Sophomore forward Mike Lebler may or may not out-skate most people, but he’s definitely able to call more countries home.

The Austrian-born returning starter for Cyclone Hockey, who has triple citizenship in the United States, Canada and Austria, looks to make an even bigger impact on the ice this year to help the Cyclones build off their 31-11-2 record in 2007-08.

Iowa State and a couple other Division III schools recruited Lebler, who is most recently from British Columbia, Canada, where he moved from Austria when he was five and where his father played professional hockey. He also visited the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, but ultimately chose ISU for reasons that had nothing to do with hockey.

“I like the campus better here and I definitely feel that I am getting the full college experience and well-rounded education here,” Lebler said.

The act of balancing playing college hockey and keeping up with classes wasn’t an easy thing for Lebler to do in his freshman season.

“The toughest thing was time management with school and hockey. I didn’t have a system worked out at the beginning of the year last year, which made it tough, but now that I have a routine down on how to balance the schoolwork with the hockey, I think its going to make it a lot easier this year at the start of the season,” Lebler said.

On the ice, he impresses coaches and teammates with his speed and knowledge of the game.

Brian Spring, a junior forward who led the team in assists last year, is one of them.

“He knows where to go and knows where he’s supposed to be. He’s fast, too, so that helps,” Spring said.

Spring also spoke of Lebler’s ability to be able to help out the younger guys on the team.

“I think he will help out. Being a vet now, he will be able to help the younger guys adjust to the style that we play in our league,” Spring said.

Lebler isn’t the type of guy to steer away from guiding the new guys. One of this main goals this season is to bring some offense to the team and also be one of the players that the younger guys can come to when they have questions about how things work.

Head coach Al Murdoch believes having one year of experience under his belt will also benefit Lebler and the team.

“As a freshman, he played a regular shift on the top two line so he got real solid,” Murdoch said. “He’s a smart player, has great defensive skills, he can do it all offensively and he’s got a great shot.”

Three Cyclone starters have already played on teams in the World University Games, which brings top players from around the country and the world together in one league. Murdoch wouldn’t be surprised if Lebler is invited to try out in the next two years.

“I think he’s one that the World University Games will invite to try out. I would look to see him try out here in a few years,” Murdoch said.

Lebler played in 42 games last season, scoring 26 goals and dishing out 25 assists, which added up to a 51-point performance for the season.

While Lebler would like to try to play professionally in Europe once his Cyclone hockey career is over, he plans to continue to grow as a player and lead the team in Ames.

In the end, that’s the only citizenship that matters right now.