At Forward with Wendel Clark

At forward with Wendel Clark
By Bob Cunningham
Nov 5, 2001, 20:03

©BBS

Wendel Clark is anything but your typical left wing. A veteran of 11 NHL seasons, and touted as one of the finer players in the game, Clark has reached his lofty status by taking the general characteristics of the NHL forward and putting them under the microscope. He’s highly regarded for his physical brand of play, but the more you talk to the 28-year-old Saskatchewan native, the more you realize just how cerebral he is.

“The game isn’t about just skating back and forth and trying to put the puck into the net,” says Clark. “There’s a lot of strategic planning and thinking ahead that goes on.”

Clark’s leadership and all-out, all-the-time approach helped lead the Quebec Nordiques to the Northeast Division title and top playoff seeding in the Eastern Conference last season. Quebec was ultimately upset in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs by the then-defending Cup champion New York Rangers.

More than anything else, what Clark brought to the Nordiques—now the Colorado Avalanche—was experience in every sense of the word.

Clark knew that was his primary duty after being traded to Quebec from the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team that had advanced to the Western Conference finals in consecutive years prior to his departure.

“We have all this talent here, but they didn’t know success,” Clark explains. “Of course, winning isn’t something you can tangibly teach, but I think my experience has helped.”

Regardless of your skills, Clark says, and regardless of what part of the game you view as a strength versus a weakness, the mental approach is the key.

“First, of course, you have to have confidence in what you’re doing out there. You have to know beyond any doubt that you’re the guy for the job,” he says. “If you have a wait-and-see attitude, you’ll end up seeing the bench. If I’m an aggressive player, it’s because I think that way right from the start.”

Clark’s reputation is one of a mean hitter who can also score a bunch of goals. To some, he’s a defenseman in a forward’s clothing.

A tempered temper

And yet, he’s as offensive-minded as they come. You don’t score 326 points in 471 games, including 30 points in 37 games last season, by being just a headhunter. Clark goes out of his way to note that his physical play is tempered by the situation.

“You won’t see me taking myself out of the play just to hit someone,” he says.

What sets Clark apart are his instincts for those particular situations. Through years of practice and execution, he’s learned where teammates and opposing players alike should be on the ice without actually making visual contact. That comes, he says, from being observant.

“When you score a goal, take a look at how you scored, how you got open, what kind of shot you took,” he notes. “Make sure you know who got you the puck, or who scored off a pass from you. What did they do to help the play? What did you do?

“There’s a lot of repetition in hockey.”

The aggressive theme of Clark’s game came about, he says, “because the rules and very nature of the game dictate that. Wayne Gretzky is phenomenal, and he’s kind of an exception because he’s so incredibly gifted, but most players have to use the rules to their advantage to create plays.”

Clark’s quick decisions on the ice come from sizing up situations in a flash. He determines whether to forecheck, or go out to make himself available for a pass. To many it would seem that Clark prefers the former, but he says that’s not necessarily the case.

“I enjoy the aggressive nature of the game, but my main thing is for our team to score more goals than their team. That’s the bottom line,” says Clark.

“A lot of guys, and I’m talking about some otherwise very good players, are too much into what their roles are,” he says. “To a certain extent that’s fine, but I’ve learned that the best attitude to have is one that says to do whatever’s necessary.”

That, says Clark, goes back to the proper mental approach. And to preparation.

“It’s critical to know who you’re going against,” says Clark, “(and) what they like to do. You don’t focus on just defensemen, because you go up against everybody over the course of a game.”

Clark summarizes his observations by seeking the finer points in a game that usually seems coarse and sometimes ragged.

“When a play comes together the way you plan and you score a goal and it happens because everything you thought was happening came to be, it’s a thing of beauty.”

And Clark, an ugly force to opposing defenders, has been responsible for much beauty in his illustrious career.

— Bob Cunningham

This first appeared in the 11/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
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