Hard Work and Determination

Brandon Manning paved his
own way to the NHL

Hard Work and Determination - they are cliche terms in the game of hockey, everybody uses them but few will realize what they will actually do for a player. One player that has reaped his own rewards through hard work, determination and add in perseverance is Brandon Manning.

A local hockey product that learned the game while skating his way through the Prince George Minor Hockey system. His level of play earned him a spot on the Cariboo Cougars BC Major Midget squad in 2006-07 playing alongside a few other future Spruce Kings alumni.

That major midget squad in 2006-07 went to the finals with the likes of Damien Ketlo (G), Alex Wright (G), Joe Morgan (F), Ryan Howse (F), RJay Berra (F), Sam Muchalla (F), Nic DeSousa (F), Tyson Hall (F), Stewart Lambert (F), Geoff Morgan (D), Justin Fillion (D) and of course Brandon Manning (D). In the following season six of those players suited for the Spruce Kings including Brandon Manning who finished his rookie season in the BCHL with 7 goals and 19 assists.

As the Spruce Kings season wound down a year after hosting the RBC Royal Bank Cup Tournament, Manning was called upon by the Chilliwack Bruins to play out the remainder of their regular season and post season. He was able to get into ten games total and impressed enough to have the Bruins keep him in the lineup for the next three seasons including two as team captain.

Despite his presence on the ice, Manning went undrafted to the WHL and undrafted to the NHL. That didn't stop him and in fact drove him to compete harder and show up at the Toronto Maple Leafs training camp in 2009. Manning returned to the Bruins for his 19 year old season and a year later was back at a NHL training camp this time with the New York Rangers.

After playing for a couple of weeks with the Rangers, Manning again headed back to the WHL Bruins to start his 20 year old season. Two months into the season the Philadelphia Flyers decided they had seen enough of Manning and signed him to an NHL entry level contract opting to leave him play out his last year of junior in Chilliwack.

With a spot secured in the AHL, Manning headed to Adirondack for the 2011-12 season where he played in 46 games putting up similar numbers that he did when he played for the Spruce Kings as a 17 year old. As the season wore on, injuries on the Philadelphia Flyers blue line started adding up and Manning was given his shot with a callup on March 8, 2012 for a home game against the Florida Panthers.

Manning finished a plus 2 with three shots on goal while logging 15 minutes of ice time in his NHL debut. He would play in three more games over the next two weeks logging close to 14 minutes in ice time in each game and a plus 1 in his four NHL games.

An example of hard work and determination, Manning continues to exemplify those qualities and the current situation in the NHL hasn't stopped him either. On Saturday night Brandon Manning was recognized at the Spruce Kings game against the Penticton Vees dropping the puck during the ceremonial faceoff. The Spruce Kings went on to win that game 4-2 and during the second intermission, Manning joined Todd Doherty on the team's broadcast.

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Howse Guest

Time for another one of those archived newspaper clippings about Spruce Kings alumni on the verge of going pro. The interesting thing about this one is that it actually covers two former players - Ryan Howse (2006-2007) and Mike Lalonde (1998-2001). These two players share a unique bond despite never wearing the Spruce Kings jersey at the same time. Steve Ewen of the Province discovered that connection in October of 2008.

Alumni Ryan Howse had an interesting connection with the
team before ever putting on the crown himself.

Howse Guest

by Steve Ewen, The Province Newspaper

Long before he was a Chilliwack Bruins sniper, Ryan Howse had a gig in junior hockey. His family billeted players from the BCHL's Prince George Spruce Kings.

Principal among them was Mike Lalonde, 27, now a left winger with the ECHL's Stockton Thunder who lived with Howse's family for two years, the last in 2000-01.

"Ry was a riot and only wanted to play hockey outside or on PlayStation, but was very respectful," Lalonde remembers of Howse, 17. "I am sure he would have wanted to play in the driveway a lot more but his mom wouldn't let him ask me. Roxanne wouldn't let him bug me on game days but most times I was out there, playing goalie for him and his friends.

"I never knew he was what he was until after I finished school and he was a big deal in the Prince George minor hockey system. I always knew he loved the game, and I think he always will and will play pro someday if he keeps working."

Lalonde, a Chetwynd native, went on to play at Michigan State University. He still spends a couple of weeks every summer with Howse and his family, part of preparations for the hockey season.

And he checks out the WHL website regularly. He has to like what he's seeing this year from Howse, Chilliwack's first-ever draft pick, the third overall choice in the 2006 bantam draft after a 108-goal season.

Howse heads into tonight's visit from the Kelowna Rockets (Prospera Centre, 7 p.m., 88.1 FM) with five goals and one assist in six games. That comes after counting 10 goals and 17 points in 54 games as a rookie last season.

Six of those goals came in the final 21 games, when he started to get shifts on Chilliwack's top two lines.

"Coming in as a 16-year-old, you don't know what to expect," says Howse, who is listed at 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds. "It was a shock to me not scoring, not touching the puck a lot.

"Towards the end of the year, I started playing with Oscar Moller and Mark Santorelli and Brandon Campos. You get the puck a lot with them. I got used to it and this year I felt so confident coming in because I had a great finish last year."

Howse won't play with Campos this year, who graduated from the WHL at the end of last season. He likely won't line up with Moller and Santorelli, either, since both are catching on with pro teams.

The good news in that? He'll get ice time galore, and, with this his NHL draft season, it's the ideal time to get that shot.

Lalonde will pay close attention to that NHL interest. He admits to thinking about the chance of playing with or against Howse in the pro ranks.

"Hopefully, he doesn't have to spend anytime in the ECHL," says Lalonde. "If we did get to play one another I am sure we would have a little brotherly rivalry and would want to beat one another. It would definitely be my pleasure to play against the little kid I used to play goalie for in the driveway."

Spruce Kings Alumni Called Up by the Pittsburgh Penguins

I have been posting a couple of newspaper stories dug up from the archives on former Spruce Kings that were knocking on the doors of pro hockey. Today this story jumped to my attention featuring a Spruce Kings alumni that was called from his NCAA team to become a black ace on a Stanley Cup winning team. Since 2009, when Brad Thiessen first had his taste of the NHL, he has as recently as this past season made headlines around the League posting his first win against the Columbus Blue Jackets and also picked up wins against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets.

Brad Thiessen was acquired by the Prince George Spruce Kings from the Penticton Vees at the trade deadline on January 10, 2005. He played 10 games in the tail end of that season picking up 5 wins and 4 losses. It was the following season that will be forever etched in the Spruce Kings record books, for it was the 2005-06 season that Thiessen really shined in the BCHL and started down the path that would eventually lead to the NHL.

In his 19 year old season, Thiessen played in 36 games for a total of 2058 minutes between the pipes with a goals against average of 2.89 and a save percentage of .925. As impressive as those numbers are, the number that Brad Thiessen owned was for shutouts posting five of them. Three of which came in consecutive games to set a record of 250 minutes of shutout hockey that still stands today in any amateur league.

A year after arriving in Prince George, Brad Thiessen was again the subject of a trade deadline deal that sent him to the Merritt Centennials. Thiessen would not play his last year of eligibility in the BCHL, instead opting to go on to the NCAA ranks with Northeastern University. After his third season with the Huskies, Thiessen signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins as an undrafted free agent and started playing for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins of the AHL.

This past season was another banner year in the hockey career of this Spruce Kings alumni who has achieved numerous awards and recognition for his contributions on the ice. The memories that this young man has accumulated over the years is nothing short of phenomenal. He shares one of them with Emanuel Sequeira of the Penticton Western News in this article dated June 12, 2012.

Bradley Thiessen, who played in the BCHL with the Spruce Kings,
stops Rick Nash in his NHL debut and first NHL win.

BCHL alumni loved call up with Penguins

by Emanuel Sequeira - Penticton Western News

Bradley Thiessen received congratulations in a surprising way after helping the Pittsburgh Penguins double up the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2 on Feb. 26.

"I got shaving cream pie in the face from Kris Letang," said Thiessen, a BCHL alumni, whose career started with the Penticton Panthers/Vees, and also had stops in Prince George and Merritt. "It was after the game and the coach was talking and he came up behind me. They got me good on that one."

The Aldergrove resident, who has spent the last three seasons with the American Hockey League's Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, said the experience was awesome as he made 21 saves.

"It was something that you always work towards. That's the goal is to be able to play in the NHL and be able to get there and play games," said Thiessen, who is 72-37-0-4 with 13 shutouts in the AHL. "Being able to contribute to winning for the team was a lot of fun."

Thiessen liked that his NHL debut against the Blue Jackets was in the afternoon. It didn't allow him the time to sit around and worry about it or think about it all day. He also had his family and fiancé in attendance for support.

"Skating on the ice and hearing the national anthem and all the fans and what not kind of hits you," said Thiessen, who played three years at Northeastern University. "It was pretty cool just to be able to be a part of."

Thiessen admitted to feeling nervous, especially because of who he had wanting to make him look bad.

"It's the NHL and you have Rick Nash coming down on you and other guys like that, it's definitely a little nerve-wracking," he said.

Eventually he felt comfortable and that he belongs in the NHL. Adding to that feeling was playing with the Penguins young studs like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Letang and Jordan Staal.

"You get a lot of good practice with those guys," he said.

As for being around Crosby and Malkin, Thiessen said the best way to describe them is that they are just regular guys. Great teammates who care about the team and fun to be around.

"Having a front row seat from the bench, on the ice and in practice was a great experience," he added. "They are both extremely talented. There would be times during games one of them would do something and you just say, 'Wow' because there are not many players who can do some of the things that they do."

At season's end, Thiessen's future has become uncertain after the recent signing of Tomas Vokoun, acquired from the Washington Capitals to be Marc-Andre Fleury's backup.

"I have to talk to my agent and see what the options are and what direction Pittsburgh is heading," said Thiessen, a restricted free agent. "Vokoun and Fleury are pretty established goalies. Looks like they are set there."

But Thiessen believes he is ready to be a backup. Getting wins under his belt gave him the confidence to believe.

"It would be nice to have the opportunity where I can fight for a spot to play in the NHL," said Thiessen, whose favourite goalie was Felix Potvin growing up and more recently is Fleury.

"Believe In Yourself"

While at the 2010 Allan Cup, I've had the opportunity to meet up with a handful of Spruce Kings alumni that are playing at the tournament. By far the most heavily ladened team, with players that wore the crown in seasons past, are on the host team's roster. There is one other team in the six team tournament featuring teams from across Canada that has three names that drum up memories from their time in Prince George.

The Powell River Regals roster has goaltender Mike Legg and forwards Mike Stutzel and Troy Dalton. Unfortunately Mike Legg was unable to travel to Fort St. John to play in this year's national senior amateur hockey tournament. I did get a chance to talk with Mike Stutzel who spent a pair of seasons with the Spruce Kings and was named the team's Most Improved Player in his first year and went on to earn the regular season MVP award.

As for Troy Dalton, he spent three very memorable seasons with the Spruce Kings including the year they won it all in the Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League. That is one memory he shared with me as well as some candid thoughts about the game of hockey and what it has meant to him over the years and how his years with the Spruce Kings were instrumental in shaping his future. He talked a little bit about how the game of hockey has changed, not so much on the ice as much as it has changed off the ice.

The interview was conducted a short time after he arrived at the rink with his current team, the Powell River Regals for their quarter final game against the Bentley Generals. I started the interview there asking Troy about he and the rest of the team were preparing for a game against defending Allan Cup champions and a team that they had some history with.


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Troy Dalton and Mike Stutzel played strong roles for the Powell River Regals on this night, but the night belonged to the Bentley Generals who advanced to the semi finals and ended the Regals season. Friday at the 2010 Allan Cup the Fort St. John Flyers with five alumni on the roster will look to move past the South East Prairie Thunder and advance to the Championship game on Saturday.

Alumni at 2010 Allan Cup

As the voice behind the microphone at the Spruce Kings games, I've had an opportunity to watch a number of players show their stuff in the Coliseum and watched them move on to the next level. Sometimes it is easy to follow a player and other times you lose track of them. It is always nice to catch up to them again somewhere down the road. For me this week, that road or roads have led to Fort St. John for the 2010 Allan Cup.

The Allan Cup is the holy grail for senior men's amateur hockey and has been around since before the Stanley Cup. Based around a six team two division tournament, the Allan Cup is more in common with the RBC Royal Bank Cup as teams play a round robin series and then move through an elimination series before going to a single championship game.

Every year a different city is selected to host the Allan Cup with the team playing in that city getting an automatic spot in the tournament while five other regional spots are determined through playoffs and regional championships. The closest the Allan Cup tournament has ever been to Prince George is 1993 when it was held in Quesnel. The 102nd edition of the tournament is being held in Fort St. John with the Flyers the host team.

There are five Spruce Kings alumni on the FSJ team with Chris Stevens, Matt Shuya and Tyler Loney the most recent to have worn the crown. Adam Loncan and Gerard Dicaire are the other three that local fans will remember having played in Prince George. Dicaire, a true defenceman, was with the Spruce Kings for the 1998-99 season. Playing in 51 games, he finished with a record of 6 goals and 16 assists; he also played in 11 playoff games that year and picked up a game winning goal and one assist.

Adam Loncan played two seasons with the Spruce Kings, one in the Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League and the other in the first year that the Spruce Kings joined the British Columbia Hockey League as a Junior A team. Loncan finished fifth in team scoring in that inaugural season in the BCHL with 17 goals and 28 assists through 58 games. Loncan went on to play for the Prince George Cougars the following year and also had five years of CIS hockey in Alberta before playing as a pro for two seasons in the CHL.

Tyler Loney played three seasons with the Spruce Kings; although he played as a defenceman in his rookie year, he found a great deal of success up front and especially on the top of the crease where it was next to impossible to move him. Loney wore the 'C' in his graduating year and holds many franchise records from his time with the team including the most penalty minutes in a single season with 242 and in a career with 578. Loney wasn't just a physical player though and finished his three years with 156 games played, 45 goals and 68 assists.

Chris Stevens was sixteen when he first started playing for the Spruce Kings and over the course of three seasons found a spot on the team's record books in the categories of games played (9th - 169), goals (2nd - 82), assists (6th - 100), points (4th - 181), power play goals (7th - 21), short handed goals (5th - 5) and game winning goals (2nd - 13). At the end of the 2004-05 season, when the Spruce Kings lost to the Vernon Vipers in the Interior Conference finals, Stevens received a call to finish the season out with the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Matt Shuya played four seasons and the second most games with the Spruce Kings with 208, 17 behind Derek Dinelle. Had it not been for a blockbuster trade at the trading deadline, Shuya would have been eligible to play in twenty more regular season games wearing the crown and may have been able to pass Dinelle. Shuya's name is also in multiple categories for career and single season records including fifth for goals scored with 69, tenth for points with 141 and third for penalty minutes with 374.

Besides these five, the Powell River Regals have another three Spruce Kings alumni with Troy Dalton, Mike Stutzel and Mike Legg. Legg, a goaltender, played three seasons with the Spruce Kings between 1985 and 1988 in the Peace Caribou Junior Hockey League. Dalton was with the team for three seasons as well between the years of 1993 and 1996 which spanned both the PCJHL and the RMJHL. Stutzel's spent time with the Spruce Kings from 1997 to 1999, the team's second and third seasons in the BCHL.

In my next posting, I will take a closer look at the players today and how they are faring at the 2010 Allan Cup. If time permits, between games, I hope to be able to sit down with at least a couple of them and just talk about those days when they wore the crown with pride and played in the Coliseum as members of the Prince George Spruce Kings.