Hockey program helping Clayton’s career

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

Strathmore hockey player Cole Clayton has seen growth in his game, due in large part to the extra ice time he has been entitled to through the hockey program at Holy Cross Collegiate.
“The first year we had it, it was pretty competitive. There was lots of good guys there,” said Clayton. “I have a good buddy, me and him stayed at the school, a few other guys switched to high school and we just keep all the extra ice time in the hockey program. We scrimmage every time, there’s a lot of game time and you just get to work on your little skills, and keep developing your shot and hands.”
He accredits his hockey program coach, Jason Burns, for making the ice times feel like a competitive atmosphere to make the players better.
“He pushed us and made it competitive,” said Clayton. “He was pretty laid back, but he made sure we weren’t bending the rules. He kept the pace up … wasn’t a big guy on threats or anything, he just made sure we kept going.”
When he was drafted by the Medicine Hat Tigers last spring, Clayton was humbled by the support he got from the school’s staff.
“It was pretty cool,” he said. “The principal came down to congratulate me right after because he’s a big hockey fan. He was following the draft and one of my buddies (Joel Krahenbil) got drafted later in the day after me and congratulated us both. He (principal) said ‘whenever you need to talk hockey, you just come talk to us.’ It was a pretty cool feeling knowing you have all the support from your school.”
Going from the bantam AAA Rocky Mountain Raiders to the Western Hockey League is a big step, and with some determination he will hopefully be a regular contributor on the Tigers roster next season. He has nothing but positives to take out of the recent Tigers camp.
“All the guys they draft go and they had a team bonding thing,” said Clayton. “All the older guys are super good to you. The whole organization is just a class organization. They always treat their players good. They just want to see the best from you and keep telling you what to improve on.”
The Tigers had mentioned to him that they liked his strong season with the Raiders and their run to the Westerns, but now he has to build upon that and have another consistent campaign with the CFR Bisons.
Medicine Hat’s Senior Director of Player Development Daren Kruger has liked the development of the 15-year-old rearguard and added that he had only gotten better as camp went on.
“After watching him a lot of times last year, considering the year they had, (he) had a real good year with Rocky Mountain,” said Kruger. “Obviously he was one of the defensemen really highly rated in the draft. We’re thrilled where we did get him. He’s been gifted with some size already, possesses a lot of patience, he’s got his head up, makes good passes. The only thing he needs to work on is getting his footwork a little bit quicker.”
Kruger thought he found his game and gained confidence in the exhibition season, and really thought the extra ice time was of benefit to him.
“You can never go wrong with extra practice and extra ice time,” said Kruger. “I think with his time in the high school and the extra ice time, helping out there tells a lot about his character as well and the family. They’ve done a great job in raising Cole and what he’s able to do.”