November 17, 2014

by Alan Cross – griffinshockey.com
____________________________

On Friday, Nov. 14, Anthony Mantha made his professional debut with the Grand Rapids Griffins at Van Andel Arena.

An overtime thriller against the defending Calder Cup champion Texas Stars saw Teemu Pulkkinen blister the puck into the vistors’ net with only 0.8 seconds remaining to erupt the nearly-packed house. For the Griffins, it marked their second consecutive home win and a much-needed two points. For Mantha, it marked the beginning of the rest of his career.

When the Detroit Red Wings selected Mantha as their first choice in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, the buzz surrounding the Longueuil, Quebec, native began immediately. At the time, he was coming off of an 89-point season with the QMJHL’s Val-d’Or Foreurs, leading the team in goals and ranking 10th in the league in scoring. The hype reached new levels last season after Mantha amassed 120 points (57-63—120) in 57 games with Val-d’Or, leading the league in goals and scoring.

For his 2013-14 accomplishments, Mantha was named to the QMJHL’s First All-Star Team, earned the Michel Brière Memorial Trophy as the league’s Most Valuable Player and was named the CHL Player of the Year.

The 20-year-old was on pace to potentially earn an immediate ticket to Detroit, bypassing the organization’s lengthy development process. Fate had another idea for Mantha however, as he fractured his tibia during an NHL Prospects Tournament game in September. He spent the next two months sidelined until his debut with the Griffins on Friday.

For the most part, his debut went well. When asked if Mantha had any apprehension heading into it, he gave a definitive answer.

“No, not at all. I knew I was 100% going out there.”

“It feels good to get that first game out of the way,” said Mantha following his debut. “Great win by the guys tonight, so it’s just a positive continuing on. I hope tomorrow it goes even better, but it was a good game overall.”

Mantha saw a large amount of ice time and brought a new energy to the team, but he finished the game with no points, a minus-one rating and two penalty minutes. He also made his presence known at the net, sounding two shots off of the post. But it wasn’t enough for him.

“I should have put it in, it was an empty net,” Mantha said regarding his second scoring opportunity. “It’s going to bounce on my side the next few games, but I was out of luck today. I think I need to just bring my A-game. I tried today, but the timing wasn’t there. [Saturday] it should be there, and I need to focus on playing defensively. Things should get rolling.”

He was right.

Grand Rapids hosted a rematch with Texas the following evening. It was much of the same for the Griffins, who earned another overtime victory with just 40 seconds remaining on the clock courtesy of a Kevin Porter breakaway goal.

It was a different result for Mantha though, as Detroit’s most-hyped prospect in years scored his first professional goal. From the left circle, Andy Miele sent a pass to the doorstep for Pulkkinen, who quickly backhanded the puck to Mantha at the right post for a tap-in past Texas goaltender Jussi Rynnas.

“It was an easy goal if I can say so. Pulkky and Miele did the whole play, so I just had to tap it in,” said Mantha. “I got a lot of ice time yesterday and tonight, and it feels good. It will just continue on like this, I hope.”

At 6-foot-4 and 214 pounds, Mantha’s a mover and a shaker. Combining his size with his hands, he registered a game-high six shots in Saturday’s 2-1 win and earned two penalty minutes for the second night in a row.

The addition of Mantha is a welcome change for the Griffins, who owned a 4-6-1-0 record heading into Friday. After winning all three games last week, Grand Rapids has now clawed its way back to the 0.500 mark. If the weekend’s set of games is a sign of things to come, fans can expect a lot from the powerhouse line of Mantha, Miele and Pulkkinen, who combined for a total of seven points (3-4—7) in two games.

Time will tell if the highly-touted prospect can live up to all of the expectations, but Mantha’s initial performance with the Griffins indicated that his professional debut was indeed worth the wait.

November 17, 2014

by Alan Cross – griffinshockey.com
____________________________

On Friday, Nov. 14, Anthony Mantha made his professional debut with the Grand Rapids Griffins at Van Andel Arena.

An overtime thriller against the defending Calder Cup champion Texas Stars saw Teemu Pulkkinen blister the puck into the vistors’ net with only 0.8 seconds remaining to erupt the nearly-packed house. For the Griffins, it marked their second consecutive home win and a much-needed two points. For Mantha, it marked the beginning of the rest of his career.

When the Detroit Red Wings selected Mantha as their first choice in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, the buzz surrounding the Longueuil, Quebec, native began immediately. At the time, he was coming off of an 89-point season with the QMJHL’s Val-d’Or Foreurs, leading the team in goals and ranking 10th in the league in scoring. The hype reached new levels last season after Mantha amassed 120 points (57-63—120) in 57 games with Val-d’Or, leading the league in goals and scoring.

For his 2013-14 accomplishments, Mantha was named to the QMJHL’s First All-Star Team, earned the Michel Brière Memorial Trophy as the league’s Most Valuable Player and was named the CHL Player of the Year.

The 20-year-old was on pace to potentially earn an immediate ticket to Detroit, bypassing the organization’s lengthy development process. Fate had another idea for Mantha however, as he fractured his tibia during an NHL Prospects Tournament game in September. He spent the next two months sidelined until his debut with the Griffins on Friday.

For the most part, his debut went well. When asked if Mantha had any apprehension heading into it, he gave a definitive answer.

“No, not at all. I knew I was 100% going out there.”

“It feels good to get that first game out of the way,” said Mantha following his debut. “Great win by the guys tonight, so it’s just a positive continuing on. I hope tomorrow it goes even better, but it was a good game overall.”

Mantha saw a large amount of ice time and brought a new energy to the team, but he finished the game with no points, a minus-one rating and two penalty minutes. He also made his presence known at the net, sounding two shots off of the post. But it wasn’t enough for him.

“I should have put it in, it was an empty net,” Mantha said regarding his second scoring opportunity. “It’s going to bounce on my side the next few games, but I was out of luck today. I think I need to just bring my A-game. I tried today, but the timing wasn’t there. [Saturday] it should be there, and I need to focus on playing defensively. Things should get rolling.”

He was right.

Grand Rapids hosted a rematch with Texas the following evening. It was much of the same for the Griffins, who earned another overtime victory with just 40 seconds remaining on the clock courtesy of a Kevin Porter breakaway goal.

It was a different result for Mantha though, as Detroit’s most-hyped prospect in years scored his first professional goal. From the left circle, Andy Miele sent a pass to the doorstep for Pulkkinen, who quickly backhanded the puck to Mantha at the right post for a tap-in past Texas goaltender Jussi Rynnas.

“It was an easy goal if I can say so. Pulkky and Miele did the whole play, so I just had to tap it in,” said Mantha. “I got a lot of ice time yesterday and tonight, and it feels good. It will just continue on like this, I hope.”

At 6-foot-4 and 214 pounds, Mantha’s a mover and a shaker. Combining his size with his hands, he registered a game-high six shots in Saturday’s 2-1 win and earned two penalty minutes for the second night in a row.

The addition of Mantha is a welcome change for the Griffins, who owned a 4-6-1-0 record heading into Friday. After winning all three games last week, Grand Rapids has now clawed its way back to the 0.500 mark. If the weekend’s set of games is a sign of things to come, fans can expect a lot from the powerhouse line of Mantha, Miele and Pulkkinen, who combined for a total of seven points (3-4—7) in two games.

Time will tell if the highly-touted prospect can live up to all of the expectations, but Mantha’s initial performance with the Griffins indicated that his professional debut was indeed worth the wait.