BY MATT MACKINDER
Clarkston News Editor

For Paul Bryer, hockey has been the one sport he fell in love with at an early age, and his dedication to improvement has taken him to AAA-level youth hockey, Tier II junior hockey, and for the past two season, to NCAA Division III college hockey.
Bryer just recently wrapped up his sophomore season at Plattsburgh State University, a school located in upstate New York, compiling four goals and 12 points in 15 games.
The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) didn’t play last season due to COVID-19, so 2021-22 was Bryer’s first season on the ice playing for the Cardinals.
“This year being my first year of actually playing games, I had to learn what it takes to play against older guys with more experience,” Bryer said. “I worked against that learning curve at first, but I feel I have adjusted to it and I’m now playing up to my capabilities. I attribute this in part to having had the opportunity to play in the NCDC which gave me the chance to play against older guys learning how to adjust and perform accordingly.”
The NCDC (National Collegiate Development Conference) is a junior hockey league based on the East Coast and is the top program in the United States Premier Hockey League. Bryer skated two seasons in the NCDC, in 2018-19 for the New Jersey Rockets and in 2019-20 for the Rockets and Islanders Hockey Club.
“During my second year of junior hockey when I was playing for the Islanders Hockey Club is when I first came into contact with Plattsburgh,” said Bryer. “I was invited by the coaching staff to visit their campus and arena. I made the trip up to see the campus and was able to catch one of their home games. After I saw the campus and area, I knew right then it was a place I could see myself playing for the next four years.
“Plattsburgh felt like home.”
The Clarkston native was also named the SUNYAC Men’s Ice Hockey Rookie of the Week for the period ending January 9, 2022 after recording four points on two goals and two assists and posting a plus-3 rating, helping Plattsburgh State go 1-1-0 at the W.B. Mason Winter Classic.
For his efforts, he was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Bryer scored his first two collegiate goals and added an assist in a 6-4 loss to Albertus Magnus College on January 7 before dishing out the primary assist on a goal with just 0.3 seconds left in the second period as a part of the Cardinals’ 8-2 win against King’s College on January 9.
Not too shabby for Bryer, who always aspired to play the game at a competitive level.
“My dad (Brian) got my brother (Nathan, currently the head hockey coach at Clarkston High School) and I into the sport at a very young age,” Bryer said. “We were fortunate enough to be able to play for elite hockey teams along the way. I got hooked into hockey from always watching my older brother play and was trying to keep up with him. You could say I looked up to him and his dedication.
“I played a little baseball growing up through the Independence Township Parks and Recreation, but it was mostly just hockey. About the age of five or six, I played AA hockey for teams like the USA Eagles and Lakeland Hawks. Afterwards, I progressed into playing AAA hockey for Compuware, Honeybaked, the Oakland Jr. Grizzlies, and Victory Honda.”
In high school, Bryer said he worked equally as hard on his schoolwork as he did playing hockey.
“I received good grades and ended on a good note with a decent GPA,” Bryer said,
He graduated from CHS in 2018, and also attended Pine Knob Elementary, Sashabaw Middle School, and Clarkston Junior High.
“I have lived In Clarkston my whole life,” said Bryer. “I enjoy going to concerts in the summertime at Pine Knob. My family and I go to the downtown area quite a bit. Some of our favorites are eating at the Woodshop and Honcho and going to Depot Park as a kid.”
The youngest of three kids in his family, which also includes his mother Laura and older sister Megan, Bryer has short-term and long-term goals in hockey and in school and life.
“My short-term two-year plan is to complete my degree at Plattsburgh State University in Business Marketing with a respectable GPA,” Bryer said. “Also, it would be awesome to win a league championship and play in the NCAA tournament with my hockey team. After my college career, I would like to have the opportunity to play at the pro hockey level.
“Eventually, the end goal is to land a successful career.”

Photo provided by Gabe Dickens