Shot Right Role Ice hockey player Career end 1993 Name Moe Jr. Career start 1980 | Playing career Weight 88 kg National team United States Height 1.88 m Positions Defenseman | |
Born January 21, 1961 (age 63)
Lakewood, OH, USA ( 1961-01-21 ) NHL Draft 23rd overall, 1980
Winnipeg Jets Played for Winnipeg Jets, Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers | ||
Maurice William Mantha Jr. (born January 21, 1961) is a retired American professional ice hockey defenseman and former coach who played twelve seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Winnipeg Jets, Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota North Stars and Philadelphia Flyers. Mantha's nephew, Ryan Mantha, was drafted by the New York Rangers in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
Playing and coaching career
Mantha was born while his father, Moe Mantha Sr., was playing for the Cleveland Barons of the American Hockey League. He was subsequently raised in Canada, when his father retired from hockey and returned to his hometown of Sturgeon Falls, Ontario. Moe Mantha Jr. has represented the United States in international hockey: he was a member of the U.S. team in the 1981, 1985 and 1991 Ice Hockey World Championships as well as the 1992 Winter Olympics.
Mantha first played for the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association in 1978, and was drafted by the NHL Winnipeg Jets in 1980. He played for the Jets or their minor league farm teams until 1984, when he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was then sent to the Edmonton Oilers in 1988; the Oilers traded him to the Minnesota North Stars later that same season. He later played for the Philadelphia Flyers and another stint with the Jets.
1992-1993 was Mantha's final season as a player, for the AHL Hershey Bears; he has since coached teams in the AHL (Hershey Bears and Cincinnati Mighty Ducks) and the East Coast Hockey League's Columbus Chill. He coached the junior USA team out of Ann Arbor, Michigan from 2000-2004. In 2005, Mantha was named as the head coach of the Detroit Gladiators of the new World Hockey Association, but the league never made it to the ice; instead, he served as head coach and general manager of the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL.
Moe Mantha served as the general manager and head coach for the French River Rapids of the NOJHL.
On February 16, 2016 he was named interim Head Coach of the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League, making his second trip behind the Spirit bench, replacing the recently fired Greg Gilbert.
