ANDREW MANGIAPANE

MANGIAPANE

proves he’s not “too small” to play in the bigs

By Jeremy Freeborn

photos by gerry thomas | courtesy calgary flames hockey club

Andrew Mangiapane is now in his fourth season with the Calgary Flames. He was drafted in the sixth round of the 2015 National Hockey League Entry Draft. At 5’10”, 185 pounds, things have not always come easy for him and as one of the team’s smaller players, the Toronto native knows he has had to work extra hard in order to be counted on as a regular contributor in the Flames lineup. Mangiapane’s work ethic has been recognized by Flames fans and earned him a nickname. He has become “Bread” because in Italian, “mangia pane” means “eat bread.” When Mangiapane first heard of the nickname, he thought it was hilarious, but actually expected it. “I was laughing,” he said in an interview with Hockey Magazine Calgary. “I figured it would come eventually by having a name like that. It was definitely quite funny when I first heard it.” Mangiapane first started skating and playing hockey at two years old. His father Peter built a rink in the backyard and taught his son how to play. “I loved the game,” said Mangiapane. “I went to the rink every day and fell in love with the sport. Obviously I was pretty good growing up, so I guess that helped a bit.” Mangiapane idolized Martin St. Louis. Interestingly, before joining and starring with the Tampa Bay Lightning, St. Louis played two seasons with the Calgary Flames in 1998-99 and 1999-2000. He then was the Hart Trophy winner, Lester B. Pearson Award winner and Art Ross Trophy winner in 2004 when the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Flames in seven games to win the 2004 Stanley Cup. In addition to playing hockey, Mangiapane followed his Italian roots and played soccer in Ontario. He also played baseball, volleyball, and basketball. As an amateur hockey player in Ontario, Mangiapane played with the Caledon Hawks, Brampton Battalion, Markham Majors, the Mississauga Senators, the Toronto U15 AAA Titans, and the Toronto Junior Canadiens. As a teenager, Mangiapane was encouraged by many scouts to pursue hockey by getting a scholarship at the NCAA level. His future in hockey continued to look a little dim when he was not selected in the Ontario Hockey League Draft. However, the Barrie Colts took a chance and offered Mangiapane an opportunity after being impressed by his skills during a camp. At the time, the Colts head coach and director of hockey operations was former Winnipeg Jets legend and Hockey Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuk. “Dale is a big factor of me playing in the NHL and even the OHL,” said Mangiapane. “He believed in me when no one else was. I watched him and he was my mentor. I owe him a lot and I don’t know where I would be without him.”

Hawerchuk passed away in 2020 at the age of 57. It is at the junior hockey level where Mangiapane’s overall offensive skill set took over. After a respectable 51 points in 68 games during his 2013-14 OHL rookie season, he had back-to-back seasons of 100 points with the Colts. Mangiapane had 43 goals and 61 assists for 104 points in 2014-15 and 51 goals and 55 assists for 106 points in 2014-15. In 2014-15 Mangiapane finished tied for seventh in OHL scoring. He was sixth in OHL scoring in 2015-16. In his last season in the OHL, Mangiapane was also tied for second in the OHL in goals (one behind Christian Dvorak), and was named an alternate captain for the Colts by Hawerchuk.

During his junior career, Mangiapane attended two NHL drafts. Prior to the 2014 NHL Entry Draft in Philadelphia, he was told that he would be drafted. However, his name was never called. Then a year later in Sunrise, Florida, he had to wait until the sixth round before the Flames named him with the 166th overall selection.

“I could say I was a little surprised,” said Mangiapane. “Obviously I am very thankful that Calgary drafted me when they did. I went to the draft in 2014. I was told I was going to be selected, and it was a little bit of a disappointment and shock from that aspect. I didn’t let it stop me. I used it as fuel for the fire.” After Mangiapane’s junior career, he did not make the step to the NHL right away. He spent the 2016-17 season with the Stockton Heat of the American Hockey League. Over the next two seasons he bounced between the Heat and Flames.

“I was a younger, smaller guy. It was just about gaining confidence down there, and “ knowing that I could play against those older, bigger guys. Once I figured that out, then that is when I felt I really took off.”

“I learned about being a pro,” said Mangiapane about his time in the minors. “It is a big step on ice and off ice, going from junior to being a pro. When you are a pro, you are cooking for yourself and cleaning for yourself. It is a lot of workload. The off-ice part was a big shock for me. You have to find your own place to live. It is tough that way, right? On the ice, I was playing against bigger and older players. I had to adapt to that as well. I was a younger, smaller guy. It was just about gaining confidence down there, and knowing that I could play against those older, bigger guys. Once I figured that out, then that is when I felt I really took off.” Mangiapane had 20 goals and 21 assists for 41 points in 69 games with the Heat in 2016-17. He then shared his time with the Heat and Flames in 2017-18. He played 10 games with Calgary without registering a point. However, he had strong offensive numbers in his second AHL season. In 39 games, he had 21 goals and 25 assists for 46 points. Mangiapane went from averaging 0.59 points per game in the AHL in 2016-17 to 1.18 points per game in the AHL in 2017-18. Due to the AHL improvement, he played 44 games with the Flames in 2018-19 (eight goals and five assists for 13 points). In 2019-20, his first full season with the Flames, he had 17 goals and 15 assists for 32 points in 68 games. On Feb. 17, 2020, Mangiapane recorded his first NHL career hat trick in a 6-4 Flames win over the Anaheim Ducks.

So far in 2020-21, he has nine goals and seven assists for 16 points in 29 games. On Feb. 27, Mangiapane registered his first NHL career shorthanded goal in a 6-3 Flames win over the Ottawa Senators. The goal came from Mikael Backlund at 9:36 of the second period, which put the Flames up 5-1 at the time. Like many NHL players, Mangiapane has games that stand out over all of the rest. He has fond memories of playing his first NHL game as well as scoring his first NHL goal. Mangiapane’s first NHL regular season game came on New Year’s Eve 2017 in a 4-3 Flames win over the Chicago Blackhawks at the Scotiabank Saddledome. He had two shots on goal, one blocked shot, and one face-off win in seven minutes and 26 seconds of ice time. Mangiapane would wait until the next season before scoring his first NHL goal. That came in a 4-3 Flames shootout loss in Vancouver on Feb. 9, 2019. Mangiapane scored at 13:19 of the second period from Noah Hanifin and put the Flames up 3-2 at the time.

“Those were special occasions for me,” he said. “I felt I had come a long way. My whole life, people were saying I was ‘too small’ or ‘you are never going to make it.’” Mangiapane takes pride in being a team player. Many times and especially earlier on in his Flames career, he took on more of a defensive responsibility.

“Whatever the coach wants me to do, I am willing to do,” he said. “I take pride in playing against the top players on the other team. I think it is a big accomplishment if you shut their top guys down. It was different for me from junior when I first started.”

In 2019-20, Mangiapane played more of an offensive role with Calgary, like he did with Barrie five years ago. He moved up to the Flames number two line, where he played alongside Matthew Tkachuk and Mikael Backlund, which was arguably the Flames most consistent line all season long. Mangiapane had great things to say about playing alongside Tkachuk, who led the Flames last year with 61 points in 69 games.

“He is a really smart player,” said Mangiapane. “He is a good guy on and off the ice. He is very easy to play with. He is always in the right spot, at the right time, and he is great around the net. He is an ultimate team player. That is what you want to see from everyone on your team. You want players to block a shot, stand up for a guy, take a hit, make a play. That is the type of guy he is.” In 2020-21, Mangiapane continues to play with Backlund, but is back on the third line with Darryl Sutter returning as the Flames head coach. Here Mangiapane and Backlund are playing with veteran winger Milan Lucic. The line has been effective because the players have contrasting styles. Lucic has size (6’3”, 230 pounds), Backlund is known for his defensive accountability, while Mangiapane is known for his speed. For players who have dreams of playing in the NHL someday, Mangiapane has the following message. “Work hard and never give up on your dream. People may not believe in you, but if you believe in yourself, and you put in the work, then good things will happen for you.” Mangiapane may have had his skeptics at one time. However, he does not seem to have skeptics anymore. In the process, he has developed into a fan favourite in Calgary. Let us hope it will be sooner rather than later, when Mangiapane and the rest of the Flames hear 19, 289 Flames fans at the Scotiabank Saddledome holler the word, “Bread.”