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. 

Greater DetroitThe 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. 

Clarkston warms up before a recent practice at Detroit Skate Club. ​​​​​​​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 DunlapKeith 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.)

Performance of the Week: Petoskey's Christopher Kavanaugh

February 17, 2022

Petoskey hockeyChristopher Kavanaugh ♦ Petoskey
Hockey ♦ Senior

Petoskey is enjoying arguably its best season in program history, and Kavanaugh is playing a massive role. He had a goal and two assists in the Northmen’s 5-2 win over Traverse City West on Feb. 9 as the team clinched its first Big North Conference championship, and he’s scored in three straight games adding a goal and an assist Friday in a 4-3 win at Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central and a goal and three assists Saturday as Petoskey defeated East Kentwood 9-0.

The Northmen are 21-4 and in the midst of a team-record nine-game winning streak for the second time this season. Kavanaugh has 24 goals and 20 assists, trailing only Dylan Robinson for the team leads in both categories. Kavanaugh also pitches and plays outfield for Petoskey’s baseball team and enjoys the outdoors; he is considering studying biology in college with an interest in working for the Department of Natural Resources.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Second Half’s "Performance of the Week" features are powered by MI Student Aid, a part of the Office of Postsecondary Financial Planning located within the Michigan Department of Treasury. MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information. MI Student Aid administers the state’s 529 college savings programs (MET/MESP), as well as scholarship and grant programs that help make college Accessible, Affordable and Attainable for you. Connect with MI Student Aid at www.michigan.gov/mistudentaid and find more information on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.

2021-22 Honorees

Feb. 10: Ira Jenkins, Whitehall wrestling - Report
Feb. 3: Emma Stewart, Salem gymnastics - Report
Jan. 28:
Tyler Ray, Pinckney swimming - Report
Jan. 21:
Elle Craven, Traverse City Central skiing - Report
Jan. 14:
Nevaeh Williams, Mount Clemens basketball - Report
Dec. 2:
Lucas Dunn, Chelsea football - Report
Nov. 25:
Riley Nugent, Plainwell swimming - Report
Nov. 18:
Harper Murray, Ann Arbor Skyline volleyball - Report
Nov. 11:
Abby VanderKooi, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian cross country - Report
Nov. 4:
Arianne Olson, Holland West Ottawa cross country - Report
Oct. 28:
Jack Guggemos, Okemos soccer - Report
Oct. 21:
Sachiv Kumar, Northville tennis - Report
Oct. 14:
Kate Brody, Grand Blanc golf - Report
Oct. 7:
Lilly Nelson, Negaunee tennis - Report
Sept. 30:
Stella Chapman, Ann Arbor Pioneer swimming - Report
Sept. 23:
Riley Hough, Hartland cross country - Report
Sept. 16:
Josie Bloom, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep volleyball - Report

(Photos courtesy of the Petoskey hockey program.)