Orchard Lake

Eaglets hockey team on track, riding win streak

By Mike Moore
C & G Sports Writer

» Click on image to view full size « Photo by Donna Agusti Players on the St. Mary’s hockey team celebrate a goal during a 3-1 win against Grosse Pointe North earlier this season. The Eaglets have had plenty to celebrate lately, having won four straight games through press time. Photo by Donna Agusti Players on the St. Mary’s hockey team celebrate a goal during a 3-1 win against Grosse Pointe North earlier this season. The Eaglets have had plenty to celebrate lately, having won four straight games through press time. Orchard Lake St. Mary's vs. Grosse Pointe North

DETROIT — This had the makings of a turning point, a defining moment in a season of ups and downs.

There were no guarantees, but any sort of success could lead to the possibility of transforming a winter mired in mediocrity into one loaded with possibility.

So Brian Klanow and his Orchard Lake St. Mary’s hockey team boarded a bus for East Lansing, a weekend away from everything and a chance to bond with three games in three days against prep teams from Toronto — teams with some players closing in on 20 years old.

Three losses later, Klanow had exactly what he hoped for.

“That was a very important weekend for our guys,” Klanow said. “We were playing older kids, great teams, and to get away from everything and bond the way we did, it did something to us. I saw an energy and awareness, an execution that had been missing for most of the season. I think they saw what they were capable of, even though we lost those games. I think they finally felt like we were heading in the right direction.”

“That helped a lot,” forward Luke Rodgers said. “It’s like, we started hitting on all cylinders. Getting away gave us that chance to bond, and we’ve been playing very well since.”

Since arriving home from East Lansing, the Eaglets have played in and won four games, beating Port Huron Northern, Wyandotte-Roosevelt, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood and Grosse Pointe North by a combined 17-7 score.

At press time, St. Mary’s had upped its record to 9-6-0 overall and 8-3-0 in the Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League, a far cry from the 5-6-0 mark the team held less than a month ago.

“It seems like we’re clicking as one unit now,” forward Cooper Anstett said prior to a 3-1 win Jan. 25 against North at City Sports Center, in which he tallied a power-play goal. “We’re rolling four lines and playing as well as we have all year.”

“It’s taken some time, longer than we would have liked, to get them to understand what’s important, and understand why playing for each other and as one unit is so essential,” Klanow added. “But I think we’re getting there.”

There’s little doubting the ultimate goal of this year’s team, and players and coaches alike have no fear in summing up the measure of success by a state championship.

Anything less, they agree, will be considered disappointing, especially for a team that reached and fell in last season’s Division 1 final to Novi High.

The Eaglets will certainly be tested before the playoffs start at the end of this month.

They still have six league games remaining — at press time they were eight points behind Novi Detroit Catholic Central, but had three games in hand — as well as the Catholic League playoffs.

Needless to say, the plan for the rest of the season centers on ending a three-year title drought.

“This can be a great team,” Klanow added. “When they play for each other with the systems we have in place and for that common goal, it makes for what could be a good year.”

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Mike Moore at mmoore@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1038.