Clay Witt

by Max Jensen
January 11, 2010 1:21 PM


The Sioux Falls Stampede are sending four players to the USHL All Star Game. One of them is our Taco John's athlete of the week. Max Jensen has more on goalie Clay Witt.

If you talk to the players on this year's Stampede team they'll tell you that they're built from the net out. Goaltender Clay Witt mans that net and is poised to continue building on an already impressive year.

Chad Ruhwedel says, "He is a phenomenal goalie and I think he's going to be the backbone of our team when the going gets tough."

Witt stays calm cool and collected at all times while he is on the ice.

Josh Holmstrom says, "You look back there and wonder if he's awake back there."

Coach Kevin Hartzell says, "Not only is Clay a good goalie but he is a really calm personality and that's hard to find so he brings a calmness to the team."

When a goal goes in he forgets and regroups quickly. When he makes a nice save, he doesn't celebrate, rather making sure he's ready when the opposition continues to attack.

Clay Witt says, "You look back on it after the game and just say that's a pretty nice save, but middle of the game there's a game going there's always another shot."

Through Saturday’s game Witt ranks fifth overall amongst USHL goalies with a 10-4-3 record. The Tampa native owns just over a two and a half goals against average and stops over 90 percent of shots he sees.

Matt Farris says, "If you take care of your goalie, your goalie is going to take care of you and when he takes care of you you're going to win a lot of games."

Witt will attend Northeastern University later this fall, but right now the focus is on winning as many games as possible to ensure the Stampede a playoff berth and a chance at some hardware at the end of the season.