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GCool · 12-21-2018, 10:05 AM

[889 words - do I get 2x bonus for this?]

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA---Early Thursday morning, Jerry Mander realized he hadn't yet declared for the SMJHL Entry Draft. But by late Thursday night, he was a first round selection by a newer team, the Anaheim Outlaws.

"I didn't know what to expect," said Mander in a phone interview conducted by SMJHL Tonight. "I had heard from a few people right away but I didn't think they had time to scout me. I was *laughs* pleasantly surprised."

The 10th overall pick may have surprised many scouts and media pundits across the United States, especially because of Mander's troubled last few years. Born an American, originally from Chicago, Jerry defected to Russia in 2016--seemingly out of the blue--and was given a spot in the MHL (the minor league affiliate of the popular Kontinental Hockey League) relatively instantly. This bizarre turn of events, if not alarming to some American scouts, was surely reason enough to stop scouting him for leagues in the United States entirely.

But sure enough, here he is now--and as a first-round pick, no less.

Before his stint in the MHL, Jerry played for 3 seasons at the University of Notre Dame, conveniently located just a few hours from his Chicago home. He amassed single-season school records for points and hits in 2013. By age 21, he was completing his degree in political science while assuming the captain position. Shortly after the final horn sounded on his college career, he received an interesting call.

"Joel Szirony of the SBHL [SmallBall Hockey League] called me," Jerry said. "He was really up front with me, said it was an up-and-coming league, and they didn't know if it'd stick around for the long haul. But with little to no job prospects, and knowing that I wanted to keep playing hockey, I gave it a shot and went to the tryout."

Not many stars have made their name coming from the SBHL. The league only lasted two seasons in total. Perhaps the most notable of alumni is Richard "The Transporter" Shaw, who starts his 6th season in the GOMHL in just a few weeks. Legendary SHL enforcer Danny "Bananas" Foster was also from the SBHL, playing two seasons with the New Orleans Hex. If scouts didn't pay attention to Danny's proclivity for penalty minutes then, then nobody can be sure exactly what they were watching.

Mander went to the team tryout in Chicago, and was quickly awarded a spot on the Chicago Mob. In 96 games with the club (1 full season and just a portion of another before accepting the MHL deal), he scored 85 goals and registered 274 hits. "That's my game, man. I try to score, and if I don't, I hit people coming back the other way," remarked Mander when going through his statistics with reporters. "I know it'll be hard to find the MHL data but that's fine. Everything I do in SMJHL and SHL will be properly recorded, right? *laughs*"

The surprisingly sweet and eloquent Jerry Mander has an ominous nickname to match his bizarre past - "The Snake". Reporters soon touched on that when the conversations on hockey background seemed to run dry.

"Ah, well, it's sort of two-fold. Obviously leaving America to get my Russian citizenship did not sit well with people. Especially given the timing of everything going on politically--which I can only try to assure people isn't the entire reason why I did what I did. But the, uh, not-hockey reason is the whole scenario. Even some of my family think I'm a snake for leaving America, and that's fine. I wonder how long it'll take for them to ask for some of my signing bonus.

"The second reason is how I play on the ice. I like to lurk around the blue lines and, before you know it, I've sunk my teeth into you. Not literally, but--I strike like a python. And it's usually unbeknownst to the guy I've picked out. That, on top of my scoring ability breaking games at lower levels, is what earned me the title of 'Snake' specifically."

Regardless of history or political views, it's no mistake that Jerry Mander was a first-round pick. "The kid is electric," said Cody Black, current GM of the Outlaws. "We gave him a quick call once we saw he declared and he made our short list. He's an extremely intelligent player, and his style of play is often overlooked in today's game. He could be a real difference maker out there, if not this year, then next year when he's had some extra training."

The former GM of the Seattle Spartans and Thunder Bay Reapers of the GOMHL has seen other stars with the same player agent give him successful runs. Buster Killington, former Sarmad Khan recipient in the SHL, has been in the talent acquisition game for several years, and Mander is his latest project. In a call with SHL Tonight, Killington summed it up rather succinctly:

"You remember seeing me play, right? You'll see this kid and wonder if it's me again. I guarantee it."

Dangles13 · 12-21-2018, 10:42 AM

I was pleasantly surprised to see Mander declare for the draft and I was doubly pleased when he fell to us at 10, other teams will regret passing on this kid.