MUSKEGON – Jacob Guevin is a quiet player who just likes to win hockey games.

He does not crave the spotlight and looks kind of uncomfortable when it occasionally finds him.

The best example came last Friday during the Lumberjacks’ 5-2 victory over the Green Bay Gamblers.

Guevin had an assist on a goal early in the third period – something he does a lot – and for once the attention wasn’t focused on the teammate who finished the play and put the puck in the net.

That’s because the assist was the 78^th of Guevin’s USHL career, making him the Muskegon Lumberjacks’ all-time assist king, breaking the record previously held by Danil Gushchin.

There was a time-out shortly after the big assist, and the PA announcer informed the crowd of Guevin’s milestone achievement.

He stood near the bench by his teammates, smiling as the crowd gave a nice ovation and his teammates congratulated him, but looked rather embarrassed to be the center of attention.

He said he waved to the crowd to acknowledge the cheers, but if he did, it was a very shy wave, and not noticeable from the press box.

“I did a little bit,” he said with a smile about his alleged wave. “It doesn’t happen a lot, getting that type of attention, so it was a little weird.”

While he wasn’t quite sure how to react to his big moment, Guevin said he’s proud to leave his name in the Lumberjacks’ record book.

“It’s something I think I will remember forever,” Guevin said. “It’s nice to leave your mark wherever you go.”

While Guevin, 19, is not a big goal scorer and doesn’t get a lot of media, the fact is that the Muskegon Lumberjacks would be a lesser team without him.

He’s a talented playmaker with the instincts of a great point guard. He can see plays develop and knows where to put the puck.

He also has a deceptively effective shot from the point that finds its way through the crowd of players, allowing teammates to pop the puck into the net.

Those are the types of skills that National Hockey League teams covet, and nobody will be surprised to see Guevin drafted by an NHL team later this year, or to see him eventually play in the big league.

He really is that good, according to Lumberjacks Coach Mike Hamilton.

“With his puck-moving skills and offensive abilities, absolutely,” Hamilton said, when asked if Guevin could be an NHL player someday. “He already checks all of those boxes.

“He’s the breakout guy for us. That’s one of the intangibles you won’t see on a scoresheet, his first pass ability, and ability to get us out of our own zone with possession. That to me is one of his top skills, and something that the average fan doesn’t always pick up on. His play with the puck is elite.

“He doesn’t have a heavy shot, but he has the ability to get the puck through traffic. I wish we could get him to shoot more, but he’s a pass-first guy. He loves distributing.”

Guevin, native of Drummondville, Quebec, is excited about starting his collegiate hockey career at the University of Nebraska-Omaha next season, and would like to be selected by an NHL team in the upcoming draft.

The pro scouts have to be impressed with his numbers. He is fourth in the league in scoring among defenseman this season with 46 points (5 goals, 41 assists), and leads all defensemen in assists. Last year he was second among defenseman in scoring with 7 goals and 38 assists.

But no matter how far his career may take him, he says he will always remember his two seasons in Muskegon, and how much his game improved during his time as a Lumberjack.

“I’ve improved a ton here,” he said. “These have been the two biggest years of my career so far. Just the coaching staff here is great. The whole organization is unreal.”

As a team-first player, Guevin said the best possible way to cap off his career in Muskegon would be for the Jacks to win their first ever Clark Cup.

He thinks that’s entirely possible, despite the Lumberjacks’ up-and-down play over the past two months.

Guevin is quick to remind MuskegonSports.com that he was interviewed for a story last fall, when the team was off to a horrible start, and assured us that things would turn around.

His prediction was spot on, because the Lumberjacks were the hottest team in the league for two months, between mid-November and mid-January.

“I remember telling you that something special would happen because I knew we had a special team,” Guevin said. “But whenever you win a lot, you start getting bad habits, but you keep winning so you don’t change your mindset. Even when we were winning we had a lot of holes in our game.”

The more recent slowdown – the Jacks were 2-5 in February and 4-4 in March – has given the team the opportunity to address those holes, just in time for the playoffs, Guevin said.

“I actually think having that rough part helped us a lot,” he said. “It showed us who we are and made the group even tighter. I still think we have a real special team, and we’re going to turn it around.”

The most recent evidence suggests he might be right again, because the Lumberjacks have won three of their last four games, including a two-game sweep over second-place Dubuque two weekends ago.

Now the Jacks are headed out for a nine-game road swing that will take them all the way to the last game of the regular season on April 23 (home against Chicago), then the playoffs will start.

Guevin remembers last season, when the Jacks advanced to the Eastern Conference finals in the Clark Cup playoffs and lost to eventual champion Chicago in a close, intense series.

He said he’s very excited about one more playoff opportunity in the USHL, and believes the Jacks will do very well.

“That would be the best thing I could ever have,” he said about leaving Muskegon on a championship note. “We had a chance last year. I felt like we were just one or two goals away from winning the Clark Cup.”