Blaine Manning
Born (1979-09-10) September 10, 1979 (age 44)
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
NationalityCanadian
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight210 pounds (95 kg)
ShootsRight
PositionForward
NLL draft2nd overall, 2001
Calgary Roughnecks
NLL teamToronto Rock
Pro career2002–2013

Blaine Manning (born September 10, 1979) is a Canadian former indoor lacrosse player for the Toronto Rock in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). During his tenure with the team, he won four NLL Championships (2002, 2003, 2005, 2011), most notably in 2011.

Early life

Manning was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, while his mother was on a weekend business trip.[1] Growing up as the youngest of four boys in Sherwood Park, he competed on Team Albera's Under-19 field lacrosse team with two of his brothers; Blake and Blair.[2] In 1999, he played Jr. An indoor lacrosse for the Victoria Shamrocks, where he was voted to 2nd All-Star team in B.C.L.A Jr. A Series[3] and received the team's Sportsman of the Year.[4] Manning eventually moved to a private school in Maryland in order to play lacrosse and graduated from Radford University.[5]

Career in the National Lacrosse League

Coming out of Junior A lacrosse, Manning was drafted second overall by the Calgary Roughnecks in the 2001 National Lacrosse League (NLL) draft. However, neither Manning nor the first overall pick Gavin Prout wished to play for their respective teams. At the time, Manning stated he would have preferred a selection by the Washington Power because of his girlfriend's location.[6] He was eventually traded to the Toronto Rock in exchange for Kaleb Toth and a first round draft pick on October 2, 2001, before he ever suited up for the Roughnecks.[7] In his rookie season with the Rock, he won the NLL Rookie of the Year Award after recording 71 points in 16 games.[5]

In his sophomore season, Manning scored five goals and had eight assists for 13 points in a game against Buffalo, tying a Toronto Rock single-game record. This earned him the NLL Offensive Player of the Week honours.[8] In 2005, Manning recorded 105 points in 16 games to finish second overall in scoring league wide. He helped lead the team to their third NLL championship in four years, while also earning his third Second All-Pro Teams honours.[9] He signed a one year contract extension with the team on October 21, 2006.[10]

In the following five years, Toronto failed to qualify for the NLL post-season. During the 2006 and 2007 NLL seasons, they failed to qualify for the season rounds, and from 2008 to 2009, they were eliminated during the regular season. Upon acquiring new owners, the Rock played their first playoff game at the Air Canada Centre in five years on April 17, 2010.[11] Although they failed to make the finals, the Rock bounced back and won the 2011 National Lacrosse League Championship, breaking their drought.[12] After winning his fourth championship with the team, he announced his retirement on July 31, 2013.[13]

Coaching career

On August 6, 2013, Manning was announced as an assistant coach for the Toronto Rock alongside Dan Ladouceur.[14] He was renamed an assistant coach for the Toronto Rock on July 26, 2016, under head coach Matt Sawyer.[15] His contract was once again extended in 2019.[16]

Statistics

NLL

Reference:[17]

Blaine Manning Regular Season Playoffs
Season Team GP G A Pts LB PIM Pts/GP LB/GP PIM/GP GP G A Pts LB PIM Pts/GP LB/GP PIM/GP

2002 Toronto Rock 16 21 50 71 109 13 4.44 6.81 0.81 2 4 8 12 20 0 6.00 10.00 0.00
2003 Toronto Rock 16 40 38 78 78 13 4.88 4.88 0.81 2 4 2 6 4 0 3.00 2.00 0.00
2004 Toronto Rock 16 36 54 90 81 17 5.63 5.06 1.06 1 2 5 7 5 0 7.00 5.00 0.00
2005 Toronto Rock 16 39 66 105 83 18 6.56 5.19 1.13 2 4 6 10 10 0 5.00 5.00 0.00
2006 Toronto Rock 16 28 52 80 79 19 5.00 4.94 1.19 1 0 1 1 6 0 1.00 6.00 0.00
2007 Toronto Rock 16 21 56 77 56 2 4.81 3.50 0.13 1 1 0 1 6 0 1.00 6.00 0.00
2008 Toronto Rock 16 30 44 74 90 4 4.63 5.63 0.25 –––––––––
2009 Toronto Rock 16 20 42 62 68 22 3.88 4.25 1.38 –––––––––
2010 Toronto Rock 16 35 47 82 82 21 5.13 5.13 1.31 3 5 7 12 18 0 4.00 6.00 0.00
2011 Toronto Rock 16 23 52 75 62 14 4.69 3.88 0.88 3 2 6 8 14 0 2.67 4.67 0.00
2012 Toronto Rock 6 3 6 9 19 7 1.50 3.17 1.17 2 0 5 5 11 0 2.50 5.50 0.00
2013 Toronto Rock 15 11 19 30 40 6 2.00 2.67 0.40 1 1 1 2 3 0 2.00 3.00 0.00
181 307 526 833 847 156 4.60 4.68 0.86 18 23 41 64 97 0 3.56 5.39 0.00
Career Total: 199 330 567 897 944 156 4.51 4.74 0.78

GP–Games played; G–Goals; A–Assists; Pts–Points; LB–Loose balls; PIM–Penalty minutes; Pts/GP–Points per games played; LB/GP–Loose balls per games played; PIM/GP–Penalty minutes per games played.

Personal life

Manning married his fiance Christine in 2010[18] and they have one son together.[19]

References

  1. ^ Korobanik, John (February 21, 2010). "Rock's not a hard place for Manning". Edmonton: Edmonton Journal. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  2. ^ Petersen, Scott (February 10, 2006). "Rock forward savours playing role model to young lacrosse players". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  3. ^ "Blaine Manning". torontorock.com. Toronto Rock. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  4. ^ "Sportsman Of The Year". shamrocks.bcjall.com. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Rookie of the Year". Edmonton Journal. April 20, 2002. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  6. ^ "Canadians dominate at NLL Draft". cbc.ca. August 25, 2001. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  7. ^ "Rock trade Toth to Roughnecks". cbc.ca. October 2, 2001. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  8. ^ "NLL Hands out Player Awards". oursportscentral.com. January 29, 2003. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  9. ^ "Five Toronto Rock Players Earn Top Honours". oursportscentral.com. May 11, 2005. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  10. ^ "Lacrosse". Nashua Telegraph. New Hampshire. October 21, 2006.Free access icon
  11. ^ "Rock clinch first post-season berth since 2005". sportsnet.ca. Sportsnet. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  12. ^ Nabenbauer, Ron (May 15, 2011). "Toronto Rock Win 2011 National Lacrosse League Championship". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  13. ^ (31 July 2013). Rock cornerstone Blaine Manning Retires Archived 2013-08-31 at the Wayback Machine, torontorock.com
  14. ^ "Rock Head Coach John Lovell Names Assistant Coaches". torontorock.com. Toronto Rock. 2013. Archived from the original on August 31, 2013. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  15. ^ "Matt Sawyer Named Toronto Rock Head Coach". torontorock.com. Toronto Rock. July 26, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  16. ^ "Rock Coaching Staff Contracts Extended". torontorock.com. Toronto Rock. September 26, 2019. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  17. ^ "National Lacrosse League Pointstreak Stats". NLL.com. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  18. ^ "blaine manning rock player gets married". juliesaggersphotography.com. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  19. ^ @ManningBlaine (July 20, 2017). "Happy 5th birthday to this loving, sensitive, unselfish little guy!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
Preceded byTracy Kelusky NLL Rookie of the Year 2002 Succeeded byBrian Langtry
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