Hurricanes to wear reminder of

Lethbridge, AB – In late November of 2008, the Lethbridge Hurricanes family was struck with tragedy as former Hurricanes goaltender Michael Maniago passed on in a fatal car accident. Though “Mani”, as he was known, will never be forgotten, the Hurricanes will honor his memory for the remainder of the 08-09 season by wearing a special memorial symbol on their helmets.
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r“We talked about it after the service for Michael and it certainly was not something we wanted to put on the back burner, but at the same time, we had some other matters and the Christmas holidays and after arriving back it was one of our players, Colton Sceviour, who got the impetus going again in terms of the project and we have moved forward.” said Canes GM Roy Stasiuk “It’s something that as a team we have decided is an appropriate and real nice way to honor “Mani’s” memory”
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rManiago first came to the Canes in the 2006-2007 season, brought in to provide support to the young goaltending tandem of Justin Leclerc and Sam Huston. He would then go on to tally a 25-14-2-3 record in the 07-08 season as a key part of one of the WHL’s strongest goaltending tandems; with then rookie Juha Metsola. Maniago would tie the Hurricanes’ club record of five shutouts by an individual in a season and along with Metsola’s three; set a new Hurricanes’ club record with a total of eight shutouts in the regular season.
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rThe Hurricanes debuted the symbol last night in a thrilling 4-2 win over the Swift Current Broncos in which Metsola tallied 29 saves.