Just because the NHL season was cancelled does not mean the Detroit metro-area is not home to some of the best hockey in the nation.
Two Clarkston seventh graders, Brandon Graham and Jack Schlau, recently helped the PeeWee AA Michigan Eagles win a state championship and finish in second place at the USA National Hockey Championships in Voorhees, New Jersey.
‘When we started out, the national championships seemed really far away,? said Schlau, a right wing who plays from corner to corner and is ‘more of a passer than a shooter.?
?(Playing in the national championship tournament) was really cool. It was a pretty big crowd. It took a minute before I got over the nervousness,? said Graham, who from the center position is a playmaker for his teammates.
On their way to the national championship game Schlau and Graham’s team railed off five victories against competitors from as far away as Alaska and New York. The Eagles also went 8-0 in district play in Michigan and triumphed over the reigning state champions, Grosse Pointe, 4-3 in overtime for the opportunity to play on the national level.
‘Winning states was awesome. (Grosse Pointe) had beaten us the year before,? said Graham.
With a travel season featuring 70 games with practices sprinkled in between, both boys have been able to maintain straight A’s in school; Schlau at Clarkston Middle School and Graham at Sashabaw Middle School.
‘I always have to do my homework before sports. Sometimes on the way to sports,? said Schlau, who began skating at the age of three, earning the nickname ‘Forest Gump on skates.?
Playing for such a select hockey team means the boys are not on the ice with their next door neighbors. The Eagles are comprised of children from 11 different metro area cities.
Both boys felt the other’s prescence on the team helped because they know they have a kindred spirit just a mile or so away.
‘I know I have someone that I can always hang out with,? said Graham, who started skating when he was four years old.
Aside from hockey, both boys play a large assortment of sports and will be teammates again on a high-level travel baseball team this summer. Both boys somehow also find the time to play basketball although when they reach high school playing both sports will become impossible.
The boys agree playing middle school sports has left a lasting impression on them.
‘It seems pretty cool to be playing for my city,? said Schlau, perhaps foreshadowing Wolves? hockey’s next great duo.