Playing on borrowed time is one thing, playing in borrowed equipment is another. Walled Lake Northern senior forward Al Harvey performed the latter on Dec. 1 at Lakeland Ice Arena in Waterford Township against the Clarkston Wolves.
Harvey wore equipment on loan from a teammate after being benched by Northern Coach Claude Tunison for losing his gear.
‘You’re sitting the first period, for screwing up,? Tunison said of his talk with Harvey.
Once in the game, Harvey was very dominant, Tunison said.
‘He came in and took charge, he’s a heck of a hockey player.?
The Knights (1-0) used a pair of goals from Harvey and John McMahon to down the Wolves (1-4, 1-1 OAA) 4-1 in their season opener.
In the loss, Clarkston Coach Bryan Krygier was encouraged by the team’s play in the second game of a back-to-back, coming off a 4-2 loss to Oakland Activities Association rival Waterford Mott.
‘I thought our effort was little better. The guys want to win, I just don’t think that we’re executing in the game,? he said.
‘I thought there was a better flow to the game tonight, but we’re still not capitalizing on the power play.?
The Wolves are taking some time to mesh with each other. More than half of its members are coming together from different programs, Krygier said.
‘It takes a while to break bad habits. We’ve got to continue to work hard and stay positive,? he said.
As is becoming common with Clarkston this season, the teams played to a scoreless tie in the first period.
Early in the second, the Knights put the pressure on the Wolves in the Clarkston zone before goalie Zack Lewy was forced to cover the puck. Harvey slapped the puck past Lewy after Jeff Walters won the face-off for the Knights.
Clarkston retaliated as Eric Salo scored for the Wolves. Nearing the end of a power-play, Salo put back the rebound of an Aaron Podbielski slap-shot with 9:55 of the period remaining.
Northern added a shorthanded goal with 7:33 left in the game, as Clarkston squandered more than 1:30 of a five-on-three situation. With five seconds remaining in the second of Northern’s penalties, McMahon got his second goal of the game.
Clarkston had 21 shots on net and Knights goalie Ed Hojnacki turned aside 17 for the victory.
‘They really took it to us and our goalie stepped to the plate and played solid,? Tunison said.
Clarkston’s next game is a home match on Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. against Port Huron Northern at Detroit Skating Club. The arena is located at 888 Denison Court in Bloomfield Hills.