won’t end for Clarkston, given the Wolves will have a game against four-time reigning Division 1 champion Detroit Catholic Central.
“We haven’t had a hard (nonleague) schedule before until this year,” Croston said. “We just have to be ready for those games.”
When the MHSAA Tournament does roll around, Clarkston will have to jump over the same hurdles it usually must in its Regional – Hartland and Lake Orion.
Wade said the team still has lessons learned from the playoff loss to Hartland on its mind.
“We just learned that we really have to stick to our identity in those games,” he said. “This year, we have to rely on our forecheck and all of us pushing for the same thing.”
Indeed, it might not be 2024 yet, but Clarkston already has found out a lot about itself as it tries to replicate the postseason in November and December before the real one arrives.
“I think those teams who play a rigorous schedule all year, they are a little bit more battle-tested when Regionals come around,” Bryer said. “That was our goal this year, to have a team that’s played against top-10 opponents consistently all year. I think we’ll be better for it throughout the regular season, and better for it in Regionals.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties
PHOTOS (Top) Clarkston warms up before a recent practice at Detroit Skate Club. (Middle) Clarkston warms up before a recent practice at Detroit Skate Club. (Photos by Keith Dunlap.)
D1 Preview: Title Hopefuls Begin Chase
March 7, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Two of this weekend’s Division 1 hockey semifinalists will be playing in this late round for the first time. Three of four teams left in the bracket are seeking their first MHSAA Finals championship on the ice.
And then there’s Detroit Catholic Central, top-ranked and with 13 past titles, and the favorite Rochester United, Saginaw Heritage and Traverse City Bay Reps must catch to make more history this winter.
This weekend’s pairings are as follows:
Division 1 – Friday
Detroit Catholic Central (27-1-1) vs. Rochester United (26-3), 5 p.m.
Saginaw Heritage (27-2) vs. Traverse City Bay Reps (24-5), 7:30 p.m.
FINALS – Saturday
Division 1 - 6 p.m.
All Semifinals and Finals will be viewable live per subscription basis on MHSAA.tv, with live audio available on MHSAANetwork.com.
Click for a full schedule of this weekend's games plus full results as they come in. Player statistics below are through the Regional round.
DETROIT CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/rank: 27-1-1, No. 1
Championship history: 13 MHSAA titles (most recent 2016), five runner-up finishes.
Coach: Brandon Kaleniecki, fourth season (101-18-2)
League finish: First in Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League North.
Best wins: 1-0 over No. 6 Salem in Quarterfinal, 6-0 over No. 13 Birmingham United in Regional Final, 6-0 and 5-1 over No. 3 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, 4-1 over No. 4 Brighton, 1-0 over Division 2 No. 3 Livonia Stevenson, 1-0 over Division 2 No. 2 Trenton, 6-1 and 5-4 over Division 2 No. 4 Birmingham Brother Rice.
Players to watch: Joe Borthwick, sr. D (7 goals, 23 assists); Brendan Miles, jr. D (6 goals, 22 assists); Rylan Clemons, sr. F (25 goals, 28 assists); Kyle Gaffney, jr. F (20 goals, 22 assists).
Outlook: After three straight titles from 2014-16, DCC has finished runner-up and then as a semifinalist the last two, respectively. The Shamrocks are primed to take back the title – the lone loss and tie both were to out-of-state schools, the defeat in the team’s third game of the season. DCC has three straight shutouts and seven over its last eight games – and 13 total this winter. Senior goalie Zach Allan – a first-team all-stater last season – has three of those shutouts and a 1.44 goals-against average in 16 games, while senior Stephen Sleva has four shutouts and a 0.82 GAA over 12 contests. Borthwick was an all-state first-team defenseman working in front of Allan last season, and Miles earned an honorable mention. Five more players had scored at least 10 goals entering the week, with junior Dylan Dooley (13 goals/20 assists) also over 30 points and senior Carter Korpi (14 goals/14 assists) among a few on the verge.
ROCHESTER UNITED
Record/rank: 26-3, No. 5
Championship history: Has never appeared in an MHSAA championship game.
Coach: Bryan Kowalski, second season (37-12-5)
League finish: First in Oakland Activities Association Red.
Best wins: 4-3 over No. 3 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in Quarterfinal, 3-2 over No. 9 Macomb Dakota in Regional Final, 3-0 over No. 12 Utica Eisenhower in Regional Quarterfinal, 2-1 over No. 7 Byron Center, 4-2 over No. 8 Farmington United, 4-1 over No. 13 Birmingham United.
Players to watch: Austin Streng, sr. F (30 goals, 23 assists); Marcello Munaco, sr. F (14 goals/22 assists); Michael Zyrek, sr. F (17 goals, 25 assists); Domenico Munaco, sr. G (1.44 goals-against average, 3 shutouts).
Outlook: Rochester will be playing at the Semifinals for the first time after navigating one of the toughest postseason paths in the state – with the Dakota win avenging one of its few losses this winter. Rochester has more than doubled its win total from last season, when the team finished 12-9-5. Juniors Jack Myers (11 goals/14 assists) and Caden Ebinger (10 goals/14 assists) are two more potent scorers, while senior defensemen Niko Mantzios and Kyle Crutchfield both had 19 assists entering the week and had combined for 14 goals. The co-operative program includes athletes from Rochester High and Rochester Adams.
SAGINAW HERITAGE
Record/rank: 27-2, No. 2
Championship history: Division 1 runner-up 2018.
Coach: J.J. Bamberger, 11th season (203-86-10)
League finish: First in Saginaw Valley League.
Best wins: 5-2 over No. 14 Capital City in Quarterfinal, 3-2 over No. 3 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, 6-1 over No. 11 Traverse City Bay Reps, 5-1 over No. 6 Salem, 7-1 over No. 4 Brighton, 6-2 over Division 2 No. 7 Davison.
Players to watch: Parker Severson, sr. F (28 goals, 25 assists); Brady Rappuhn, jr. F (24 goals, 38 assists); David Helpap, sr. F (15 goals, 30 assists); Jacob Best, sr. F (17 goals, 30 assists).
Outlook: The Hawks are now 49-7-3 over the last two seasons, with a number of standouts from last year’s first-time finalist team leading the way again. Helpap made the all-state first team a year ago, while Severson and Rappuhn earned honorable mentions and senior Jack Jesko (1.83 goals-against average) earned an honorable mention in goal. Senior Eddie Symons (19 goals/18 assists) is another veteran top scorer, and junior Matt Cole had 28 assists entering the week to go with eight goals. The only losses were to Division 2 semifinalists Hartland and Birmingham Brother Rice.
TRAVERSE CITY BAY REPS
Record/rank: 24-5, No. 11
Championship history: Has never appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Coach: Michael Matteucci, first season (24-5)
League finish: First in Northern Michigan Hockey League.
Best wins: 4-3 (OT) over No. 7 Byron Center in Quarterfinal, 2-1 over No. 10 Rockford in Regional Final, 5-4 over Traverse City West, 5-3 over Big Rapids, 3-2 and 5-4 over Petoskey.
Players to watch: Jake Stevenson, sr. F (30 goals, 24 assists); Christopher Deneweth, sr. D (12 goals, 23 assists); Kaleb Miller, soph. F (20 goals, 22 assists); Logan Kerry, sr. F (14 goals, 27 assists).
Outlook: Bay Reps – a cooperative of Traverse City St. Francis, Elk Rapids, Bear Lake, Kalkaska and Kingsley – will play in the Semifinals for the first time, and is riding a 10-game winning streak. Stevenson earned an all-state honorable mention last season and is one of nine seniors – five others make up two of the top defense pairs plus goalie Kamerin Lannen. Matteucci previously served as an assistant – and played in the NHL and multiple minor leagues – before taking over the program this winter.
PHOTO: Detroit Catholic Central’s Dylan Dooley works to clear the puck against Orchard Lake St. Mary’s this season.