This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Even as a 12-year-old hockey player in Utah, Trevor Lewis somehow knew this chance would come.

The kid stood next to the Stanley Cup, smiling to reveal the braces on his teeth as he posed for a photo with his father, but that's as close as he would get to the most famous trophy in sports.

"I'm not touching it," he said.

That's because hockey superstition says no one who touches the Stanley Cup will ever win it.

Ordinarily, voiding such an opportunity is not an issue for Utahns. Yet here's Lewis, playing a vital role for the Los Angeles Kings, who begin the Stanley Cup finals Wednesday at New Jersey.

"It's been quite a ride, so far," Lewis said.

How unlikely is any of this? As teenagers, Lewis and his friends talked about playing in the NHL "if only as a running joke," said Kyle Gover. "Like, if one of us makes it, we'll take the others with us."

Hockey is not a sanctioned high school sport in Utah. Only seven former Utah high school athletes have played for world championship teams in football, basketball and baseball — and now a hockey player is positioned to join them.

Canadian blood runs through this story. Because of his heritage, "He was either going to love hockey or hate life," said Lewis' father, Randy, an Alberta native whose family moved to Salt Lake City when he was 10.

Trevor was skating at the Cottonwood Heights Recreation Center by 2, then played in youth leagues and skated with his father and other adults in late-night recreational games. Lewis also grew up playing football, baseball and soccer, evidence that his father did not force him into hockey. "He just played the game because he loved it," said Richie Sovereen, who rented the ice and played with "Big Lewie" and "Little Lewie."

Unlike the few other Utahns who have made the NHL, Lewis stayed home long enough to play one season for Brighton High School's club team before leaving in search of better competition. During a state tournament game against Roy in 2002, the ninth-grader took the puck in an overtime shootout, faked so masterfully that the goaltender slid to the corner, and scored easily.

"That's the second I knew" Lewis was going places in hockey, said Brighton teammate Ryan Flink.

The journey took Lewis to a high-level youth team in Colorado Springs, then to the United States Hockey League in Des Moines, Iowa. That's where Lewis impressed the Kings, who drafted him in the NHL's first round in 2006 at age 19. The Kings sent him to Ontario's junior league for a season, then assigned him to their AHL affiliate in Manchester, N.H.

Fast-forward to 2012, and the No. 8-seeded Kings have knocked off Vancouver, St. Louis and Phoenix in the playoffs. In the team's first three wins against Phoenix, Lewis was credited with four assists — matching his regular-season total and making himself a bargain with a two-year, $1.45 million contract.

"He has so much more confidence now; that's the whole thing," his father said. "He knows he can play in the league now. Before, he wasn't sure."

Lewis modestly describes his contribution as "chipping in when I can." The Kings' third line of Lewis, Dwight King and Jarret Stoll has helped carry them to the team's first Stanley Cup finals appearance since 1993, when Wayne Gretzky's Kings lost to Montreal in five games. Until this season, the Kings had won only one playoff series since then.

And now they're close to hoisting the Cup, the trophy Lewis presciently declined to touch when it visited the Maverik Center in West Valley City, according to his father's version of the story. As Lewis remembers, "My dad wouldn't let me touch it. I didn't really understand why at the time."

Regardless, the Cup is within his grasp again. "It's really crazy to think about," he said. "I could be holding it over my head soon."

kkragthorpe@sltrib.comTwitter: @tribkurt —

Utahns who have won big

Former Utah high school athletes whose teams have won the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals or the World Series:

Player, school Team Season

Golden Richards, Granite Dallas Cowboys 1977

Mat Mendenhall, East Washington Redskins 1982

Jim McMahon, Roy Chicago Bears 1985

Jim McMahon, Roy Green Bay Packers 1996

Arnie Ferrin, Ogden Minneapolis Lakers 1949-50*

Travis Knight, Alta Los Angeles Lakers 1999-2000

Fred Sanford, West New York Yankees 1949

Fred Sanford, West New York Yankees 1950

Scott Eyre, Cyprus Philadelphia Phillies 2008

* In 1948-49, Ferrin's Lakers won the Basketball Association of America title. —

Trevor Lewis' hockey career, since age 17:

Season Team League Games G A

2004-05 Des Moines USHL 52 10 22

2005-06 Des Moines USHL 56 35 40

2006-07 Owen Sound OHL 62 29 44

2006-07 Manchester AHL 8 4 2

2007-08 Manchester AHL 76 12 16

2008-09 Manchester AHL 75 20 31

2008-09 Los Angeles NHL 6 1 2

2009-10 Manchester AHL 23 5 2

2009-10 Los Angeles NHL 5 0 0

2010-11 Los Angeles NHL 72 3 10

2011-12 Los Angeles NHL 72 3 4

NHL Totals 155 7 16 —

Trevor Lewis' 2012 playoff log

Opponent G A +/- Min.

Vancouver 0 0 0 12:48

Vancouver 1 0 1 16:53

Vancouver 0 0 0 12:24

Vancouver 0 0 0 12:21

Vancouver 0 1 1 13:31

St. Louis 0 0 -1 14:22

St. Louis 0 0 -1 15:02

St. Louis 0 0 1 16:36

St. Louis 0 0 0 15:33

Phoenix 0 2 2 14:01

Phoenix 0 1 1 14:15

Phoenix 0 1 1 16:54

Phoenix 0 0 0 13:32

Phoenix 0 0 -1 19:56