By Jim Newell

Review Editor

At the beginning of every season the Lake Orion varsity hockey team sets its sights on winning the OAA Red division, a goal that, like two years ago, can go down to the final league game.

This year, however, the Dragons won their third OAA Red division title in four years, with games to spare, outdistancing the league competition decisively.

Lake Orion had a dominating performance against the M-1 Griffins United team (Berkley, Clawson, Royal Oak) on Thursday, winning 8-0. The game ended before regulation, under the “mercy” rule.

“We clinched sole leadership of the league,” Coach Adam Krefski said. “After the first period we stepped it up, got back to the basics and we did exactly what we needed to do.”

Krefski, who is in his second year as head coach of the Dragons, now hopes to steer the team toward another OAA playoff championship and post-season run.

Lake Orion is currently ranked 7th in division 2 and 20th overall in the state, according to Michigan Hockey Rankings.

To add the exclamation point to their OAA Red title, on Saturday the Dragons beat the Clarkston Wolves 3-1 in their final home regular season game. The team is now 13-3-1 overall and 9-0-1 in the OAA Red.

Trailing the Dragons in the division are Birmingham United (4-2-1), Clarkston (3-3), Rochester United (2-3), Berkley/Royal Oak (2-5) and Stoney Creek (0-7), according to Oakland Activities Association standings through Jan. 24 when Lake Orion clinched the division title.

The Dragons opened the season in November with a 2-2 tie to Birmingham United, but came back nine days later to win 5-2 convincingly in the rematch.

In clinching the league title against the M-1 Griffins, Lake Orion started out strong with a 16-7 shot advantage but remained scoreless at the end of the first period.

During the intermission the team regrouped in the locker room and came out focusing on the basics of what needed to be done to pull ahead, Krefski said.

Lake Orion scored six goals in 10 minutes in the second period to take the commanding lead over the Griffins. Junior forward Kade Manzo started the scoring at 16:36 of the second, with assists by senior Zach Rose and junior Brendan Finn.

Captain Thomas Reath scored 41 seconds later, with assists by Rose and Manzo.

From there the Dragons opened the proverbial floodgates on the Griffins. Junior forward Brendan Bajis had two goals, as did Finn. Senior forward Brendan Gurski, junior forward Andrew Potyk each scored.

Reath finished the night with a goal and three assists. Junior forward Dylan Ross, Rose and Potyk each had two assists on the night. Senior forward Steve Martin, senior defenseman Nick Haag and senior forward Grant Peterson notched assists as well.

Krefski credits the team’s unity with their success. The players support one another on and off the ice, workout together and have team meals every Wednesday – all of which build a cohesiveness among the players.

“There’s not one individual on the team, really. They get along great,” Krefski said, adding that leadership also plays a role for the Dragons.

Captain Thomas Reath, a senior forward on the team, “definitely leads by example, on and off the ice,” Krefski said.

The coach notes that, among others, senior defenseman Nick Haag, junior forward Kade Manzo and junior forward Brendan Finn have all stepped up to take lead roles on the ice. All three are assistant captains.

Goalies Lucas Haddad and Dylan Parker have shared time between the pipes this season, which is a tremendous benefit to have two goalies on which the team can rely. Both are juniors and will be back next season adding that depth to the team.

“Both have played outstanding this year and challenge each other in practice,” Krefski said. “They push each other day in and day out.”

The team’s assistant coaches are Ian Smith, Alex Martel and Ray Dries.

Having a competitive junior varsity team also helps with player development and helps keep the Dragons competitive and challenging for league titles each year.

“We’re lucky to have a good program, JV and varsity,” the coach said.

Krefski and the team encourage fans to come and cheer during the games, especially as the Dragons begin entering the post-season tournaments and then playoffs. “It’s great to see all of the fans come out,” he said.

Next up for the Dragons is Marquette (15-3 overall) at 2:15 p.m. Thursday in the Michigan High School Hockey Showcase in Chelsea.

Lake Orion’s next home game is 8 p.m. Saturday against White Lake – Lakeland at the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Township.

Lake Orion begins its playoff run at 5 p.m. Feb. 28 against an opponent to be determined. The Dragons are in division 2, district 13.