Maniago remembered as 'nice guy'

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
When James Priestner thinks of fellow goaltender Michael Maniago, he always
will remember the peanut butter.
“He used to aways have this big jar of peanut butter he kept in this room,”
Priestner said Sunday evening from Calgary, where his Brandon Wheat Kings
had just dropped a 4-1 WHL decision to the Hitmen. “He would eat it all day
long to try and gain weight. He was so skinny and he could not gain weight.
“All day long he would eat tablespoons of peanut butter to try and put on a
couple of pounds. He would take every supplement possible to try and gain
weight but he couldn’t do it.”
Maniago, 20, died in a car accident in his hometown of Calgary early
Saturday morning.
“He was such a nice guy . . . it’s so bizarre to hear something like that
happens. It’s so sad,” Priestner said.
Priestner, 17, attended his first Blazers training camp in the late summer
of 2006. Maniago was the first player he met here and the two ended up
rooming together for a while.
“Once I found out I was going to the Everett tournament . . . I didn’t have
any dress clothes,” recalled Priestner, who was traded by the Blazers to
Brandon earlier this season. “He gave me a nice suit to wear. I roomed with
him on the road. He was such a nice guy, so welcoming. I went for dinner
with him and his family.”
Dean Clark, meanwhile, will remember Maniago’s smile.
“That’s all he ever did . . . was smile,” Clark, the former general manager
and head coach of the Blazers, said Saturday night from Edmonton.
“He was a really good kid,” Clark said. “He was an excellent kid. He never
had a bad thing to say about anyone.”
Maniago spent slightly more than two seasons with the Blazers.
According to a report filed by the Calgary Police Department, the accident
occurred at 2:26 a.m.
“A (Volkswagen) Jetta was southbound on Sun Valley Blvd SE,” the report
reads. “This vehicle was being driven by a 20-year-old Calgary man and had
three other occupants. A Toyota 4Runner was being driven northbound on
Chaparral Blvd SE by a 19-year-old female with three other occupants.
“At the intersection of Marquis of Lorne Tr. SE, the Toyota . . . initiated
a left turn. The VW Jetta was traveling straight through the intersection
and was struck on the driver side causing severe damage to both vehicles.
“The driver of the VW Jetta passed away at the scene. The three other
passengers of this car were transported to hospital, one with serious
injuries. The driver of the Toyota . . . was not injured; one male passenger
was taken to hospital with minor injuries” and later was released.
The report concluded: “Alcohol was a factor in this collision.”
According to the Calgary Sun: “Insp. Vic Trickett said alcohol was a factor
. . . on the part of the SUV.”
The Lethbridge Herald reported Saturday night that “a friend of Maniago’s
said he was going to pick up pizza with his younger brother Matthew and two
friends when the crash occurred.”
Jacalyn Fenske, a 24-year-old friend of Maniago’s, said he was living at
home and working at World Pro Goaltending.
Fenske told the Calgary Herald that Maniago’s brother Matthew, 18, came out
of the accident with a lacerated scalp.
“I know (Michael) and his brother were really close,” said Priestner, who
met Matthew in Kamloops two years ago.
The Herald reported that one passenger suffered “serious abdominal injuries”
and another “was treated for a fractured leg.”
Maniago was selected by the Blazers with the 73rd pick of the 2003 bantam
draft. He joined the Blazers as a 16-year-old, beating out Scott Gudmandson
for the backup job behind Devan Dubnyk. After the Blazers acquired
goaltender Dustin Butler from the Prince Albert Raiders prior to the 2006-07 season,
Maniago was dealt to the Hurricanes on Oct. 24, 2006, along with a 2008
seventh-round bantam pick, for a 2008 third-round pick.
Maniago, who was 12-14-4 in 41 appearances with the Blazers, split the
Lethbridge goaltending with Juha Metsola during the 2007-08 regular season
but the freshman Finn took over as the starter as the Hurricanes made a
playoff run that took them into the WHL final, where they lost to the
Spokane Chiefs. Rather than return as a 20-year-old, Maniago, a second
cousin to former NHL goaltender Cesare Maniago, chose to go home to Calgary
and go to work.
Last season, he went 25-14-2-3 as the Hurricanes went 45-21-2-4 and finished
second in the Central Division.
“He cared about people,” Jeff Battah, the general manager and head coach of
the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder, told the Herald. Battah was the
Hurricanes’ goaltending coach while Maniago was with them. “He went out of
his way to make them feel welcome and comfortable.
“He came to Lethbridge as a kid from Kamloops who had never been developed
and we put in time and effort and he repaid us. He repaid us and he was a
big part of what happened last (season).”
Lethbridge general manager Roy Stasiuk, who swung the deal to acquire
Maniago, told the Herald: “He was competitive, a great kid who worked very
hard. It’s a terrible end to a great man’s life.”

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com