Hat’s Clarke leading the way for Humboldt Broncos

If the Broncos are the star attraction on Broadway, Medicine Hat’s Michael Clarke plays one of the lead roles.

“Going into the year, we were more looking towards a rebuild,” said the 20-year-old alternate captain, who was traded from the Calgary Canucks to the Broncos over the summer. “People weren’t expecting us to not even make playoffs, let alone be in contention for first place.”

Clarke, who’s playing his final year of junior hockey, leads the team in scoring with 37 points in 29 games. The forward is one of three alternate captains on this year’s team, joining Braydon Camrud and Derek Patter who’ve both returned from last season.

Jason Neville, the Broncos former assistant GM, along with newly named head coach and GM Nathan Oystrick, tactically crafted this years team, ensuring every player recruited had a purpose.

Clarke looks towards his own line in acknowledging how well a job Neville and Oystrick did in piecing together the team over the summer.

“Owen (Guenter)’s my linemate, he’s been just phenomenal this year,” he says. “He’s having a career year. Me playing with him has helped me excel my game.”

Clarke says the team’s success is coming from a ‘by-committee’ approach. Many players are having breakout campaigns, and are scoring critical goals when called upon. Not only are they exceeding the expectations cast upon them, they’re blowing their own expectations out of the water.

“At the start of the year, our goal was to just be in the mix,” he continued. “Try to do the most we can, hover around the .500 mark. Now we’re setting goals where we think we can win this league. We have personal goals, as well as team goals and community goals.”

While their expectations for game-by-game play hasn’t changed this season, Clarke believes their goals, both as a team as well as individually, have gotten harder as a result of their strong standing.

But as offensively talented many of this year’s roster is, the Broncos lack what nearly every other team has — chemistry and experience playing with each other.

Clarke says despite their lack of familiarity with one another to begin the season, they all joined the team with same common privledge. This has spurred on their unity and collaboration with one another, and is in turn creating results many would have considered a long shot.

“(Nathan and Jason) have definitely picked the right guys, character wise as well as on-ice skill,” continued Clarke. “When it comes down to it, to build that chemistry, you need good guys in the locker room. You need to have a bond with the team. I think our ability to grow as a team and come together so quickly is why we have such a good on-ice product right now.”

Clarke’s individual output is also gaining attention across Saskatchewan. The Hatter sits sixth in league scoring, and was named the SJHL’s Player of the Week in mid-November after collecting eight points over three games.

He admits he’s struggled with consistency in the past, but that hasn’t hindered his production this season. Combined that with the play from his two line-mates, and his life of lighting the lamp has taken off.

“It certainly makes it a lot easier to put up the numbers,” Clarke added. “This year, with Bryson (Cecconi) creating the space, Owen has crazy vision on the ice. I just kind of stand and he gets me the puck where it needs to be, and we work off each other really well like that.”

Although much of the SJHL, and the country for that matter, is taking notice of Clarke’s offensive output, he’s not putting a hard focus on the numbers. Rather, he’s simply trying to be the best player on the ice, night in and night out.

“Of course I would like to win the scoring race, I think that would be huge for opportunities opening up ” he said. “But I’m not much into stats. I know where I am, but I don’t necessarily check into it as much as some people would.”

This ‘game by game’ approach has worked so far, and he’s not about to change anytime soon.

Regardless where he ends up in the scoring race, when the final scene of this captivating story plays out, Clarke will look back with a smile. He considers himself blessed with playing his final year of Junior A hockey wearing the Broncos logo.

“After what had happened with the tragedy, being able to represent the town of Humboldt, the players from last year and their families, it’s a huge honour for me,” he said. “I’m going to try and just continue to do the best I can to honour them and to represent this organization the best I can.”

by Mitch Bach

Hat’s Clarke leading the way for Humboldt Broncos

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