Clafton Stresses Effort, Commitment as Thunderhawks Coach

Grand Rapids 4-3 to start 2023-24 season

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn.- Despite losing their last two games, the Grand Rapids boys’ hockey team has an extra pep in their step this season with a new bench boss taking over the reins.

Following Wade Chiodo’s resignation in late September, Grand Rapids hired Grant Clafton as their new head coach. Clafton, a graduate of Grand Rapids High School, was the head coach for Greenway, where he led the Raiders to a State Championship Game.  Though Clafton took over just before the start of the season, he’s been impressed with how his players have put in the work on the ice.

“It’s a little bit different for me because I didn’t really see it happening.” says Clafton. “Timing wasn’t exactly perfect. but it never really is for anything, and I’m certainly feel privileged to be involved in this program.”

Meanwhile, Coach Clafton and his players say they have yet to reach their ceiling, but they know what it will take to get there by season’s end. “Right now, for me, it’s just a lot about effort. I just really want the effort.”

“It’s going to take a lot of discipline,” says Bauer Murphy, a senior and team captain with Grand Rapids. “The team has just got to come together and buy in completely, and we pretty much just got to become a family.”

The Thunderhawks (4-3) have four games left before the new year, all of which are on the road. They’ll play three of those games December 14-16 in Edina as part of the Hornets’ Holiday Classic.