I want to win another one. I’m
going to give myself a week to
relax and then I’m going to start
training for next year. I love it here.
I love the school and I love the team.
As a freshman, I was just happy
to contribute, but now
I want to keep this going.
Nothing beats winning
For Lewis, who was joined on the team by sophomore
David Robertson, a defenseman from Boissevain who
played in the MJHL with Portage and Steinbach and
goalie Braeden Ostepchuk, a junior from Lethbridge,
Alta., who spent the 2013-14 season with the MJHL’s
Selkirk Steelers, Norwich College is a lot like heav-
en on earth. A Business Management major who
carries a 4.0 grade point average, Lewis fell in
love with the campus on his only visit and
has become “a freshman with a future”
in the oft-forgotten world of Division III
men’s hockey.
This season, he had three goals
and seven points in 26 games as
a freshman and played a sig-
nificant checking role in the
championship game.
“Winning was awe-
some, but it was kind
of what we expect-
ed,” he said. “We al-
most went undefeated.
I think we’d have been
surprised and really disappointed if we hadn’t won it all.”
Lewis grew up in Winnipeg’s south end and knows a lot about undefeated sea-
sons. In fact, as an 11-year-old he went 49-0-0 with the Assiniboine Park Rangers Pee-
wees. After playing with the City Monarchs Midgets for a year and then another season with the Winnipeg
Wild – where he won a Provincial Triple A Midget title – he moved on and spent four seasons with the Blues
and had a tremendous year in 2015-16. Not only was he the Blues’ captain, but had 26 goals and 68 points in 56
games.
“Norwich assistant coach Steve Mattson was at a Blues game and I guess I did something that he liked,” Lewis said.
“We talked after the game and he said he wanted to get me into Norwich University and I have to admit, I’d never heard
of hockey in Vermont. But he was interested and I went and visited the campus and I fell in love with the place. I’m just so
happy to be here and be part of this team and this school.”
Mattson found Robertson, as well.
“I was at an SJHL Showcase in Saskatoon and one of the team’s assistant coaches, Steve Mattson, liked what he saw and
asked me if I’d be interested,” Robertson said. “As a 20-year-old, I was traded back to Manitoba and had a pretty good year
2017 CHAMPIONS EDITION
GAME ON 93