Consistent play is what Clarkston hockey Coach Bryan Krygier preached early this season with his team mired at 5-4. The Wolves have listened, and now find themselves at 11-5 (8-2) and ranked fourth in Division I by the Coaches Association poll.
Most recently Clarkston triumphed over Grosse Pointe North 8-3 on Jan. 26 and followed up with a 3-2 win against Royal Oak on Jan. 27.
‘Grosse Pointe North is a very good hockey team,? said Krygier. He added that Grosse Pointe North is the third ranked team in Division II prior to their defeat at the Wolves hands..
Senior Trevor Johns had two goals and two assists against Grosse Pointe North. Senior’s Alex Handley and Bryan Morin each had two goals and an assist. Junior Kyle Chartrand chipped in a goal and two assists, and senior Chris Degen finished out the Wolves scoring with a goal and an assist.
Having last competed prior to the Grosse Pointe North game on Jan. 17 (2-1 loss to Farmington), the Wolves were well rested. Their game the next night after North against Royal Oak was a different story.
?(Royal Oak) was one of those games where you don’t get the bounces, the refs are against you, you are playing away, and you have to play through all those things and that’s what we did. We were more disciplined and we held on,? said Krygier.
Royal Oak jumped on the Wolves early, racing out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Travis Dittmer and David LeAnnais.
Clarkston was practically starving for a goal with 6:00 remaining in the first period before senior Mike Fogg picked off a pass at the blue line and skated in on Royal Oak’s Richard Hennard all alone. A quick deke to his right and Fogg had Hennard committed. Half a second later, the puck had been smoothly deposited in the net on a backhand and Fogg was celebrating with his teammates.
‘We were in a rut. When we scored that first goal that gave us a little life,? said Krygier.
The Wolves then scored on a power play with 8:00 remaining in the second period. Morin found the puck in the middle of a massive scrum in front of the goal mouth and popped it into the net. Chartrand and junior Matt Prasil got assists on the goal.
Towards the end of the second, a long rebound found senior Steve Eddy’s stick at the blue line. Eddy was able to skate unmolested to the left circle where he uncorked a wrist shot which beat Hennard high on the stick side. Fogg got credit for the assist on the goal which proved to be the game winner.
‘We came out a little flat and got ourselves in a hole, but we settled down,? said Krygier.
All Clarkston had to do to preserve victory in the third period was kill a five on three powerplay ? which they did quite well, allowing only one shot for the duration of both penalties.
?(Clarkston) is a very good hockey team and we’re in the process of trying to get where they are at. We don’t have the confidence yet to play with and put a team away,? said Royal Oak Coach A.J. Plaskey. ‘If we got a third goal there, it might have been a different story.?
The Wolves out shot Royal Oak 27-18. Senior Michael Brach got the win for Clarkston.
The Wolves have a big league rematch at Troy coming up on Feb. 5, a team which beat them 3-2 back on Jan. 11.