Stanley Cup: Utah's King, Trevor Lewis, brings trophy home again

The Stanley Cup Final never ends exactly the way young Trevor Lewis and his friends pictured it when they were shooting pucks on his driveway in Cottonwood Heights, pretending they were playing in Game 7.

The real thing will have to do. Lewis and his Los Angeles Kings teammates always win the Cup in five or six games of the Final series, and the Salt Lake City native keeps bringing the iconic trophy home.

Lewis, 27, displayed the Cup again Wednesday, almost exactly two years since his first opportunity to have custody of it for a day. An estimated 2,000 fans posed for photos with Lewis and the trophy during a mid-day event at the State Capitol that was not widely publicized, in his effort to give the hockey community better access.

Subsequent plans included taking the Cup to his grandparents' gravesite, Snowbird's Hidden Peak, a relative's pool and a downtown restaurant for private celebrations, with the group riding in a yellow bus featuring the Kings' logo. This time, his friends and relatives were able to see "LEWIS" on the Cup with the rest of the 2011-12 Kings; the names of the reigning champs will be engraved once the tour ends.

The Cup has traveled throughout Europe, Canada and the United States since late June, shared by the Kings' players and staff members in celebration of the franchise's second title in its 47-year history. As he'd secretly hoped, Lewis was on the ice for the latest winning sequence, ending with Alec Martinez's overtime goal.

He was thrilled to hoist the Cup once, but "you kind of respect it a little more" the second time, Lewis said.

Lewis will always remember scoring a game-winning goal during the playoffs and contributing to the Kings' three Game 7 victories on the road, prior to the five-game series with the New York Rangers. "Pretty incredible," he said. "When it happens, you're so in the moment that you don't really realize how special it was."

Syracuse resident Trey Naylor attended one of those Game 7s, at Anaheim. Naylor and his brother, Bridger, wore Kings jerseys bearing Lewis' No. 22 to Wednesday's event. "Trevor's my guy," said Trey Naylor, a longtime Kings fan whose interest increased when he learned of Lewis' background.

Misty Herbstritt and her hockey-playing children — Emmalynn, 13; Bentley, 9; and Audrey, 7 — have a Brighton High School neighborhood connection to Lewis, who played one season for the Bengals before leaving home to pursue hockey at a higher level.

"You cannot miss Trevor Lewis and the Stanley Cup," said Misty Herbstritt, whose family also attended the 2012 Cup viewing at the Maverik Center in West Valley City.

With some 6,000 fans lined up that day, it was "a very rushed experience," she said. "This is a lot calmer."

Jeff Robbins, CEO of the Utah Sports Commission, read Gov. Gary R. Herbert's declaration commending Lewis for his role in promoting Utah hockey. Lewis joined baseball's Fred Sanford, basketball's Arnie Ferrin and football's Jim McMahon among former Utah high school athletes who have won multiple titles at the highest level of sports.

kkragthorpe@sltrib.com