By nature, Steve Clark is usually quick with a quip. And the talkative senior hockey player apparently amused head coach Rick Comley with a comment during a game this weekend at Lake Superior State.

"We all laughed because he said he played more that particular night than he did his first three years here," Comley said with a chuckle.

Of course, that's a huge hyperbole on Clark's part. He played 85 games in his first three seasons - including 41 as a sophomore - but the Mississauga, Ontario, native has never played so much on a night-to-night basis.

The reason for the overnight upswing in ice time: Clark moved from the bottom of the team's forward corps into the regular defenseman rotation.

When sophomore defenseman Duncan Keith and freshman defenseman Evan Shaw both quit the team last month, the Spartans were left with only five blueliners on the roster. Teams usually dress six defensemen for a game, so Comley had to get creative.

One option would have been to accept a walk-on, but the coach said he didn't think anyone on the club hockey team was good enough to play varsity. Another choice would have been to raid a junior team for a defenseman, but Comley said he didn't want to disrupt another team's chemistry for his personal gain.

So he settled on the third option - transform one of the team's extra forwards into a defenseman. Clark, a 6-foot-2, 180-pounder, was an obvious choice because he had defensive experience from juniors.

Clark didn't hesitate seizing the opportunity mostly because he only played in five of the team's first 15 games as a forward. Since the switch to defense, he has played four straight contests, although he's still waiting for his first point of the season.

"I guess you can't be too upset about things like that when you get in the lineup because of it," Clark said of Keith's and Shaw's defections. "Any chance I get, I try to make the most of it. It's a lot of fun to be a part of things out there, to be on the ice a lot, and help the team win.

"The coaches are trusting in me. And the more minutes I get, the easier it seems to be."

Although Comley has praised Clark's transition, he still hasn't asked him to take on the two toughest chores for a defenseman - killing penalties or playing in critical situations late in close games.

"We'll protect him until he gets more experience," Comley said. "The schedule, playing (Michigan) Tech and Lake Superior, has been kind of nice to where we can get him a lot of minutes.

"We don't have a choice - we need him to play. So far, he has responded very, very well."

Freshman defenseman Corey Potter said Clark often queries his teammates during moments of doubt on the ice.

"He's always got those questions - he's a little unsure. But he asks us throughout the game," Potter said. "I was surprised. After not even playing other games and then filling a spot on defense, he's done a real good job."

Sophomore goaltender Matt Migliaccio would be one of the first to notice if Clark goofed up, but he said on Saturday he doesn't remember No. 6 making any glaring errors.

"Oh man, he's great," Migliaccio said. "He's adjusted well. He's made a few mistakes, but you expect that. He's helping me out a lot back there. He got thrown into a tough situation, but we expect a lot out of him."