BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Through the ups and downs of a shortened season, the Clarkston Varsity Hockey coaching staff noted it was a good season.
“It was a learning curve for us,” said Nathan Bryer, new head coach, with new assistant coaches Ryan Larkin and Garrett Polish. “We had a whole new coaching staff and we were coaching kids who hadn’t played for us. As the year went on, we gradually got better. Kids who are going to come back next year really started to buy into our systems as well as our seniors. It was their last year, brand new coaching staff. They really started buying in to how we want to do things.”
The winter season began later than usual, instead of starting in November, hockey began their shortened season in February due to the COVID-pandemic
“Had it been a full season and three more months with the kids and more games we would have played in a regular year, I think we would have turned it into something really special,” Bryer added.
The Wolves finished the regular season with three wins which included a 3-0 shutout against M-1 Griffins United and a 5-0 shutout against Utica Eisenhower. The wins gave freshman Hunter Smith two shutout victories in the net.
“Hunter was awesome,” Bryer said. “He is a young kid. He is a freshman, and we put him in a role to be our starting goalie all year playing against 18-year-old kids. He made great strides this season. We are really excited for the next three years to see where he goes.”
Clarkston’s final game of the regular season had them playing Lake Orion for the second time in the season. The Wolves finished with a 4-3 win.
“It was big for them especially for the seniors,” Bryer said. “Over the last couple of years Lake Orion has taken over that rivalry when it comes to hockey. It was a big win for us. Obviously going into regionals it was nice to see the boys get rewarded finally with a big win.”
Clarkston finished the season with a 6-8-1 record after losing to Hartland, 8-0, in the MHSAA Division 2 Regional 12 Semifinal on March 18.
“Hartland is a really good team this year,” Bryer said. “They have been ranked high all year. They are the way every high school program wants to run things. It was a little bit of a wake up call for us as a staff just going to Hartland, playing in Hartland and seeing how top notch of a program they are.
“The outcome is never what you want but I think it was a good learning experience for the coaching staff and those players we are going to get back in the future.”
The team graduates nine seniors: Ethan Adams, Hunter Carene, Bredan Fredrick, Ryan Galligan, Mathew Phaneuf, Tate Phares, Joe Reiss,Mathew Smith and Nate Vanheulen.
“For us they were the first group in this transition to where we want to take Clarkston Hockey,” Bryer said. “They led by example. All nine of them cared about what we were doing.”

  Clarkston Varsity Hockey, Hockey