Noah Clarke
Number: 18
Position: Forward
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 165
Birthday: 6-11-79
Hometown: LaVerne, CA
Last team: Shattuck - St. Mary's Prep

Player Biography

Noah is an exciting addition to the Buc's this season. Last year he played for Shattuck St. Mary's Prep team, where he had 33 goals and 44 assists. Noah is from LaVerne California, and says he would probably be a beach junkie if he weren't playing hockey now.

Player Interview

3/4/98

Steve: The person or the persons I most admire are . . .

Noah: I would say my parents. My mom and dad and my coach in peewee, Steve Cook, taught me a lot about the game and let me know how many good players are out there and how you had to strive to succeed in the game of hockey if you wanted to make it.

Steve: What is your nickname?

Noah: I don't know if I really have one. Clarke, Clarkie maybe. Cause I have an "e" at the end of my name so a lot of people add an "e".

Steve: If I won a million dollars, I would . . .

Noah: Probably invest it in the commodity market.

Steve: Why the commodities market?

Noah: In the commodity market cause that is something I am interested in, and then I would have the money to do it.

Steve: For our readers, what is a commodity?

Noah: A commodity is stuff like soybeans, cattle, hogs, oil, anything that is basically used in everyday life.

Steve: People are surprised when I tell them . . .

Noah: Tell them I am from California and I play hockey. It is getting bigger now but, when I was little and I would be at a tournament and would be asked where I was from, and I would tell them California, I got some puzzled looks. California, you know, is unheard of for having a big hockey program. It kind of shocks people.

Steve: Is that a disadvantage then if you are not from Minnesota or Michigan?

Noah: Yeah, a little bit, you know.

Steve: They think you are not as good?

Noah: Yeah, you get that but you have got to just work through it, I guess.

Steve: Okay. My favorite saying is . . .

Noah: I say grimy a lot. Like it is kind of a word, I don't know, we came up with back in California.

Steve: Grimy?

Noah: If you see something that is disgusting or something that is filthy, grimy. It is kind of slang, I guess.

Steve: The best thing about being a Buc hockey player is . . .

Noah: The fans. I have never played in front of a big crowd ever, and it is exciting - especially when you are starting and your name is called and the crowd goes crazy or, when you come out for warm-ups. It is cool to play in front of the people that actually pay money to see you play. It is kind of neat.

Steve: The best thing about the game of hockey is . . .

Noah: The speed and just how if you are not big then you ought to be fast. All different sizes of players can dominate the game, you know. It is not like the pros. They are trying to look for like the big guy but, you know, little guys can motor out there. It just takes a lot of time and effort and a lot of, like with any sport I guess, just a lot of patience and hard work.

Steve: The sport I would like to try but never have is . . .

Noah: Never tried? I have never been fly fishing. I don't know if that is a sport.

Steve: That's a sport.

Noah: That is always something that has interested me is fly fishing.

Steve: Do you have a favorite NHL team?

Noah: I would have to go with the Kings. They are starting to come around this season.

Steve: Favorite player?

Noah: Paul Kariya for the Ducks.

Steve: My goal in life is to . . .

Noah: Be successful and just have fun in whatever I am doing.

Steve: If I were head coach, I would . . .

Noah: I would be honest with my players.

Steve: My game day superstition is . . .

Noah: I think maybe take a nap, I don't know if that is really a superstition.

Steve: My favorite toy as a child . . .

Noah: My favorite toy as a child... I was big into Davy Crockett so I had my hat and my gun I would carry around.

Steve: Your favorite color . . .

Noah: Blue. Yeah, I like blue too.

Steve: What is your favorite number and why?

Noah: 42 is my favorite number. When I started playing hockey I was 6 years old, and 42 was my dad's number when he played. I just used that up until midgets when you had to use numbers 1 through 20. But that is always my first choice, but if I ever have a chance to go back to it maybe in college or something, I am going to try to get the 42 back.

Steve: My greatest athletic moment . . .

Noah: Greatest athletic moment? Probably my junior year in high school and I was playing for Shattuck Saint Mary's. We were midgets and we went to the national tournament and we were the underdog. Nobody thought we would do anything. We had to win the game by, I think, two goals to get into the next round, the semi-final round. We ended up beating the Massachusetts Outlaws. They had probably about 12 guys sign Division I. We were just a bunch of midget kids and we ended up beating them 4-2 and just the goals worked out, I guess.

Steve: My most embarrassing moment . . .

Noah: I think we were up in Quebec for peewees one year for this big tournament. The first game we were playing against the Moose Jaw guys and they beat us 11-1. That was probably my most embarrassing hockey moment.

Steve: Where do you hope to be in 20 years?

Noah: I don't really know. Wherever I am going to be in 20 years, I just hope I am happy.

Steve: Your hobbies include . . .

Noah: I like to golf, basketball, just hang out with my friends, and go to movies. I play roller hockey in the summertime.

Steve: My teammates think I am . . .

Noah: I don't know. Maybe annoying at times. Maybe I can annoy people at some times. I maybe talk too much or. I don't know about that one.

Steve: Okay. My favorite musical group is . . .

Noah: The Dave Matthews Band.

Steve: My favorite movie is . . .

Noah: I have two. I like "Mall Rats" and "Good Will Hunting."

Steve: I can't imagine living without . . .

Noah: I can't imagine living without my health. I am lucky to have good health.

Steve: My teammates don't know that . . .

Noah: Don't know that I didn't have a name for three months.

Steve: You didn't have a name?

Noah: No. My birth certificate says baby boy Clarke.

Steve: So what is the story behind that?

Noah: I was born and my parents weren't sure what to name me. My parents had a bunch of names and since they were not sure, they thought maybe they should just wait to name me. The doctors told them they had to have a name before I could leave the hospital. They said we don't have a name yet, but we are taking him home anyway. They said okay, so they put Baby Clarke. My dad would go into work every day and his co-workers would ask him, "Have you named your son yet?" He would say, "No, ah, not yet. We are thinking about it, you know, and we are getting there." Each day it was no, ah. So finally somebody said, " That is it, Noah!" And so that is how I became Noah. I have got a couple teammates that know about it, but not too many.

Steve: Now the whole world knows it! My advice to youngsters is . . .

Noah: Always work hard and don't get down on yourself. You know, just have fun in whatever you do. Don't sweat the small stuff, I guess.

Steve: Great! Thanks, Noah.

Noah: Thank you.