Clint Lewis with Minnesota State University (photo courtesy of Minnesota State Athletics)
For Clint Lewis, the road to a college hockey career started when he was just three. After his family moved to a lake in Minnesota, his dad — who “...didn’t really teach me to skate, he couldn’t really skate either,” — would shovel off a little spot on the lake and put buckets out for Lewis and his older sister to learn how to skate.
They both became young hockey players, but after a while, Lewis’ sister made the move to figure skating. Lewis, on the other hand, participated in just about every sport he could up until he was in sixth grade. At that point, he narrowed down his resume to just hockey and football.
By the time he was a freshman and faced a decision to either move and play hockey full time at Shattuck-Saint Mary’s or stick with being a multi-sport athlete, he made the decision to focus solely on hockey.
“It was really tough I was young,” Lewis said. “When I got hit with the decision to go to Shattuck or not, that was when I had to decide to give up football. Giving up football and going to play at Shattuck was a lot harder of a decision than going from Shattuck to Ann Arbor. After the trial camp that they have, I knew that if I got asked I would make the move and go up there.”
After a year at Shattuck-Saint Mary’s, Lewis was extended an offer to be a part of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor. After accepting the offer, he made the trek from Minnesota to Michigan and stayed with a host family for a couple of years.
NTDP Career
- Years: 2011-13
- Games: 111
- Goals: 1
- Assists: 13
- Points: 14
- Notes: Won two Four Nations Tournaments while with the NTDP and took silver at the Men's Under-18 World Championship in 2013. 2014-15 alternate captain and Clark Cup champion with the USHL's Sioux Falls Stampede
“It was kind of weird at first, but I adapted really well,” Lewis said. “The family really helped me adapt and they were great people, the mom was a math teacher at Pioneer High School. They had two daughters that rowed crew at Michigan, so they were kind of a sports family and they were awesome. They helped me make the move and they made it really easy on me. The mom was a great cook.”
While with the Under-17 team in 2011-12, the defenseman played in 55 games, scoring one goal and three assists for four points. The next year, as a member of the Under-18 team, he made an appearance in 56 games and notched 10 assists.
Both years, Lewis helped the NTDP to Four Nations Tournament titles and was a part of the Under-18 team that won silver at the 2013 Men’s Under-18 World Championship.
Once graduated from the NTDP, Lewis headed to Ithaca, N.Y., to join Cornell University’s hockey team. After a 32-game freshman debut with a goal and assist, Lewis made a transfer to the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL. For NCAA eligibility, in order to transfer from one four-year university to another, Lewis had to take a year off from playing collegiate hockey and do a year of academics at a two-year institution.
Lewis locked in a phenomenal season with the Stampede, eventually earning the program’s second Clark Cup with the team after 52 games that encompassed four goals and 11 assists for 15 points. From there, he finally found home in Mankato with the Minnesota State University Mavericks.
“They were doing really good the year I was at Sioux Falls when I was getting recruited to go to another college, and I went on a visit and the coaches were great, loved them,” Lewis said.
“It’s been awesome. I’ve spent my sophomore, junior and senior year here and this year I think we’ve got the most potential.”
Lewis has played 62 games with the Mavericks, recording three goals and 16 assists for 19 career points. So far this year, seventh-ranked Minnesota State is 19-7-0 on the season with a 15-5 conference record. Earlier this week, the Mavericks toppled St. Cloud State, 5-2, on Hockey Day in Minnesota and earned a 1-0 win over ninth-ranked Minnesota Duluth on Tuesday.
Clint Lewis with Team USA in 2012-13
It’s been awesome. I’ve spent my sophomore, junior and senior year here and this year I think we’ve got the most potential.
And to close out the week, Lewis will get the opportunity to face his former team this Saturday, when the U18s travel to Mankato for a college exhibition match with the Mavericks.
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