Blair Manning

Blair Manning (born May 27, 1975) is a professional ice hockey player who has played overseas, in the CHL, and in the IHL. Manning currently plays for the Kalamazoo Wings in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Early/Personal Life

Blair Manning is married, but has no children yet. Blair has a brother named Blaine Manning who plays professional lacrosse for the Toronto Rock. Blair was also captain of the Motor City Mechanics, among 8 of his other teams. Blair Manning is also one of four current professional hockey players with the first name of Blair. One of the other three just happens to be his teammate, Blair Stayzer. Manning plans to be a firefighter when he retires from hockey.

Playing career

College Hockey

Blair Manning played one year of college hockey for the University of Massachusetts Amherst(1993–94). During his single season with Massachusetts, Manning accumulated 8 goals, 23 assists, and 24 penalty minutes in just 27 games.

Junior Hockey

WHL

Blair Manning played 2 seasons for the Western Hockey League, the first of which was the 1994-95 season in which he played for the Seattle Thunderbirds. In his first season with the Thunderbirds, Manning scored 32 goals, made 58 assists, and got himself thrown in the box for 57 minutes, in 58 games. Blair continued with the Thunderbirds in the 1995-96 season for 44 games, scoring another 17 goals, 44 assists, and 62 penalty minutes.

In the 1995-96 season, Manning left the Thunderbirds and moved over to another WHL team, The Medicine Hat Tigers. Manning played 24 games for the Tigers, earning his team 5 goals, 11 assists, and 18 penalty minutes.

Professional Hockey

ECHL

Blair Manning made his professional hockey debut in the 1996-97 season for the Baton Rouge Kingfish of the ECHL. Manning played 60 games for the Kingfish, earning 13 goals, 33 assists, and 77 penalty minutes.

Manning came back to the ECHL for the 1998-99 season to play for the Louisiana IceGators. In 65 games for the IceGators, Manning scored 9 goals, made 19 assists, and got himself another 57 penalty minutes.

IHL

Manning made his first season with the IHL in 1996-97 with the Grand Rapids Griffins. Manning played 8 games with the Griffins, earning 1 goal, 1 assist, and 4 penalty minutes. Manning skated back to the IHL for the 1997-98 season to play 2 more games with the Griffins, and added 0 points or minutes to his record.

Manning played a single game for the IHL's Kansas City Blades in the 2000-01 season, again earning no points or minutes.

Blair Manning played his first full season in the IHL with the Kalamazoo Wings this season. So far Manning has played 43 games with the Wings and earned 7 goals, 13 assists, and 20 penalty minutes.

UHL

Manning played his first season in the UHL with the Muskegon Fury in the 1997-98 season. Manning played 68 games with the Fury earning 22 goals, 57 assists, and 57 penalty minutes.

Manning finally made his way back to the UHL for the 2004-05 season with the Motor City Mechanics. Manning played 80 games with the Mechanics adding 18 goals, 58 assists, and 60 penalty minutes to his record.

AHL

Manning's first season with the American Hockey League was the 1996-97 season where he played 2 games for the Saint John Flames, recording no points or penalty minutes.

Manning played 2 more games for the AHL in the 1997-98 season for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, again recording no points or minutes.

Manning played another short stint for the AHL with the Lowell Lock Monsters for 2 games, still gaining no points, but adding 2 penalty minutes into the mix.

In the 2001-02 season, Manning played 4 games with the Utah Grizzlies and got his first, and only, AHL points in his 3 assists.

CHL

Blair Manning started his long career in the CHL with his 1999-2000 season with the Topeka Scarecrows. In his first season with the Scarecrows, Manning played 70 games, logging 17 goals, 42 assists, and 79 penalty minutes. Manning stayed with the Scarecrows for a second season playing 61 games and scoring 35 goals and 50 more assists for the team. He also logged 45 penalty minutes in his second season with Topeka.

Manning stayed in the CHL for the 2001-02 season, but switched over to play for the San Antonio Iguanas. Blair played 64 games for the Iguanas, earning his team 29 goals, 48 assists, and 52 penalty minutes.

For the 2002-03 season, Manning was picked up by the Oklahoma City Blazers. In his first season with the Blazers, Manning played 64 games and scored 23 goals, made 59 assists, and sat in the box for 69 minutes. Manning was back with the Blazers for the 2003-04 season playing 64 more games and earning another 9 goals, 42 assists, and 44 penalty minutes.

Manning skated back to the CHL for the 2005-06 season to play for the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. In 64 games with the Mudbugs, Manning scored 15 goals, made 61 assists, and spent 52 more minutes in that blasted penalty box.

Manning played 64 games for the Texas Brahmas in the 2007-08 season earning another 11 goals, 52 assists, and 60 penalty minutes to add to his amazing record.

Before leaving to play for the Kalamazoo Wings in the 2008-09 season, Manning played 13 games for the Rapid City Rush, earning 5 assists and 14 penalty minutes.

European Hockey

England

Blair Manning played 53 games for the EIHL's Basingstoke Bison. In his time with the Bison, Manning earned 9 goals, 40 assists, and 118 penalty minutes.

Fights

In his professional career, Blair Manning has logged one fight. The fight took place in the CHL for the Oklahoma City Blazers against Jeff Petruic of the Odessa Jackalopes.

Playoff Experience

Blair Manning has been to the playoffs 12 times in his career, the first of which was in the 1994-95 season with the Seattle Thunderbirds. Manning played 4 playoff games with the Thunderbirds, scoring 1 goal, making 1 assist, and landing himself in the penalty box for 4 minutes.

Blair Manning's second time in the playoffs was with another WHL team in the 1995-96 season, the Medicine Hat Tigers. In 5 playoff games for the Tigers, Blair neglected to score any goals, but made 4 assists and got 2 penalty minutes.

Manning ended up in the playoffs yet again, this time in the IHL playing one playoff game for the Grand Rapids Griffins in the 1996-97 season. Manning made 1 assist in his game with the Griffins.

In the 1997-98 season, Manning played 11 playoff games for the Muskegon Fury of the UHL. In his 11 playoff games with the Fury, Manning pulled off 1 goal, and 8 penalty minutes.

Manning played in the ECHL playoffs during the 1998-99 season for the Louisiana IceGators. In 5 playoff games for the IceGators, Manning earned his team 1 assist and 6 penalty minutes.

Manning made his first appearance in the CHL playoffs during the 2000-01 season in which he played 4 games for the Topeka Scarecrows. Manning managed a solid 5 assists, 1 goal, and 8 penalty minutes in the four games.

Manning got his second taste of the CHL playoffs in the 2001-02 season when he played 4 playoff games for the San Antonio Iguanas and scored 1 goal and earned 2 minutes in the box.

In the 2001-02 season, Manning also played in the playoffs for the AHL team, the Utah Grizzlies. In 5 games with the Grizzlies, Blair scored no points and achieved 2 penalty minutes.

Manning made it to the CHL playoffs yet again in the 2002-03 season with the Oklahoma City Blazers. In 5 playoff games with the Blazers, manning scored 2 goals and made 5 assists.

Manning went to the CHL playoffs in 2005-06 for the fourth time with the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. Manning played 15 playoff games with the Mudbugs, scoring 5 goals, making 12 assists, and spending 15 minutes in the box. The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs finished first in their division, and third overall.

Manning went to the playoffs in his only European season with the Basingstoke Bison in 2006-07. In 2 playoff games with the Basingstoke Bison, Manning accumulated 1 assist and 4 penalty minutes.

Manning's most recent stint in the playoffs was in the 2007-2008 season with the Texas Brahmas of the CHL. In 14 playoff games with the Brahmas, Manning scored 3 goals, made 11 assists, and earned 12 penalty minutes.

References

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