Man oh man oh Manness sisters

It’s early August and sisters Sara and Kate Manness, Manitoba’s top NCAA prospects for 2025-26, are never far from the rink.

The fraternal twins from La Salle, who turn 17 on Sept. 26, leave Sunday for Kitchener, Ont., where they are among 48 prospects vying for a spot on the national U18 female hockey team. If they make the roster, they will play for Canada in a three-game exhibition series against the U.S., Aug. 14-17.

Kate, a 5-6 blue-liner, will be attempting to crack the nats lineup for the first time while Sara, a slick 5-9 centre, was one of the youngest players on the Canadian squad that captured a bronze medal at the U18 worlds in Zug, Switzerland last winter.

Hayley McDonald, a 17-year-old forward from East St. Paul and the Balmoral Hall Blazers, is the third Manitoban with an invite to the national team tryout.

“I don’t really know what to expect,” said Kate Manness earlier this week. “I’m pretty nervous, but I kind of trust in my abilities. I’m confident in myself that I’ll be able to perform well.”

The sisters are coming off a spectacular club season in 2023-24 in which they helped the Burlington (Ont.) Barracudas to a provincial title in the tough U22 division of the Ontario Women’s Hockey League.

Sara, coming off a stellar 15-year-old season with the Balmoral Hall Blazers, finished third in OWHL scoring with 43 goals and 100 points in 39 games.

“We were impressed with Sara right away, especially being one of the younger girls on the team,” said Barracudas head coach Kevin Greco, who will have both sisters in his lineup for their Grade 12 season beginning this fall. “By the end of the year, she was completely taking over games.

“It is a team effort and everybody’s important in the end, but there were a couple of times near the end of the season and during the provincials run where she just single handedly took over the game and helped us win.”

Kate Manness, with six goals and 36 points in 31 games with Burlington, made a stellar impression, too.

“I think Kate’s a little bit underrated and I don’t know why,” said Greco. “She played a ton of minutes for us last year and in all aspects of the game — important situations and special teams. She’s just a really smart, hard-working player.”

Kate Manness admitted the adjustment to moving away from home to play last fall took some time.

“It’s definitely helped me in the long run,” she said. “There were some times where I felt like I wasn’t getting better or that I wasn’t doing very well but afterwards, I think it definitely helped improve my game.”

The Manness sisters also made a major change to their respective career paths. Both had made verbal commitments in 2023 to attend the University of Minnesota starting in 2025-26 before having a change of heart earlier this year, committing to Clarkson University last spring.

“It was a big decision,” said Sara Manness, who was the leading scorer and honoured as MVP of the 2023 national U17 championship. “We kind of rushed into it a little bit with Minnesota and after thinking things through with my family and everything and thinking about how the next four years would go, we just decided it wasn’t the best fit for us. We looked into more options and Clarkson seemed like a great one.”

Clarkson, based in Potsdam, N.Y., is another NCAA powerhouse. The Golden Knights, a perennial national title contender with NCAA championships in 2014, ‘17 and ‘18, made it all the way to the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four semifinals last spring before losing to eventual national champion Ohio State.

“We committed to Minnesota and then over time it just kind of felt like we didn’t really like belong there,” said Kate Manness. “It just didn’t seem right. So we decided to decommit and then we went on a visit to Clarkson and we just really enjoyed the campus and the coaches a lot. The coaches were great and it was kind of more like a small-town feel, like what we’re used to. It felt more homey.”

FRESH START: Headingley’s Ryan Smith has landed on his feet after his sudden dismissal on May 15 from his post as head coach of WHL’s Spokane Chiefs. It marked the first time Smith had been fired in 16 seasons as a coach.

The Chiefs, with the second youngest roster in the WHL, qualified eighth in the Western Conference for the post-season but were swept in the opening round. Spokane recently filled the coaching vacancy by hiring veteran Brad Lauer.

“When you have a contract for the following year, and you get fired you’re not even thinking about (losing your job),” said Smith. “It’s different if you’re riding out an existing contract — you can kind of see the writing on the wall. But here’s the thing, everybody thinks it’s easy to find a job until you need to find a job.”

Earlier this week, the 50-year-old was hired as an associate head coach of the Regina Pats where he will work with head coach Brad Herauf.

Smith has a solid relationship with new Pats GM Al Millar, who, in his previous role with Hockey Canada, appointed him to stints as an assistant coach with the national U17 and U18 teams and head coach of Canada’s entry at the Youth Olympics.

Smith mulled offers in the minor leagues and Europe but jumped at the opportunity to remain in the WHL.

“Probably the best word is blindsided,” said Smith, describing how he felt about being fired. “We pushed really hard in the second half last year to make the playoffs. We got into the playoffs and honestly, if there would have been another two weeks in the regular season, we might have gone even into fifth place. We were playing really well — close to .650, .700 hockey down the stretch — and then of course, we make the playoffs. So who do we get but the No. 1 team in the CHL at the time, Prince George? And that was never going to be easy.”

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