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1/17/2008-Hockey
Balent takes the road Less traveled
By KEITH DUNLAP Of The Oakland Press
ORCHARD LAKE--Two best friends, two different decisions.
It's a reminder Billy Balent has, oh, about twice a week when he talks to former Orchard Lake St. Mary's teammate and best friend Clinton Bourbonais, who played with Balent the last two years in high school.
After St. Mary's won the Division 1 state title last year, each faced a decision of whether to return to St. Mary's, or play for a junior team.
Bourbonais decided to go, and it's a decision that's paid off for him so far.
He's having a solid year with the Traverse City North Stars of the North American Hockey League and has been rated as a "B" prospect by the National Hockey League's Central Scouting Service, which means he's projected to be picked anywhere between the third and fifth rounds in this summer's NHL draft.
Balent decided not to go to juniors, but don't feel sorry for him at all.
Other than the fact that he isn't playing with his buddy, his decision to remain at St. Mary's has also paid dividends.
He leads the Eaglets with six goals, is a candidate for the Mr. Hockey award given annually to the state's best high school hockey player and is having the time of his life being a senior leader for his high school team.
"I played two (previous) years here and I just wanted to graduate from this school," Balent said. "I just wanted to play my last year here and have fun."
Hockey couldn't have been more fun for Balent than last March, when he made the last eight minutes of the state championship against Marquette all his.
With the game tied, 2-2, Balent scored two goals in the final eight minutes to propel St. Mary's to a 4-2 win and its second state crown in three years (St. Mary's won the Division 3 championship in 2005).
After the game, he was unsure whether he would stay with St. Mary's, but after going to some camps for United State Hockey League teams and getting some interest from North American Hockey League squads, Balent decided to stay put, a decision that probably still has St. Mary's head coach Brian Klanow smiling.
"He is a coach's player," Klanow said. "He'll do anything you ask him to do. He'll run through a wall for you. He's one of those players that doesn't come along too often."
An all-state forward who had 14 goals and 21 assists last season, the 5-foot-7, 160-pound Balent is the type of player that's becoming more and more of a commodity in the hockey world.
Scouts have long coveted size and still do, but with a crackdown on obstruction in the NHL and in the college game that's emphasizing speed, skill and transition play more than ever, there's becoming more and more need for players such as Balent.
"It's all about speed now, not being able to hold up people," Balent said. "It's not about the big goons anymore. Hopefully that's good."
Not only is Balent fleet and skilled, he plays in all situations. He's a force on the power play and on the penalty kill.
While always blessed with an ability to score since taking up the sport when he was 6 years old, Balent has made tremendous strides to becoming a two-way player since arriving at St. Mary's.
"He came in here as a very offensive-minded and wasn't really taught how important the defensive side of the game is," Klanow said. "We were able to teach that to him and he picked it up pretty quickly. He's a heck of a defensive player. He understands his responsibilities defensively and he knows the importance of it."
More so this year, Balent has also better understood what it means to be a upper-classman who is looked up to by his teammates. Balent was a captain last year, but the Eaglets were more of a veteran squad that weren't in as much need of guidance.
With the Eaglets having a more underclass-dominated roster this year, Balent has turned into a mini-father figure for his teammates, coaching them up whenever he can on or off the ice.
"He's not a boisterous person, but he's accepted his role as our leader and is the mouthpiece of our locker room," Klanow said.
However, Balent insists there hasn't been any nicknames such as "grandpa" or "uncle" that hve popped up.
"Or else they'd get it," Balent said.
Regardless of whether Balent wins Mr. Hockey or helps lead the Eaglets to a second straight state title, it's not like he will never get to experience when he leaves St. Mary's what Bourbonais is going through right now in terms of playing junior hockey and catching the eyes of scouts.
His experience is just being slightly delayed since Balent has all the tools to go a long way in the sport.
"Anywhere I go, hopefully there will be opportunities for me past that," Balent said. "I'm just happy for (Bourbonais)."
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