When a young skater makes the jump up to compete in the ranks of junior hockey for the very first time it can be a bit intimidating, to say the least. The increased speed and physicality of leagues like the NAHL can be tough for many rookies to adapt to and, in addition to that, living away from home for the first time is a big adjustment for all involved.

One NAHL rookie who has really started to catch fire over the last few weeks of competition is Travis Lefere. The recently turned 18-year-old has 16 points in his last 11 games for the Watertown Shamrocks - which is over half of this entire point total for the 2024-25 season. The forward is finding his game at just the right time for his team. In fact, his current 10 goals and 21 assists (through 54 games played) are the third-most total points scored on the entire roster this season, sitting only behind players that are both two years older than him. He also leads his team in overall shots on goal (153), which goes to show that it’s not just luck that has given him such a good offensive record as of late but it’s likely an increase in confidence as well.

(Contributed Photo / Watertown Shamrock / Liv Sherman)

It’s not necessarily surprising though that Lefere has started to pick up some steam lately as he was actually a highly regarded prospect last spring before he wound up in Watertown. The native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was coming off of an impressive season in 2023-24 for the Fox Motors triple-A program, where he led his team in scoring at over a point-per game pace. After his triple-A season ended, he had the honor to suit up for the National Team Development Program for a short stint and he also joined the Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL for two games that spring as well, which helped to catch the eyes of various scouts and coaches.

After the hockey season ended last spring, Lefere went to summer camp with the Black Hawks to try and make their USHL roster full-time in 2024-25. After not making it onto the team, the 17-year-old was feeling a bit disappointed but all his hard work had eventually payed off when he was then selected No. 1-overall in the 2024 NAHL Entry Draft, which goes to show that there were plenty of other teams, coaches and scouts that wanted Lefere on their team pretty badly. There were obviously a few unknowns and question marks though for the young skater about being drafted to a brand new team in the NAHL since the Watertown Shamrocks were just joining the league at the time.

“I thought a brand new team would be nice, everyone is coming together and is all in the same boat, there isn’t an already built-in system or culture there so I thought it would be nice to be one of the first groups to come in and make the culture for the team,” said Lefere in an interview with Clean Sheet Hockey about heading to one of the NAHL’s newest organizations.

Lefere then eventually made his way out to Watertown and started competing with the Shamrocks in the fall of 2024 as just a 17-year-old skater. He said that it was an obvious step up from what he was used to at the triple-A level but that he got used to things quite quickly and was lucky to get placed in a great billet situation which helped him make the transition into juniors a bit easier. He also had to balance hockey and school work in the fall and early winter since he still had high school classes to finish up so he did online coursework for the first half of the school year and that ended up being enough for him to be able to graduate and he will be able to walk for graduation back home with his friends later this spring/summer.

(Contributed / Watertown Shamrocks / Liv Sherman Photography)

Around the start of the junior hockey season last fall, the Michigan native also wound up making his Division I college commitment to Miami Ohio. He had been in talks with a few different schools over the past few months but the RedHawks ended up being the perfect fit for him and what he was looking for.

“Right from the start [of the recruiting process] I had a few, maybe one or two phone calls. Getting into that year, I was getting more looks and talking to different schools. Then, come August 1st, starting to get more serious and getting offers from schools,” he said about the process of finding a good fit in Division I hockey. He was originally in touch with Miami’s old coaching staff (Chris Bergeron + crew) but he wasn’t heavily considering the university in Oxford, Ohio, until Anthony Noreen was hired as the new bench boss there.

The RedHawks have been busy over the past year recruiting a whole new group of guys under its new coaching staff. Lefere already knows a few of the other guys in the NAHL who are going to be a part of the new era of the RedHawks alongside him in the future such as defender Tim Runtso (St. Cloud Norsemen) and forward Jakeb Lynch (Minnesota Wilderness).

“I’m pretty happy with what I found and came out with, with Miami, I think that it’ll be a great fit in the future and I’ll be excited to play there … It’ll be awesome, even next year, just to watch them and see how they do with all their new recruits because I know they’re getting a ton of kids in for next year. It’ll be a super cool thing to watch, to see them progress and get better throughout the years until I get there and hopefully I can help them keep trending upwards when I get there.”

During Lefere’s first few games in the NAHL last fall, he was off to a pretty hot start by posting 8 points in 8 games but after that he hit a bit of a lull until he recently started to get hot again in February/March.

“Start of the year, the showcase, the first couple weeks, I was pretty good, I was feeling good … middle of the year, sort of wasn’t necessarily playing bad but wasn’t getting the results I wanted,” he said. “Now, the last couple of weeks, it’s been going better. It’s just the ups and downs of juniors and riding that wave and just being okay with where you’re at, which I feel like I’ve been doing a pretty good job at.”

Now in early April, the Shamrocks sit in 7th out of 8 teams in the NAHL Central (to be expected for a brand new franchise) but Lefere is hoping to finish the season out strong as an individual and with his team to help make Watertown a place where more guys will want to come and play in the future. The Grand Rapids forward has 16 points in his last 11 games played at the moment and leads the entire team in shots on goal, so watch for the young skater to have a big finish to his season over the next few weeks.

As for the future - Lefere will head to Waterloo’s summer camp again this offseason with hopes of making their USHL roster.

It’ll likely be a little while before he gets out to Miami Ohio to join the RedHawks program since he just recently turned 18-years-old and only has one year of junior hockey experience under his belt so far but when he does he will look to be an immediate difference-maker.

“I’m going to be one of the hardest workers on the ice,” Lefere says about what Miami fans can expect from him in the future. “I’m someone who plays a 200-foot game, someone you can put on the PK and powerplay, and someone who can make plays and put the puck in the net.”

In his free time, Lefere enjoys playing lots of golf. He is the middle child in his family with one older sister, who attends Michigan State, and one younger sister, who is also a hockey player.

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