Hat’s Clarke to play in Humboldt

By Sean Rooney on June 23, 2018.

srooney@medicinehatnews.com @MHNRooney

He’s switched teams before, even provinces.

But there’s no way Michael Clarke can adequately prepare himself for where he’s going next.

The 19-year-old from Medicine Hat was traded to the Humboldt Broncos Thursday, meaning he’ll be one of the few veterans on a team rebuilding from the worst tragedy in junior hockey history.

“It’s a bit of mixed feelings going there,” he admitted Friday. “You know what to expect support-wise, but you’re almost walking on eggshells… you want to represent them the best you can.

“I take it as I’m the guy they chose to help rebuild from that and recover. I take pride in being able to help people, especially the young guys coming in.”

Clarke, picked in the 2013 WHL bantam draft by the Prince Albert Raiders, has seen success in the Alberta Junior Hockey League with the Calgary Canucks and Grande Prairie Storm. He played two seasons in Calgary before moving north where he tallied 31 goals and 31 assists in 60 games two seasons ago for the Storm.

But after a brief stint in Chilliwack, then a 45-point season back with the Canucks this past year, Clarke wasn’t sure what he wanted to do next.

“It didn’t feel like a good fit for me and I kind of just wanted to have fun for my last year,” he said. “I took almost two months before I answered anyone’s calls, just wrapping my head around what I wanted to do for the year.

“I received a call from Humboldt, just with what happened and their background as a program I thought I owed it to myself to finish what I started and go there for my last year.”

The April 6 bus crash killed 16 and injured 13 others, decimating the franchise and hitting close to home for any athlete who’s spent long hours getting to the next game. Clarke had played against many of the Broncos but hadn’t imagined playing for them until general manager Jason Neville contacted him.

Neville wasn’t on the bus — he only rode with the team eight or so times during the season — but now has the difficult task of re-assembling a roster in unimaginable circumstances.

It’s not a normal situation for a player to walk into.

“We talked to Michael about that as well,” said Neville. “It might sound neat — TSN’s following you, all this kind of stuff — but it takes a certain character to be in the spotlight all the time.

“We’ve talked to other people who know the players, we look for players with stronger character. No one knows; I don’t know what it’s going to be like and I’ve been in Humboldt.”

On Friday, TSN and CTV announced they’ll broadcast the Broncos’ home opener Sept. 12 against Nipawin — the team Humboldt was playing in the Saskatchewan league’s playoffs before the tragedy.

When the team tweeted its signing of Clarke, more than 1,400 people liked it. A stranger somehow got a hold of his phone number and left a voicemail of congratulations.

But it’s the emotional journey the city and team is dealing with that will be the biggest challenge moving forward.

“I’m very excited about going there and trying to help that city rebuild as best they can,” said Clarke, who’s working towards a university degree in business marketing. “The way I lead is more by on the ice; I’m very soft-spoken. I’m going to be there if they need me and lead by example.”

And if it doesn’t work out, that’ll be fine too. Neville doesn’t want to put too much pressure on anyone.

“I’ve been honest with players: If they come in and it isn’t a fit for them, I will help get them where they want to go,” said the GM. “It’s not a too bad, suck it up kind of thing. I understand no one knows how each individual is going to react when this all takes place.”

That’s why days like Thursday are good for Neville. While it was surreal watching his team feted at the NHL awards, the signing of Clarke was a purely hockey move — a point-per-game guy with leadership skills added to your roster.

“That’s huge for us, just the vision and puck skills he’s going to bring on a night-in, night-out basis is going to be huge for us,” said Neville. “What I’ve seen is he can make guys around him better. He’s scored over 30 goals in one season, averaged a point per game the last two years. Guys aren’t hanging around looking for teams to play on usually, so we feel fortunate we got him.”

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