Like many recent high school graduates, Mike Fogg and Trevor Johns are preparing for their first extended stay away from home: wondering how they will get around in a new city, thinking of buying a laptop and mulling over the ins and outs of laundry.
Unlike the rest of their friends in the Clarkston High School class of ?05, Johns and Fogg’s education will continue primarily on the ice rather than in the classroom.
Opportunity came knocking in the form of the Junior-A Boston Harbor Wolves, who scouted the Clarkston hockey standouts during the 2004-05 season. After seeing them in action at some post season camps the Harbor Wolves brass decided to draft them both to play in the Eastern Junior League.
‘Most colleges, either D I or D III, don’t look at high school players that much. They look more for the junior players. Everyone who is playing in college has most likely played a year or two in juniors. It’s hard to come right out of high school and go right to a D I school or even a D III school,? said Johns.
‘When we went to the camps, we both played really good. They pretty much told us right there that we would have a spot on the team and then they gave us time to think about it,? said Fogg.
Judging from the first time Johns and Fogg met each other though, few would guess the duo would become a lethal on-ice tandem for Clarkston’s hockey program.
‘One of our friends had a birthday party in first grade and I pretty much knocked the wind out of (Johns),? said Fogg.
‘He knocked the wind out of me the first time we ever met. We were playing soccer out in the back yard. I don’t know if he didn’t like me or was just into the game, but there was a collision,? said Johns.
The years passed and the boys met up again in middle school, where they starred on separate AAA teams. In tenth grade, both made the decision to play for CHS, a choice that went against current thought that the best amateur hockey players often headed to travel teams in order to prepare and be noticed for the next level.
‘We didn’t really know how it would effect us at that time. We had a lot of older friends who told us to come out for the team,? said Fogg. ?(Playing for CHS) we got a lot better hockey wise. AAA is just a lot of traveling and you never have time to do anything because you’re always going out of town.?
‘Everybody said ‘Playing for your high school is one of the most fun things in your life.? We had three great seasons so I don’t regret it at all,? said Johns.
The duo’s career included two trips to the state semifinals, where this year Clarkston lost to eventual state champion Detroit Catholic Central. In the 2004-05 season Fogg led Clarkston with 46 points (22 goals, 26 assists) and Johns was tied for second on the team with 35 points (16 goals, 19 assists).
‘We are very pleased to have Mike and Trevor next year. These are two players who will flourish in our league. They had options for next year, but decided the exposure and experience of playing in Boston was the best scenario,? said Harbor Wolves General Manager Christian Gordon. ‘We like both of them on their own, but we really wanted them together.?
While Fogg and Johns will their finesse on the ice to the Harbor Wolves, the team they are joining wants to make sure the boys have every opportunity to play their way into a college scholarship. The boys will play their games in a veritable hot bed of hockey with top notch collegiate programs such as Boston University and Harvard within spitting distance.
‘We had so many things going for us. Alpena was showing a lot of interest in us too, but there is not the opportunity up north that there is out east. Basically we decided that the scholarship opportunities out east were a lot better. That’s what it came down to pretty much, is where we had a better shot at going to the next level,? said Johns. ‘Since we’ve known each other for seven or eight years, and we have become best friends over those years, it means a lot that we’ll both be going to Boston.?
No one is prouder of the duo than Clarkston head hockey coach Bryan Krygier.
‘They will still go through an adjustment period as they play with older and better players, but I think they will do well,? said Krygier.
The boys in turn are ever grateful for the lessons learned from their CHS coach.
‘Krygier helped us a lot. He’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever had. He knows what he’s doing,? said Fogg.
‘He definitely knows his hockey,? added Johns. ‘We both loved playing for him ?,?
‘Because he played like us,? finished Fogg.
Krygier also felt that while the duo is not guaranteed to play together in the EJL, the Harbor Wolves are getting two players who feed off each other on the ice and work together extremely effectively.
‘We are really going to have to work for our spot on the power play, on the penalty kill, it’s not going to just come to us,? said Johns. ‘But we’re ready for the challenge.?
Both boys are excited to head to Boston but realize leaving home for the first time will be tough. Johns, whose girlfriend Liz Mengyan is headed to Illinois on a cross country scholarship, was already expecting long drives from Western, but the thought of being in Boston is still jarring. Fogg and Johns? friends have not fully adjusted to their plans as well.
‘All of our friends are pushing us and pushing us to come to Western but we have these opportunities we feel we will regret later if we don’t take them now,? said Johns.
The boys will stay with a family in Boston that will undoubtedly soften the blow of being in a strange city. They will also enroll in community college to start work in business classes and general prerequisites.
Whether or not Johns or Fogg is able to parlay this opportunity into a college scholarship remains to be seen, but no one can take away the fact that they have achieved the next level, and everything after this is icing on the cake.