Clitsome plays hard, but plays clean

POTSDAM — Grant Clitsome is built like a boulder and when he collides with an opposing player during a game, more often than not it's the opposing player who is going to fall down.

But while he will hit and hit hard, know that he won't take any cheap shots.

Clitsome, a senior defenseman on the Clarkson University men's hockey team, has played in 145 games for the Golden Knights and has yet to take a major penalty in his career.

In fact, he's earned a total of 120 penalty minutes in four years. Two NCAA hockey players have earned more than 100 minutes already just this season.

"Very rarely do you see him cheap-shot a guy or retaliate," Clarkson coach George Roll said. "He plays within the rules of the game. It's important, because we want him on the ice. He's on the power play, and he's on the penalty kill. He plays a lot of minutes.

"You watch the way he plays the game, how he conducts himself on the ice, there's not too many guys like that."

No player in a Clarkson uniform, aside from goalie David Leggio, sees more ice time in a game than Clitsome, who averages about 28 minutes a game, according to Roll.

There also may be no finer defenseman in ECAC Hockey. Clitsome has a plus/minus rating of plus-23, which is the top mark among any player in the conference.

"I've kind of been keeping track of it," Clitsome said of the plus/minus stat. "In my sophomore year, I had a really bad plus/minus (minus-10). Ever since then I've kind of made a conscious effort to keep track of it. It's a pretty important stat for me. You don't want to get scored on."

Clitsome is 5-foot-11, 210 pounds, almost all of it muscle. Tap him on the arm and it feels like you are touching a brick wall. But he has a scoring touch, too. He's picked up five goals and 15 assists this season and leads Clarkson's defensemen in scoring.

He's also one of the friendliest players on the team and was given the "Most Sportsmanlike Player Award" at the 2004 Canadian National Junior A Championship when he played for the Nepean Raiders.

"I try and find a good balance," Clitsome said of his attitude during games. "During the play I'm physical and aggressive and in their face. I like to play that style of game. But I play my best when I'm relaxed and having fun. I try to make sure I'm smiling. I guess I take pride in (clean play). I take pride in being strong and physical and a hard hitter.

"I haven't had too many issues with opposing players. I think most guys have a bit of respect for each other."

A native of Gloucester, Ontario, just outside of Ottawa, Clitsome said he was unaware of American college hockey until one of his former junior teammates, Mike Madill, brought him along while making an official visit to St. Lawrence University.

"That's when I first really found out about college hockey," Clitsome said of his visit. "After that, I was pretty hooked with the style of the game."

Clitsome didn't select SLU, however, saying he was told he would have to wait another year if he wanted to play for the Saints.

He signed with Clarkson early in the 2003-04 season, before the team had even officially started practice. But he made the 90-minute drive down to Potsdam several times to watch his future team compete.

"I was talking to a couple schools, but the first thing that hooked me (to Clarkson) was the coaches, the quality of people they are," Clitsome said of Roll and assistant coaches Greg Drechsel and Jean-Francois Houle. "I really liked them as people. I knew they liked me as a player and a person, and that I'd get a lot of opportunities."

Clitsome wound up being part of a talented recruiting class that included NHL draft choices Shawn Weller (Ottawa), Nick Dodge (Carolina) and Steve Zalewski (San Jose). Also in the group was Leggio, last year's ECAC Hockey Ken Dryden Award winner and current senior forwards David Cayer and Mike Arciero.

Clitsome was drafted in the ninth round in 2004 by the Columbus Blue Jackets, and impressed the organization last summer with his showing at a prospects' camp.

"I don't think there's any question he has the ability to play in the NHL," Roll said. "At the next level he'll have to be more of a physical presence. With his skating, and the way he shoots the puck and his ability to play at both ends of the ice, I think Columbus feels they have a very good prospect. I think he's kind of come into his own this year and I think the summer thing gave him a lot of confidence."

There's a good chance Clitsome could open next season playing for Columbus' American Hockey League affiliate: the Syracuse Crunch.

"That would be great to be that close to Clarkson and still be fairly close to home," Clitsome said. "It's pretty exciting, and it's kind of weird right now. I'm not too sure of where I'll be or where I'll be playing, or for who. I'm looking forward to see what will happen and I'm excited for the future challenge."

Clitsome doesn't speak much about his future because his mind is on seeing his team repeat as ECAC Hockey Tournament champions. The squad won its first regular-season title since the 2000-01 season last Friday night, thanks to a shot from Clitsome that set up the game-winning goal from Dodge in the third period of a 4-3 victory over Princeton.

Clarkson (20-10-4 overall) earned a first-round bye in the conference playoffs and will play a yet-to-be-determined opponent in a best-of-three quarterfinal series at Cheel Arena next weekend.

"I'm really excited," Clitsome said. "The playoffs are a lot of gun. I'm going to go out there and give it my all every game, because it could be my last. We definitely want to get back to Albany and we'd love to win it again. I think we have a team that can do it. We'd love to get back to the NCAA Tournament and make a strong push in that."