![\"Three](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screen-Shot-2023-04-17-at-5.46.36-PM.png?resize=800%2C522&ssl=1\")
Front row left to right: Hannah O\u2019Neal, Ben Weir, Sophia Estabrooks, Aaron Litvak, Jack Arsenault, Miriam Hicks, Emma Lloyd. Middle row left to right: Sebastien Kelly-Ayer, Lauren Gautreau, Jesse Estabrooks, Abbey Morice, Matteo Mann, Emma Vogels, Alexa Estabrooks. Back row left to right: Asst Coach David Weir, Head Coach Matt Estabrooks, Asst Coach Mike Hicks. Missing: Asst Coaches Pierre Arsenault and Bruno Gautreau. Photo: contributed<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Mann says making it to the NHL has always been a dream, but one that grew over time along with his commitment. He recalls starting to take hockey more seriously at age 10 or 11, right before he moved to a AAA league.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was definitely fortunate,\u201d says Mann. \u201cFrom a young age my parents supported me and kind of allowed me to have those opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hockey in the family<\/h2>\n
Matteo\u2019s father Trent Mann is no stranger to the NHL. He\u2019s worked for the Ottawa Senators since 2010, becoming the NHL team\u2019s lead amateur scout in 2016. Last summer he was promoted to Assistant General Manager of the Ottawa Senators.<\/p>\n
But that kind of hockey success in the family doesn\u2019t translate to a high pressure environment. Matteo says his parents didn\u2019t place expectations on him, and he continues that practice with himself. \u201cI\u2019m not gonna sit here and say, \u2018I need to go to this team, I need to do this,\u2019\u201d says Mann. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s always just been about putting work in, because I enjoy it and I have passion for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the same attitude he brings this summer, as he prepares for the NHL draft. He knows he\u2019s worked hard, and so is ready to take whatever comes.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also a philosophy he shares with younger Sackville players whenever he gets a chance.<\/p>\n
Sackville Minor Hockey president and coach Matt Estabrooks says Mann has continually given back to his home club over the years. During his visits home Mann \u201calways makes an effort to get out on the ice with Sackville Minor Hockey teams and share some skills,\u201d says Estabrooks.<\/p>\n
Mann says he\u2019s just paying it forward, as he recalls visits from older players like Ethan Crossman and Kyle Ward, both Sackville players who went on to play in the Q.<\/p>\n
Seeing players from your own small town move up to a higher level of hockey is, \u201cpretty cool when you\u2019re a kid,\u201d recalls Mann. Now that he\u2019s in the same position he\u2019s happy to meet young players, and remind them to go easy on themselves. \u201cAs long as you\u2019re putting in the effort, and you love to do it, that\u2019s pretty much all you can really ask of yourself,\u201d says Mann.<\/p>\n
Sackville\u2019s long list of hockey success<\/h2>\n
Matt Estabrooks has been involved with Sackville Minor Hockey since 1992, and CHMA asked him to recall some of the other local players who have gone on to higher levels of the game:<\/p>\n
Ethan Crossman <\/strong>played in the QMJHL (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) for the Moncton Wildcats, Quebec Remparts, Acadie-Bathurst Titan, Baie-Comeau Drakkar, Chicoutimi Saguen\u00e9ens and the Charlottetown Islanders. Ethan won the Memorial Cup with Acadie-Bathurst and went on to be selected for a training camp with NHL team Carolina Hurricanes. He currently plays for the St. FX University program.
\nKyle Ward<\/strong> played in the QMJHL for the Saint John Sea Dogs and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.
\nLiam Conrad<\/strong> played in the BCHL (British Columbia Hockey League) for the Alberni Valley Bulldogs and then in the QMJHL for the St John Sea Dogs. Also played for the Amherst Junior A Ramblers in the MJAHL.
\nWill Lafford<\/strong> played in the MJAHL (Maritimes Junior Hockey League) for the Dieppe Commandos and for the Amherst Ramblers.
\nColby Ward<\/strong> played in the QMJHL for the Moncton Wildcats.
\nConrad Allen<\/strong> won the Telus Cup with the U18 AAA Moncton Flyers and now is playing in the MJAHL for the Amherst Junior A Ramblers.
\nCoen Strang<\/strong> played in the QMJHL for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and now is playing in the MJAHL for the Amherst Junior A Ramblers.
\nJamie Arsenault<\/strong> is currently playing her second year for Stanstead College Varsity in Quebec. She was selected to compete in the Canada Winter Games representing Team NB.
\nRebecca Fahey<\/strong> played for the Canadian National Women\u2019s hockey team.<\/p>\nFormer director of Mount Allison athletics and Sackville Minor Hockey president Jack Drover also recalled a number of Sackville players who went on to play for the Mounties:<\/p>\n
Chris Gilmour
\nSteven Bowes
\nBrad DeVarrennes
\nEric Sloan
\nMalcolm Cole
\nPeter Hazlehurst
\nJohn Moore
\nJohn Lafford<\/strong><\/p>\nDrover coached the men\u2019s hockey Mounties from 1974 to 1989, and the women\u2019s Mounties from their start-up in 1991 to his retirement in 2009.<\/p>\n
Notice someone missing? Please get in touch with news@chmafm.com<\/a> with any names you think might be missing from this list. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s almost certain that Sackville\u2019s Matteo Mann will be one of the 217 young hockey players drafted into the NHL this year, but Mann himself is not counting his chickens before they\u2019re hatched. 18-year-old Mann just finished his third season with Les Sageuen\u00e9ens in Chicoutimi, part of the Quebec Major Junior League, also known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":150992,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,204],"tags":[25580,4595,12640,25576,11687,25579,25577,25578],"radio":[227],"origine":[274,275,277],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150990"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150990"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151002,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150990\/revisions\/151002"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150990"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=150990"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=150990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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