Dave Manson was one of the toughest players in the NHL in his day.
There was also a stretch early is his career where he provided plenty of offense along with all those penalty minutes — three times he had 15-plus goals and 45-plus points as a defenseman with Chicago and Edmonton.
This is his first season as an assistant coach for San Diego in the AHL. The Gulls play the Colorado Eagles in Loveland on Friday night, so he had the chance to catch his son’s NHL game Thursday night.
He ended up watching his son accomplish something that he never did at this level. Josh Manson had two goals, four points and an early fight in the Colorado Avalanche’s 8-2 win against the Ottawa Senators at Ball Arena.
“It was fun,” the younger Manson said. “I don’t think he’s ever seen that before. He’s seen me fight. He’s maybe seen me score, but I don’t think he’s ever seen … well, actually, nobody’s ever seen that before out of me in the NHL, so it was the first for everybody, including myself.”
Josh Manson’s monster night included career highs in goals (2) and points (4). His father scored two goals in a game six times, and he had a one-goal, four-point, one-fight night in his career. But never two goals, four points and a tilt.
The younger Manson had a fight, a goal and an assist, or a Gordie Howe hat trick, before the game was 23 minutes old. He was on the ice for five Avalanche goals and neither of the Senators’ tallies. He was also the co-leader in shots on goals (5) and hits (3).
“Well, that was something,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “I mean, he had a Gordie Howe hat trick early in the second period, and then he just kept coming. He was involved in everything tonight — the physicality of the game, what we just normally evaluate him on the defending and all that was good, and then on the offensive side of it. He just had a fantastic night.”
The fight happened barely more than two minutes after the opening puck drop. Ottawa defenseman Tyler Kleven lined up Ivan Ivan for a big hit near the center red line as the Avs callup was sending the puck into the Senators zone.
Kleven is a big hitter, and that was a perfectly clean one. For a team that played last night, it was a tone-setting adrenaline boost that his teammates surely appreciated.
Manson had other ideas.
“It was kind of just one of those things,” he said. “The hit was … I thought the hit was actually OK. And I’ve kind of complained in the past where if it’s a clean hit, you shouldn’t really have to fight. So I just kind of presented myself there if he wanted. I felt like it was a good time for our team. Hopefully, spark us here on home ice on this home stand, coming off two losses. And so he obliged.”
It proved to be a pretty physical evening at Ball Arena. Kleven’s hit and the fight with Manson got it started, and then the lopsided nature of the score helped fan the flames.
Samuel Girard, with two scraps to his name on HockeyFights.com and none since 2019, dropped the gloves with Senators star Tim Stützle early in the third period. He nearly got into another later in the period. Avs goaltender Scott Wedgewood even got involved in a post-whistle dust-up.
“They’ve got some guys that are going to forecheck hard and finish plays, especially in a frustrating game like that,” Wedgeood said. “You try and let Sammy and Manson know who’s coming. They’re gonna get their licks in, and then I got a jab there. I just wanted to see if he wanted to come on my podcast, or whatever the conversation was.
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The Avs didn’t get to 32-4-7 and a double-digit lead over the rest of the NHL following the same blueprint for success every night. They’ve proven they win just about every type of game. Low-scoring, physical, wide-open, chaotic — the Avs have been comfortable in all types of contests.
“I think we’re going to be tested, right?” Manson said. “You lose (Devon Toews). You lose Gabe (Landeskog) and we lose two games there. So I think this was kind of the first step in building that mental fortitude that we can rely on depth, and we can go out and play against good teams. I mean, that’s, that’s a good team across the way … so that was a big win.”
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