The Lake Orion Varsity Hockey Team is back in action for their fourth season this year, and after playing five games they can already be proud of their 2-1-2 record.
The Dragons also have three brand new coaches who have been a part of hockey for most of their lives. Each of them come with a great deal of experience, which will be very beneficial to a team that has yet to have a successful season. The coaches are looking forward to improvement of the team and hopefully finding a way to turn the program around.
Head coach Doug Herominski and assistant coach Mike Clem came to Lake Orion looking for something new after coaching and playing hockey for numerous years. Recently acquired assistant coach Ron Cifollelli is well know around Lake Orion, having played hockey all his life and serving as a USA Hockey referee.
“I played travel hockey my whole youth career and after an unfortunate knee injury, I returned to senior hockey,” said Herominski. “After getting tired of having late ice times, I turned to coaching. There has not been a day in my life that I have not thought about the game. I love all aspects and always want to learn more.”
“I’ve been coaching since I was 15,” said Clem. “I’ve coached everything from Learn-to-Skate, Learn-to-Play, Mites, Squirts and high school. Though I wasn’t an actual paid coach for Forest Hills Central, I was just there to help out with the goalies from time to time.”
“I would expect at the very least to win 50 percent of our games,” said Herominski. “It would be a great improvement over the last few years of the program.
“I would hope to finish above .500, while developing our players for the future,” said Clem. “I would also hope to spread the name of Lake Orion as a respectable opponent throughout the hockey community.”
Lately, the Dragon hockey team has been heading in the right direction. Including pre-season contests, they have had a tie against Dakota (5-5), a win over Mt. Morris (24-0), a tie with Oxford (3-3), a loss to East Lansing (5-2), and a win recently over Waterford Kettering (4-2).
To help increase fans in the stands for home games, any Lake Orion student who “bleeds green” at the gate will get in free.