Tecumseh graduate drafted to NHL by Boston Bruins

By: 
MICKEY ALVARADO

Before even touching a puck as a professional player, Cam Clarke made sports history on Saturday, June 25, by becoming the first from Tecumseh, and possibly Lenawee County, to be drafted into the National Hockey League (NHL).

Clarke, a 2014 Tecumseh High School graduate, competed in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) last season for the Lone Star Brahmas and became only the second player in the program’s history to be selected in the NHL Draft, picked 136th in the fifth round by the Boston Bruins.

“My family and I were just sitting and watching and I saw it come up on the screen, and it was unreal,” Clarke said in an online post by the Brahmas. “It was like you just scored an overtime winner.  Everyone started jumping around and it was just an awesome moment.”

He joins 2014-15 Brahmas goaltender Jake Kupsky, who was selected 193rd overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 2015 NHL Draft.

The NAHL selected Clarke as a member of its All-NAHL team and also named him the Defenseman of the Year on April 28. Clarke, who committed to play NCAA Division I hockey at Ferris State University, led all NAHL defensemen in scoring this season with 50 points in 59 games played.

He will play for Ferris State University, a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), until the Bruins decide to call him up. Clarke is the first player with ties to the WCHA to be selected in the NHL Draft.

“I’m excited to go to Ferris,” Clarke said in a Bruins blog. “They do a great job with developing D. Just working on getting stronger, getting in the weight room and adding those extra pounds, and I’m sure that will come in the next year or two and be at that level that I need to be at to hopefully play in the pro game.”

Clarke was one of only six players selected by the Bruins in the draft including just two other defensemen, Charlie McAvoy of Boston University and Ryan Lindgren of the University of Minnesota.

“We’re really happy for him and his family. It’s just a feather in the cap and shows what guys can do when they get an opportunity,” Brahmas head coach Dan Wildfong said in the online post. “Cam played really well for us here and took his game to another level, so we are thrilled about today’s selection.”

“I wouldn’t be here without my time in Brahmaland,” Clarke said. “I kind of came out of nowhere and the Brahmas gave me a platform to showcase what I’ve got. Like I’ve said over and over again, the coaching staff is unbelievable. Coach Potter and coach Wildfong really do a great job and I was lucky enough to play with a group of great guys, and I wouldn’t be here without them.”

Brahmas assistant coach Jeff Potter is very impressed with Clarke’s improvements over the last couple of years. “We’re thrilled to see Cam taken today by the Bruins,” he said. “He’s a kid who a couple of years ago, or maybe even a year ago, no one thought this would have happened to, so it’s obviously a fantastic story for him, our organization, and the North American Hockey League.”

The 6’-1,” 170-pounder, is 20 years old and shoots from the right. Clarke told the Bruins that he models his game after Washington Capitals’ John Carlson.

“I’m a good skating defenseman, good puck mover,” he said on the Brama’s online post. “I’m really good with the puck and I have really great vision. I’m really good when I get into the offensive zone and making that first pass out of our D zone.”

In 2014-15, Clarke notched 10 goals and 25 assists in 49 games for the Sarnia Legionnaires of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.

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